Modernization – considerations for moving off legacy IBM i platforms; Development – Profound Logic’s no‑code API enabling Salesforce integration with Db2 for i; DevOps – discussion of IBM i’s evolution, containerized Merlin tools, and its relationship to Linux and Kubernetes; ERP – analysis of current forces shaping ERP evolution, including AI, cloud‑based architectures, and the balance between legacy systems and modern innovations.
Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly
- Modernization: Moving Off Big Iron? Be Very Careful, Gartner Says.
- Development: Profound Logic Shows Off No-Code API for Salesforce.
- DevOps: Will IBM i Become More Like Linux?
- ERP: 3 forces shaping the evolution of ERP.
Modernization
Moving Off Big Iron? Be Very Careful, Gartner Says Sometimes it might make sense to move to another platform. But, as Gartner advises, sometimes it is not the right move. While some organizations might benefit from the move, others could be dazzled and then strangled by technology solutions that are not as good as they thought they were. Advice: Be prudent and do your due diligence. If your organization is considering migrating or modernizing your applications, you better have an IBM i Solutions Architect in the room to be part of the conversation. Regardless of the direction you end up going, he/she will save you millions and millions of dollars, not to mention time.
Development
Profound Logic Shows Off No-Code API for Salesforce "IBM i shops that are looking for a way to integrate their Db2 for i data with Salesforce applications may be interested in a new REST API unveiled by Profound Logic last month." "Plug-ins are central to Profound API, and the software supports a number of them. Each plugin serves its own purpose, the company says in its documentation for the product, such as accessing the database, navigating in the application, managing program data, sending emails, consuming services, creating conditions, running custom SQL, and executing custom Node.js code." Profound "created an API that pulls data out of IBM i and loads it into Salesforce, the popular CRM software that runs in the cloud. The exercise shows that the product is so simple to use that a Salesforce administrator could create a connection to an IBM i database "without knowing any code.""
DevOps
Will IBM i Become More Like Linux? I am often asked, "How are things going in the IBM i market?" The short answer is, it has changed and will continue to change in the future. The IBM i market of 10 years ago is different today and will likely be very different 10 years from now (yes, the IBM i will be here in 10 years). If you have been paying attention to the news about the recent launch of Merlin, a collection of tools for DevOps, it is clear that the IBM i platform is evolving.
"It’s a framework, if you will, that today includes a Web-based IDE, connectors for Git and Jenkins, and impact analysis and code conversion software OEMed from ARCAD Software. And in the future, Merlin will have even more goodies, including possibly an app catalog, PTF management, security capabilities, and more integrations with tools from third-party vendors."
It is important to note that Merlin is very different from the tools of the past in that Merlin runs in a container, specifically Kubernetes. There is a lot to process in this article, let alone wrapping your head around how Merlin, containers and Kubernetes. Linux could change the IBM i landscape in the future. In summary, "IBM i isn’t going to run Kubernetes and it’s not going to become Linux. But it will sit right next to them, enabling IBM i applications and customers to integrate with them to the greatest extent possible."
ERP
3 forces shaping the evolution of ERP Moving into the digital 2020s, enterprises are contemplating the adoption of a new generation of collaborative, composable, and cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) technologies. "Gartner has forecast that 65% of organizations will adopt ERP applications that use one or more of what it calls “fourth-era hallmarks” by 2023. Those include AI, data-centric design, systems that can be used off the shelf, functions that augment decisions, developer enablement, and customer-facing technology." It may be hard to argue that ERP systems need to adapt to the changing market forces, however, it's also important to recognize that there is incredible value in legacy ERP systems. While there are countless stories of organizations moving to a new ERP, there are also just as many that realize what we have in our current system is our secret sauce. When we combine it with AI, data analytics and other cloud platforms, it will become even more powerful.
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