The IBM i: An Amazing New Platform

Can you guess what this article is about?

The most amazing IBM product you have never heard Of Yes, you guessed it. It’s interesting how the platform described here is categorized under “NEW PRODUCT ANALYSIS”. In a sense, it is new to some, because many people don’t even know it exists. And many of those who do, don’t even understand what it is capable of. Here are a couple of highlights from the article:

What makes IBM i so amazing is that it is very similar in concept to hyper-converged hardware but in software. What I mean is that it is a fully tested and integrated platform that is designed to function as a packaged whole.

Big driver for this growth is security and reliability, because the platform isn’t just near bulletproof–it is incredibly reliable and able to take, depending on the hardware on which it is running, massive user loading.

Why is this article important. It’s important because of the lens in which it is viewing the platform. It sees it for what it is “today”, what it is capable of, and the value it brings to the enterprise in the digital age. This is the key. This article alone might boost sales for so go ahead show it to whomever you need to because:

The IBM i is the closest thing to a software platform superhero I’ve yet seen and likely the safest and most powerful server platform” you’ve ever heard of.

The IBM i is all about innovation.

Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

News: Detailed report of Power Systems growth. Overview of Think 2019.
Career: Learn how to get a raise
Development: PHP Conference & Building a RESTful API.
Modernization: Build upon Legacy Platforms with Continuous Modernization.
Trends: The Future Factory. The prediction for Blockchain in the next three years.

News

Power Systems Revenue Growth is more than expected Here is some detailed analysis of revenue growth of Power Systems going back to 2009. Things are looking pretty good for Power Systems. Five Important Notes from Think 2019 Think 2019 was really about the future of AI. Here are some high-level takeaways:

Watson Anywhere: “Watson AI is coming to your cloud of preference: public, private, hybrid cloud.” Watson is seeking to be the most scalable AI for the business world.
No AI without IA: You need IA for AI to succeed. Information Architecture is the foundation for your cognitive platform and applications. This foundation all starts with Data.
Data ethics: The theme at Think 2019 was “responsible stewardship” of data.
One shot learning: Is a concept of “using less data to train machines and power cognitive services. This is still in development and we will see more of this in the future.
AI for good: AI can help us strive for a net good in society.

There is a lot here. It’s clear that IBM is betting big on AI and data.

Career

Using data to get your next raise “Most people dread the annual review process. It is difficult to remember everything you have done over the course of a year and summarize it in a concise, clear way.” This article gives you a blueprint about how to do it.

Development

The Midwest PHP conference in Bloomington, MN (March 8-9, 2019) For those of your in the Midwest, this is for you. “The Midwest PHP Conference is hosted by the Minnesota PHP User Group community through the North Foundation in Bloomington, Minnesota from March 8th – 9th, 2019. “ Building a RESTful API using ReachPHP and mySQL Here is a quick tutorial for “creating a RESTful API using ReactPHP, MySQL and nikic/FastRoute”. You can simply replace “users for anything you want for your application (orders, products, customers, etc).” 34 Amazing Python Open Source Libraries for this past year A comparison of “nearly 10,000 open source Python libraries and selected 34 most useful tools to help your development.”

Modernization

Use Continuous Modernization to build Digital Platforms from Legacy Platforms “What got you here can get you there. As IT teams race to support business-driven modernization, the assumption is that legacy systems are out, and new, unproven applications are the only way forward. This Gartner report explains why rip-and-replace strategies are not only risky, they are often unnecessary in order to get “there” faster.” Midsized companies modernize and Go Digital Here is an article from CFOs giving you their perspective on modernization and digital transformation. It shows how “CFOs shepherd midsize companies through an era of transformation and upheaval.”

Trends

Future Factories will change Manufacturing and Supply Chain It’s hard to know what the future will bring. We can only predict based on what we are seeing today. The move to a “digital supply chain” will change everything.

Large inventories and slow-moving pallets of goods will become a distant memory. Manufacturers will build that spare airplane part on demand, for example, tailoring it to the customer’s exact demands, and we’ll ship it out — all within hours.

Why is this important? This will change the role of traditional IT. RPG Developers will be writing applications to do very different things than they have done in the past. They will be asked to know more than just modern RPG but also a variety of open source languages like PHP, Python, and environments such as Node.js. Half of the C-Level executives say that Blockchain will change how tech firms do business “Nearly half of IT execs in a recent survey believe blockchain will change the way their companies do business over the next three years, and that the top benefit blockchain will enable is improved business efficiency.”

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