Cloud and open source impact on RPG modernization; career advice on job titles and negotiating raises; importance of clear technical jargon; leadership insights for guiding modernization; high‑availability and disaster‑recovery considerations; IBM i trends, storage evolution, and related technology updates.
Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly
As you travel down your modernization journey you will encounter numerous challenges and realizations along the way. Here are 9 things we picked out of the news this week you need to know to modernize your RPG environment.
- News: Cloud and Open Source will play a role in modernization.
- Career: Does your job title mislead people and how to get a raise.
- Development: Be aware of technical jargon as you modernize.
- Leadership: Let people know when they have done something right.
- Modernization: HA and DR needs will change.
- Trends: Take notice of the IBM i uses and what you need to know about storage as you modernize.
News
IBM’s cloud chief closing in on competitors As you modernize your IBM i environment. Maybe you are in the process of rewriting your RPGIII code in RPG Free or you are leveraging open source solutions such as PHP or Node.js. While you do so, you need to pay attention to AI and cloud offerings from IBM. They are designed for business and are very different solutions than available for the consumer. SaaS, PaaS and IaaS are all based on a subscription model approach. Any combination of this can be used as part of your modernization experience. The one thing to keep in mind is, we are at the very beginning of cloud offerings. There will be many more types to come. IBM i: More transparency is needed for open source “It is clear the direction the IBM i is going is open source. Node.js and other technology offer great benefits. But, that does not mean there will not be some challenges along the way.” Because with challenge comes opportunity.
Career
Your job title is the first impression a recruiter has about you And sometimes your job title does not accurately tell your story. Let’s say you just finished a modernization project. It needs to be on your resume. “Expand upon what you did in that job that brought value — whether that’s an amount of revenue you produced, projects you led, or how you excelled in your monthly goals. Including the numbers that back up your success is key”. Earn a raise with a business plan Nick Corcodilos, offers common sense career advice through his website, Ask the Headhunter. I never miss his weekly column. For RPG developers who have helped their company modernize by introducing RPG Free, PHP or web services to your company, a raise is likely in order. But how do you go about it? Nick has the answer. “It’s best done with a business plan. In other words, do an analysis of your role as though your job constitutes an independent business. “
Development
Technical jargon: The good, the bad and the ugly The IBM i community, dare I say AS/400, is no stranger to this. Technical jargon is commonly used all of the time. As an RPG developer moving forward with modernization projects it is important to have a good understanding of how terms are used and perceived. The important thing is whenever you are using terminology, it is important “everyone in the group understands what this means.”
Leadership
IBM exec says all leaders should know this about human behavior Modernization is more than upgrading a system. It is taking the organization in a new direction. It requires incredible leadership. It does not matter if you are a CIO, a Team Leader or even an RPG developer working with users. This two-minute interview with Bridget van Kralingen will give you some valuable insight on the leadership traits she has used to build IBM’s Blockchain business from the ground up.
Modernization
What does High Availability and Disaster Recovery mean as you modernize? “High availability refers to the ability of an application, service or other IT resources to remain constantly accessible” and “Data availability is similar in that it is a measure of how long your data remains available and usable, regardless of which disruptions may be occurring to the infrastructure or software that hosts the data.” As AS/400 applications are modernized, your IBM i environment might look very different than before. With this in mind, your approach to HA and DR might change as well.
Trends
IBM i facts and trends for 2018 If you are on your modernization journey or about to start here is some important information, “based on various data points about how IBM i and POWER servers are being used in 2018.” The future of storage as it relates to hardware “Fueled by massive growth in data creation, the state of data storage hardware is evolving at a considerable rate at the moment.” Storage and how it is used will play a major role in modernization. This article offers some insight on what you need to know.
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