The purpose of this blog is to highlight a terrific webinar from Steve Will, IBM i Chief Architect sponsored by HelpSystems. This presentation is first-rate if you want to know more about the technical evolution of IBM I from OS400.
We in the IBM i community are truly fortunate to have a capable leader like Steve Will, IBM i Chief Architect, and support teammates like Tom Huntington, Executive VP of Technical Services at HelpSystems.
If you have had any experience presenting a webinar, you know it takes a lot of effort from many people to put one on. I know from this first-hand experience.
That is why I am so grateful for the recent excellent presentation HelpSystems put on: IBM i: It’s Not Just AS/400.
You can go to this link to watch it:
https://www.helpsystems.com/resources/on-demand-webinars/ibm-i-its-not-just-as400-steve-will
Tom Huntington hosts Steve Will’s presentation.
It is easy to forget the journey of the AS400 and the OS400 operating system first announced in June 1988 to the present IBM i operating system.
Steve Will succinctly highlights major enhancement to this marvelous operating system over the years from OS400 to iSeries to IBM i and the key reasons for the extraordinary enhancements.
To be sure, this presentation is technical. The good news is that it is high-level technical and clearly articulates the distinct advantages of the IBM i OS compared to other operating systems.
Highlights of this presentation include:
5 Distinct IBM i Cornerstones
Single Level Storage
Object Based Architecture
Virtualized Work Management
Integration
Technology Independent Machine Interface
Inciting Incidents that caused the IBM i architecture to adapt to the changing IT world
C Programming Language and Pointers
POSIX Standards and Hierarchical File Systems
Integrated File Systems (IFS)
Modular Programming (Integrated Language Environment – ILE) vs Monolithic Programming
Threads
48-bit CISC Architecture to 60-bit RISC Architecture (A Major Rewrite of the OS)
World Wide Web
DB2 & SQL
Teraspace
Separate Single Execution Stack to Split Execution Stack
Support of Multiple OS: AIX (UNIX), PASE, Linux
Green Screen, Windows GUI to Web-based GUI
Adaption of I/O Architecture
Data Communication/SNA Evolution to TCPIP
Conclusion:
As great as the architecture may be, if it does not adapt to changing needs it will fall by the wayside.
IBM i has evolved and adapted elegantly to the changes in the IT world, as Steve Will explains. Because of this evolution, people can run the solutions they want on the platform they want.
If you are a fan of IBM i, I strongly encourage you to watch this webinar.
Need help with your IBM i on POWER? Email me at [email protected] or call me at 714-593-0387.
