Learning Opportunities for the RPG Developer

Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

News: Economic Indicators. A Fresche Approach to Modernization. Common Europe Congress 2019.
Career: Do you have a Customer Centric Approach to your job?
Development: Learning Python and the History of Node.js to date.
Data: Three articles about data and why it is important for the future.
Hiring: Jim Buck and imPower Technologies offers a simple solution to hiring RPG Developers.
Learning: The IT Skills Gap could be a good thing for you. Learning is the most important skill for the future.
Modernization: A story about the modernization of a Wine Company we can learn from. Similarities of Cloud and Traditional Systems.
Trends: Will autonomous vehicles change the value chain at your company? Making use of sensor data.

News

Economic Indicators Here are some economic indicators for the US Economy. It's interesting to look at where we are today and how it relates to the spend within the IBM i ecosystem of products and services. This link does not change but the data on the page will. Steve Will's schedule for Common Europe Congress 2019 If you missed POWERUp19 you can always travel to Europe for COMMON Europe Congress 2019 in Berlin June 16-19. It's interesting to compare the itinearies from both events. Here is POWERUp19 schedule compared to the COMMON Europe Congress 2019 schedule. For the most part they are similar with the one in the Americas having more to choose from but the overall trend for both is a push for modernization and offering attendees the opportunity to see what the IBM i is capable of. Fresche Bullish On ‘Factory’ Approach As IBM i Market Improves "Factories offer a level of repeatability, predictability, and efficiency that make the manufacture of goods simpler, less risky, and more profitable than it would otherwise be. Now the folks at Fresche Solutions are taking a factory-based approach to a markedly different endeavor: the modernization of IBM i applications." If you did not already, take a look at the Economic Indicators article above. There seems to be a strong correlation between the strength of the economy and the growth of the modernization market. A strong case can also be made that the modernization trend will continue for the foreseeable future due to retirements and the overall change in how technology is being used in the enterprise. For more on this, see the Digital Innovation in Wine article below.

Career

Customer Centricity in the Digital Age The most successful companies throughout history have been successful because they believe:

customer centricity is about putting your customer at the center of your strategy.

For the IBM i ecosystem of software products and services, implementing this strategy will be the most important thing you can do. If you are an RPG Developer, who is your customer? Are you serving them the best you can? “With the help of AI, companies collect as much data as they can about their customers’ wants, needs, and preferences, and then apply it to customize their offerings, create personalized shopping experiences, and make the purchase process simpler and more convenient. An example of new tools available for understanding customer habits is the Personality Insights service made possible by IBM’s AI platform, Watson."

Development

Guru: Getting Started With Python On IBM i Here is a great introduction to Python on the IBM i by Stephanie Rabbani, of the Seiden Group. It highlights how, where and why Python should be used. Learn Python with these awesome resources "Expand your Python knowledge by adding these resources to your personal learning network." History of Node.js on a timeline If you are an RPG Developer and are looking to dive into Node.js or simply interested to learn more about it. Here "is the history of Node.js on a timeline, from 2009 until now (June, 2019)".

Data

Digital Transformation, Data and Innovation “There is no digital transformation without data. It's as simple as that. Digital transformation is either involved in creating more data (using sensors and IoT devices to gain more data), managing and understanding the data (Big Data, predictive analytics) or using data to make decisions or take actions (autonomous vehicles, robots, AI and machine learning). None of these things can be accomplished without data. Once you realize how important and how valuable data is to digital transformation you'll think again about where and how digital transformation can be successful." Why decision optimization is essential for a data-driven economy "With the march toward a data-driven economy, we are inundated with an unprecedented volume of data points and faced with far more variables and constraints than ever before. It is more difficult to make timely decisions that affect business outcome. Every decision has a ripple effect, with some more dramatic than others. And with an infinite possibility of trade-offs, how do you separate wheat from chaff to get the best results?" Collaborating for the common good: Navigating public-private data partnerships "As the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution continue to evolve, the role of data has become indisputable. In an effort to extract even more value from data, organizations are increasingly linking and connecting diverse data sets, a practice that stands as one of the primary factors shaping today’s global economy."

Hiring

Another way to Buck the Trend when it comes to hiring RPG Developers Hire local and train RPG Developers with imPower Technologies is the message we hear from Jim Buck in an interview with ITJungle at POWERUp19. Find out more about how this can work for you and your organization.

Learning

4 Reasons the IT Skills Gap Is a Good Thing "Analysts typically discuss the growing and prominent IT skills gap in negative ways as they think about how to fix the problem in the most efficient ways possible. It's true there are downsides to the shortage of IT talent. But, it's also crucial to realize the good things that could result from it." This article points out two options that I see taking place in the AS400 and IBM i community. First, companies are being forced to look at different ways of hiring. Historically, AS400 organizations have been slow to adopt remote work as an option. But now many are because they are becoming more comfortable with it. Second, we are also seeing organizations retraining developers in RPG as well as up-skilling RPG Developers by sending them to training. Five Business Shifts That Will Put Learning at The Heart of The Agenda This article “explore five underlying forces at play that are placing learning and development (L&D) at the heart of tomorrow’s organizations.” We talked about this in the past in that learning is the most important skill an RPG Developer can have, let alone any career minded professional. It’s the one skill that is indispensable.

Modernization

E&J Gallo Winery CIO Drives Digital Innovation In Wine This is one of the better articles that I have read in a very long time. It gives a real world example of the shift that needs to take place with regards to traditional IT. The shift from order taker to strategic partner. After reading this article, it is clear how very important having the right CIO in place is. The story is about E&J Gallo Winery. "They own the vineyards that make the wine, but they also own the sand mines, manufacturing production facilities, glass manufacturing, and the like. With $4.6 billion in revenue, the California-based winery is one of the largest private companies in the United States. " It's a must read no matter where you sit in the IBM i ecosystem. Getting ERP Users to Upgrade—Cloud vs. Traditional Systems "One of the great challenges facing traditional ERP vendors is getting customers to keep up with the latest version. Customers on older versions often don’t keep up with innovation and spend too much time on workarounds leaving both the company and the vendor unhappy." What is interesting about this article is that it points out that even with SaaS or Cloud solutions there are sometimes changes that need to take place that can make customers hesitant to upgrade.

Trends

Lyft’s Robo-taxis Have Made More Than 50,000 Rides in Las Vegas “Lyft partnered with vehicle technology firm Aptiv to launch the service, with locals and tourists alike able to request a ride in the usual way, via the Lyft app. It uses 30 modified BMW 540i cars, all kitted out with Aptiv-made sensor, cameras, and software to ensure a safe ride.” Why is this important? The consumer market in many respects is leading the enterprise market. That is, what we see in the consumer market eventually will make it to the enterprise. Autonomus vehicles will be part of our future. Think about how they could impact productivity in manufacturing, distribution and retail? How will the IBM i community respond to these new business processes? Will it change the value chain at your company? IoT success stories: Reaping value from sensor data "The internet of things is helping CIOs collect more data than ever. Here IT leaders share how IoT is helping to transform manufacturing, agriculture, and museums." On a side note, many organizations, especially in manufacturing have been collecting sensor data for years. It's only now that companies are learning how to use the data to be more predictive. View from the Edge: Clear or Cloudy? "Organizations across industries are extending their infrastructures outward to enable IoT, but not all of them are able to use data as well as they'd hoped."

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