04
Mon, Nov
1 New Articles

In the Wheelhouse: The Real POWER of COMMON

Commentary
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

The value of a user group is usually gauged by the collaboration within it's members. Let me tell you why COMMON does one better.

 

The first weekend of each December is when this brave columnist and his fellow Common Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) members brave the cold and travel to Rochester, Minnesota, to meet with IBM for two days of meetings where we represent the collective community of the COMMON Americas User Group. While I can't discuss in specific detail what we talk about, I will tell you that there is a tremendous amount of collaboration between the CAAC and IBM. This benefits independent software vendors (ISVs), IBM Business Partners, and most certainly Power Systems customers. The CAAC has a counterpart organization affiliated with COMMON Europe that gives IBM a perspective from the European Power Systems community as well.

 

So what does the CAAC do exactly? Well, it's a group of 13 or 14 COMMON volunteers who meet with key IBMers via conference call every two weeks and in person twice a year to discuss and give feedback on IBM's short- and long-term plans regarding IBM i, Power Systems, and related technologies like Linux and AIX. Some members you know quite well, and some maybe not too much. Some are consultants and IBM Business Partners. Some are ISVs. Some are customers who have really small systems and others who have bigger 32-core machines. It's a great cross-section of IT environments, business types, skill sets, and experience represented by everyone from programmers all the way up to CIOs. There's a wide variety of viewpoints and experience.

 

IBM Rochester is a special place, and not only as the birthplace of the AS/400. To be honest, it's awe inspiring to just be in the buildings for the historical aspect, but I digress. The meetings we have are roundtable setups with all the CAAC members and about five very key IBMers. What's really special about the meetings at IBM Rochester is that there are about 20 or so additional seats where designers and specialists for DB2, application development, security, high availability, hardware, backup and recovery, and anything else related to IBM i and Power Systems are there to both help understand and address our concerns, and to collaborate directly with community representatives.

 

The CAAC brings Power Systems community concerns to IBM and represents a collective voice for the community. For example, the CAAC will receive an "IBM should include <insert feature here> in the next release or as a PTF" request in the form of a "blue sheet" at COMMON or through simply talking to other community members.

 

Each community request is discussed, and if deemed worthy, it's turned into a valid "requirement." The CAAC then presents those requirements to IBM and works with them to see if it's something that IBM wants to work on, given cost of the effort involved and overall impact on the platform. Sometimes it's an easy solution with a high impact; sometimes it's a difficult effort with very low impact and/or payoff. The discussions are there to validate and prioritize the requirements. Every two weeks, the CAAC gets together for an hour-long conference call to work on requirements with our IBM liaison Dawn May.

 

As far as potential requirements go, I've personally been involved with heralding a couple through Twitter this past year. This one below in particular was pretty cool:

 

121514Pitcher1

 

 

121514Pitcher2

 

As you can see, this was a very simple discussion on Twitter about enhancing PTF management on IBM i with Scott Forstie, DB2 for i Business Architect & SQL Development Team Leader at IBM, and two IBM i customers: Richard Shearwood and yours truly. What you don't see behind the scenes is the private conversation I had with Richard, the requirement being logged in our CAAC database, the discussions between CAAC members and IBM, and the development work IBM did to make it happen as an actual, usable feature. It just didn't appear. And it's a cool feature! It's the ability to now know your Group PTF levels and compare them with the levels available to download! If you've got a custom IT dashboard for system status, then this is a valuable feature to see if you're out of date on your fixes.

 

In addition to the time the CAAC spends in Rochester, it also travels in the spring to the COMMON annual conference and expo about four days in advance to have another two solid days of work with key IBMers on behalf of the community. The spring meeting is very similar to the meetings in Rochester but with a few differences. First, we don't get access to the extra IBM resources in the room that we get in Rochester, and second, it's at the beginning of a major conference, which has its challenges, especially if a member is involved with COMMON as a volunteer in other capacities.

 

Some might think that it could be a home vs. away turf battle, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, the work that the CAAC does with IBM is incredibly productive and rewarding. It's not an "us vs. them" situation at all. From my perspective, IBM is a very willing dance partner in helping evolve the technologies that benefit both the community and IBM. It's a win-win for all parties involved.

 

For the last few years, the amount of CAAC requirements that actually made it into IBM i 6.1, 7.1, and 7.2 by way of full OS release, Technology Refresh, or PTF is around 62%. That's an incredible amount in my humble opinion. And it keeps going on a very regular basis.

 

So why is this important to you?

 

Perhaps you didn't know you had an avenue to voice your Power Systems concerns directly to IBM? Or perhaps you weren't aware you had a group of advocates who work regularly with IBM on your behalf? Maybe you thought about a feature you wished was a part of IBM i but don't think IBM would do anything? If you think about it, there's a 62% chance they would if they knew about it. But it all depends on the degree of difficulty and the overall value to the operating system. But being silent doesn't help anybody. There's a great Wayne Gretzky quote: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

 

What's so great about COMMON is that it gets valid community concerns to IBM to at the very least be discussed with the people who have the power to effect change. How many technology companies have that kind of accessibility by way of their user groups? Not many. The collaboration isn't just with the users. It's with the designers, product managers, and architects. COMMON offers user group collaboration that's powered by POWER.

 

So if you've got an idea, speak up. Don't sit on it.

Steve Pitcher
Steve Pitcher works with iTech Solutions, an IBM Premier Business Partner. He is a specialist in IBM i and IBM Power Systems solutions since 2001. Feel free to contact him directly This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: