Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

News: IBM and Slack. A better way to collaborate. IBM and New Flash Storage.
Cloud: Containers and Kubernetes, what you need to know.
Development: The languages you might want to add to your toolbox.
ERP: What are the two most important elements of a successful ERP project?
Hiring: Hiring Talent the right way. Remote work. The solution to the skills gap.

Photo by Yancy Min on Unsplash

News

IBM Picks Slack Over Microsoft Teams

“IBM has picked Slack to power its chat communications companywide for its more than 350,000 employees”. It has changed the way they collaborate and has opened the door to better communication and has made working across multiple locations more productive.

The need to pivot: This is a signal of where the tech industry is and where it is going. Collaboration tools that offer both synchronous and asynchronous communication, make it easy for dispersed teams to get work done. It’s tools like this that will enable AS/400 teams to modernize the way they approach their work.

After all, Slack is the pioneer in team collaboration.

Here are some Slack tutorials to get you started.

IBM aims to simplify storage with new Flash System Storage

“IBM Corp. is trying to eliminate some of the complexity of data storage with a new family of flash storage products it introduced today to meet the needs of a large array of enterprises, including entry-level, mid-range and high-end systems that extend to hybrid and multi-cloud environments.”

Cloud

What Exactly is Kubernetes?

Kubernetes is a container management tool. Containers are necessary and critical to modernizing legacy applications in the cloud. In turn, Kubernetes is a management tool that helps you automate the deployment of containers.

If you are an IBM i developer and are starting to research Kubernetes this article will give you a good overview of what it is, and how the open-source platform is used.

Here is IBM’s offering for Kubernetes Services.

Kubernetes job searches have exploded in the past 4 years

It’s no wonder why job searches for Kubernetes experience taken off. They are the standard way to run and test applications. If you are part of DevOps. It’s almost a given that you have container management experience.

Getting Started with Kubernetes on Skytap Cloud

Skytap offers up some documentation on how to get started with Kubernetes.

A use case for Kubernetes

Machine Learning is just one use case for Kubernetes. “Machine Learning (ML) is rapidly becoming essential to businesses and institutions across the globe.” There are computational and other resource challenges of ML which require containerization. This article gives a quick overview of how it can be done.

Development

PHP Enters a whole new Era

PHP is now available in RPM form. “PHP’s continued success is great news for IBM i shops. PHP has been on the platform for well over a decade, and it has powered a countless number of modern solutions.”

It is safe to assume that PHP will continue to be a reliable language for IBM i clients who are looking to innovate.

Seven Most Valuable Development Languages for Mobile Apps Development

Are you an RPG Developer looking to develop a mobile app? You could already be on the right path. Java, PHP and Python are on the list.

ERP

Your ERP Contract is Not Good

ERP projects that fail are not because of the failure of the software or technology. It is the failure of the process and the people involved.

And it all starts with the contract.

All too often the contract that is signed with the ERP vendor is one-sided. That is, it benefits the vendor not you.

If you are in the ERP selection phase selection, the success of your project starts with a contract that is written for you.

Hiring

What Not to Do When Hiring Talent

Most companies look for talent in the wrong places. Some think the best hire is the best culture fit. Depending on how you define culture, this could be the wrong approach.

In the IBM i (AS/400) community one of the biggest pitfalls we see is hiring for the same skills as everyone else has on the team. While there are many cases where the same skills are necessary. There are many times where its the wrong approach.

Learn how the best managers identify and develop talent.

5 Proven Benefits Of Remote Work For Companies

“Is this trend economically justified, or is it just our evolving workforce craving modern convenience?” Whether or not remote work is beneficial for or not, it remains to be a debate with management.

Mind The Skills Gap

Forward-thinking leaders are “realizing that a one-size-fits-all approach to talent management won’t work in today’s volatile, uncertain, complicated and ambiguous world.”

Are there times when the individual you hire has to check all the boxes?

Yes.

However, requiring an all-inclusive list of skills will ultimately leave your opening vacant for a long time.

As we have pointed out, time and time again, the real skill is knowing how to learn.

So, instead of looking to hire a unicorn. Hire for “natural talent” and bridge the skills gap with training.

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