New Web Site Offers Misleading “Teaser” Pricing To Host IBM i Applications This week I came across a cloud hosting company that had spent BIG BUCKS to update their web site. This new web site featured the latest fashionable designs, modern graphics and professionally made videos featuring the founder. It even featured an online estimating tool to let visitors know how much their hosting service cost. The online pricing estimator offered enticing pricing…Too enticing. Initially, I … [Read more...]
How To Prepare For IBM i/iSeries/AS400 Cloud Hosting – The Basics
The purpose of this blog is to prepare you to streamline your process to determine if cloud hosting makes sense for you. My sense is that you don’t do this every day, so this checklist will help you gather the key information you will need to quickly figure out if cloud hosting can work for you. Getting A Quote When you think about the possibility of cloud hosting, you want to get an idea how much it will cost. After all, hosting has to be economically feasible if it is going to make … [Read more...]
What is IBM PowerVM? (And Why Should You Care?)
Server Virtualization Many may know that IBM introduced server virtualization for its mainframe in the early 1980’s. Many of you also may have heard of VMware or Microsoft’s Hyper-V to virtualize an Intel server. Well, PowerVM is IBM’s server virtualization software for IBM i (iSeries/AS400). PowerVM For IBM i Virtualization PowerVM lets you allocate the server memory, storage and performance resources into smaller virtual servers, or Logical Partitions, also called LPARs. The … [Read more...]
“Please Listen. Then Give It To Me Straight.”
Please forgive me if I sound self-indulgent. But this week I had too many sales calls with low-caliber sales people. I have been in sales since I was 22 … 44 years. Sure, when I started I knew nothing, my selling skills were weak, and I was trained to close hard. Thank goodness I got over that! But I was so insecure about my lack of technical, business and processes knowledge that I worked very hard to understand how my products worked, the depth and breadth of my prospective clients’ … [Read more...]
STD – “Software Transfer Dilemma” and Outrageous Fees
Many IBM i (iSeries/AS400) are considering changing their legacy POWER server because of IBM announced hardware and software support expirations as well as software providers who may longer support older versions of their applications. So, if you can no longer get IBM hardware support, IBM software support or application support from your software vendor, you have to start evaluating your options. Most IBM i users I talk to only consider major hardware upgrades every 7-15 years. In other … [Read more...]
9 Steps To Avoid ERP Software Implementation Failure
A good friend of mine called me this week to explain how his company is on the path to ERP implementation failure. The sad part of this tale is that so many blunders could have been avoided. Let me explain. My friend is 67. He is an experienced IBM i programmer with over 41 years of experience. He is also the IT manager for a western wear garment manufacturer. Over the years he has told me how he has customized the legacy garment software to fit his employer’s business. (Sound … [Read more...]
End Of Life (EOL) iSeries/AS400 Cloud Hosting Is Popular
In 2016, IBM announced that it will terminate hardware support (HWMA) for IBM POWER5 iSeries and older AS400 servers. In essence, these older servers are End Of Life (EOL). Will More Than 24,000 EOL iSeries/AS400 Users No Longer Get HWMA After 2019? IBM does not publish how many iSeries/AS400 users are affected. Based on my installed IBM i users database, my guess is that there may be between 8,000 – 12,000 affected users in the US. If so, my sense is that there may be 16,000-24,000 … [Read more...]
IBM i. Just More Reliable
Running Out Of Kerosene Can Be Worse Than Running Out Of Gas… Much Worse. Have you ever seen someone walking down a road carrying a can of gasoline? Sure you have. Running out of gas is not all that uncommon, and it certainly is a hassle. But when was the last time you heard of an airliner running out of gas? Actually, airliners don’t run on gasoline, they run on jet fuel, which is essentially a grade of kerosene. When an airliner runs out of fuel, it’s more than a hassle, it’s a … [Read more...]
IBM i Security Built In From The Beginning. Integration And Hardware Independence, Too.
A few weeks ago I published a blog about IBM i security built in at the beginning. I want to highlight sections of Frank Soltis book “Inside the AS/400.” Dr. Soltis notes that the AS400 security features were not an afterthought. Specifically, the IBM i has actually 2 operating systems – the IBM iOS and the License Internal Cover (LIC or microcode). IBM iOS runs on top of LIC, which is part of the POWER server hardware. LIC runs “under” iOS. LIC knows the details of the hardware and … [Read more...]
Why IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Owners Do NOT Have to Pay for Custom Programming Every Time There’s a Hardware Change
Hint: The Simple Answer Is Technology Independent Machine Interface (TIMI) You need software to run your business…and you need hardware to run your software. Your software—or more precisely, what your software does—is the reason you spend money on information technology. Some of that money has to go toward hardware, of course, but hardware is, functionally speaking, twice-removed from the “action.” Running your business profitably and efficiently is the “action,” and that’s why you want to … [Read more...]
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