Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: IBM i Security Report. IBM Gains as Market Dips.
Development: The State of Node.js in 2023.
Modernization: Balancing Tech Debt and Innovation.
Leadership: Traditional Leadership is Broken.
Learning: The IBM i Community.
Training: Harnessing Internal Talent: How RPG Developer Apprenticeships Can Propel Your Company Forward.

IBM i Brief

Don’t have a false sense of security.

While the IBM i is known for its security, it is still important to educate employees about security risks and implement security policies and procedures to prevent data breaches and cyberattacks.

This article touches on the need for organizations to stay vigilant and proactive in their approach to IBM i security.

Key takeaway:

The number of critical security events has increased significantly, and organizations need to prioritize security measures such as multi-factor authentication and regular security assessments.

IBM Gains as Market Dips

IBM’s stock price has recently risen despite a dip in the overall market. This is due to several factors including IBM’s strong financial performance in the first quarter of 2021 and its ongoing efforts to transform its business and focus on high-growth areas such as cloud computing and AI.

IBM has recently announced several new partnerships and initiatives, including a collaboration with the University of Illinois to develop quantum computing technologies and a new program to help businesses adopt hybrid cloud solutions.

Future: IBM’s strategic moves and strong financial performance are positioning the company for continued growth and success.

Development

The State of Node.js in 2023

For the IBM i developer who is leveraging Node.js, here is a breakdown of the current state of Node.js performance in 2023, highlighting various improvements and updates that have been made to enhance its efficiency and scalability.

Improved V8 Engine: Node.js 2023 incorporates the latest version of the V8 engine, providing significant performance enhancements.
Enhanced Diagnostic Capabilities: Node.js now offers advanced diagnostic capabilities, enabling developers to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks more efficiently.
Cluster Load Balancing: The new cluster module in Node.js facilitates load balancing across multiple cores, improving scalability and handling high traffic loads effectively.
ECMAScript Module Support: Node.js has introduced native support for ECMAScript modules (ESM), allowing developers to use modern JavaScript syntax and module import/export statements natively.
HTTP/2 and QUIC Support: Node.js now includes native support for HTTP/2 and QUIC protocols, offering improved network performance and reduced latency.
Best Practices for Performance Optimization: Highlights several best practices for optimizing Node.js performance, including caching, asynchronous programming, and using appropriate data structures.
Challenges and Future Considerations: Addresses certain challenges in Node.js performance, such as managing memory and handling long-running requests efficiently.

If you are an IBM i developer leveraging Node.js, this article does a deep dive into Node.js. It shares a number of benchmark tests that focus on specific operations and offers a number of valuable use cases for you to review.

Modernization

Balancing Tech Debt and Innovation

Balancing technical debt and innovation for companies is key to remaining competitive in their respective markets.

If you think about it, it’s hard to innovate if you don’t deal with tech debt.

Technical debt hinders the ability to innovate.

Modernization is crucial for companies to reduce technical debt and invest in innovation.

This article focuses on the CFO’s need to prioritize modernization by creating a clear strategy, allocating resources, and collaborating with IT leaders. It also touches on the fact that many of the things (see below) that are used to innovate, can also add to technical debt.

Citizen Developers: Non-technical employees who create software applications using low-code or no-code platforms.
IoT: The network of physical devices connected to the internet, which can collect and exchange data.
Reactionary Transformation: A reactive approach to digital transformation that involves making changes in response to external pressures or crises

The path forward

To remain relevant and competitive, organizations must make modernization a top priority and devise a well-defined strategy for fostering innovation.

Leadership

Traditional Leadership is Broken

Does this resonate with you?

Our current leadership system has been built around a fear-based, carrot-and-stick model that simply doesn’t work.

Most developers love development because they love to be creative and helpful.

Thus, to get the most out of them, they need to be inspired.

Here is a blog post and interview with Bill Fox, Forward Thinking Workplaces, where he interviews Dr. Lance Secretan, who challenges us to think differently about what it means to lead and inspire.

It focuses on creating a new paradigm centered on inspiration, love, and the human spirit.

The idea is to break free from the Pavlovian trap we’ve all fallen into based on fear of punishment or the anticipation of reward.

Enjoy.

Learning

The IBM i Community

What is the IBM i Community?

It’s a community, individuals can connect with like-minded people, exchange ideas, share experiences, and learn from one another.

This is what I love about the IBM i community. The willingness to share.

There is a treasure trove of information and insight here at the “IBM i Reference Pages“.

When learning something new, remember: research, experiment, and share.

Training

Harnessing Internal Talent: How RPG Developer Apprenticeships Can Propel Your Company Forward

If you are in an IBM i shop, there is a good chance there are RPG developers who ~~have gray hair~~ are close to retirement. As you know, we don’t believe that companies need to panic just because of RPG retirements, but we do believe they need to prepare.

Join

Contact us

If you are an RPG programmer looking to explore opportunities or a client who is looking for a talented IBM i professional, please contact us. We look forward to assisting you.

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