Talsco Weekly: 2023: An IBM i Year in Review

Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: 2023: An IBM i Year in Review. Navigating the Path to a Seamless Enterprise in 2023.
AI: AI offers endless possibilities, but how does it relate to IBM i? Jaxon revolutionizes AI with Domain-Specific AI Language (DSAIL). Technology giants form global initiative for AI development.
Career: What language should I learn in addition to RPG?
Hiring: Make a plan before your RPG developers retire.
Modernization: Rethinking Manufacturing Software.

IBM i Brief

2023: An IBM i Year in Review With another year nearly in the books, it’s time to take a stroll through IT Jungle posts and reconsider the 728 stories that they published in 2023. Impressive!! Here is a look at some of the biggest IBM i news stories of 2023:

IBM i professionals showed ongoing concern for security with Fortra's annual study revealing it as the top concern for the sixth consecutive year
Power Systems revenue increased as storage sales remained strong
Notable events included the release of Technology Refreshes, a critical security vulnerability in PowerVM
The celebration of AS/400's 35th anniversary

Navigating the Path to a Seamless Enterprise in 2023 While outside the IBM i community, this article is relevant because it summarizes the merger of technology and business that has taken place in 2023. It touches all enterprises, regardless of the technical stack.

“There's been a convergence around platform thinking and the need to join up processes and data across the enterprise.”

Behind all the hype about generative AI, real progress was made on key themes of Frictionless Enterprise, including joined-up platforms and data, enterprise collaboration and engaging people.

AI

AI offers endless possibilities, but how does it relate to IBM i? 90% of IT teams want to leverage AI with their internal applications but have concerns about security and questions around implementation. Simply put, they don’t know where to start. Here is a great example of how AI can be used in an IBM i environment (video). Jaxon revolutionizes AI with Domain-Specific AI Language (DSAIL) Partnering with IBM's watsonx, Jaxon's developer-friendly system tackles hallucination inaccuracies in large language models. What are hallucination inaccuracies? This refers to situations where the model generates text that appears to be coherent and contextually relevant but is factually incorrect or purely fictional. DSAIL empowers AI builders with abstract reasoning, prototyping, and solution optimization. Jaxon integrates foundation models from watsonx.ai, refining them to meet industry-specific challenges. Collaboration with IBM and utilizing the StarCoder model cements Jaxon's domain-specific AI applications. The future of powerful, trusted, and reliable AI is here. Technology giants form global initiative for AI development IBM, Meta, Intel, and over 40 other organizations have announced the creation of the AI Alliance, advocating for an open model of AI. With an annual $80 billion research and development spend, this group aims to collaborate on responsible growth, governance, chip supply, and privacy. The alliance includes 400,000 students and a million staff members, focusing on creating a vibrant AI hardware accelerator ecosystem and promoting safe AI deployment. Absent from the coalition are Google, Nvidia, OpenAI, and Microsoft.

Career

What language should I learn in addition to RPG? RPG developers often ask me, what is the best language to learn in addition to RPG? My first question is, do you program in RPG free-form and use RDi? If not, this should be your first step. The next step might surprise you.

Hiring

Make a plan before your RPG developers retire As RPG developers on the IBM i platform reach retirement age, it has led to a concern about the availability of RPG Developers and the potential impact it will have on businesses that rely on mission critical RPG applications. The one thing that needs to be addressed is that the availability of RPG developers, or the lack thereof, is not as big of an issue as one might think when it comes to the future of the IBM i platform.

Modernization

Rethinking Manufacturing Software It is not always the case, but many who work…

“in the manufacturing space can speak to the disconnect between the use of technology in their personal and professional lives.”

In the manufacturing sector, closed vendor ecosystems have hindered true digital transformation. The solution lies in collaborative, open ecosystems that integrate new and legacy players, hardware, and software. An open ecosystem approach is necessary to drive innovation and solve the challenges faced by manufacturers:

Embrace Open Standards and Protocols: Openness and knowledge sharing across the industry lead to informed decision-making and continuous improvement. Leveraging open source, standards, platforms, and data models builds a future-proof tech stack.
Connect the Old and the New: Integration of systems and processes from the shop floor to the top floor is essential. An open ecosystem seamlessly integrates with existing sensors, machines, and devices, enabling real-time data-driven decision-making.
Empower Digital Transformation: Manufacturers can choose and integrate solutions that fit their evolving processes, increasing agility and resilience. Collaboration through an open ecosystem empowers frontline workers with the right tools for holistic digital transformation.

Stanley Black & Decker's Hermosillo site in Mexico, is a model for change in that it exemplifies the success of an Augmented Lean culture. Through technology empowerment and collaboration, the site drives digital transformation from the top down and the bottom up.

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