Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

News: Steve Will’s Promotions And What They Mean For IBM i.
DevOps: How Merlin Got It’s Name.
Remote Work: How to Build Trust With Clients & Staff Remotely.
Open Source: A guide to container orchestration with Kubernetes.
AI: How AI Can Help Identify Supply Chain Vulnerabilities.
Blockchain: Enterprise Blockchain Isn’t Boring.

News

Steve Will’s Promotions And What They Mean For IBM i

“How significant is Will’s promotion to DE and CTO for IBM i?”

“It’s huge. It’s huge!” Rowe said last week at the POWERUp conference. “He’s a technical executive, so he is now part of the executive community at IBM.”

“The promotion gives Will a seat at a bigger table within IBM, one occupied by high-level technology executives within the company. It also gives Will a certain amount of freedom and autonomy to explore new potential avenues without first gaining the approval of IBM bosses.”

Key takeaway:

Steve Will is not a people manager, he is a Technical Manager. There is a big difference. Being a Dedicated Engineer along with CTO means, that IBM i has a legitimate seat at the table.

This shows that “that IBM recognizes that IBM i continues as a valuable part” of IBM’s future.

DevOps

How Merlin Got It’s Name

At the recent POWERUp conference, Steve Will details how Merlin Got It’s Name.

Merlin is the new IBM product that is build to “help to modernize development and operations processes on IBM i. In addition to Web-based IDE based on VS Code, it would bring integration with Git for source code management and Jenkins for continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD). It was chosen to run in a container on OpenShift, Red Hat’s Linux-based distribution of Kubernetes.”

Key take away:

The AS/400 from yesteryear is very different from the modern and transformative IBM i of today.

Remote Work

How to Build Trust With Clients & Staff Remotely

Here is an article from outside our industry, however, it’s very relevant. Remote work is here to stay; the key is how do we manage hybrid workforce.

Open Source

A guide to container orchestration with Kubernetes

I was speaking with an IBM i Developer the other day, and she asked for my opinion on the future of the IBM i market. I told her that future IBM i Developers need to embrace change.

A full stack IBM i developer will have experience with APIs, Webservices, Open Source development languages, DevOps and technologies like Kubernetes.

In my opinion, the more we learn about these technologies, the better off the market will be.

What is a container?

“A container is an image of a file system containing only what’s required to run a specific task. Most people don’t build containers from scratch, although reading about how it’s done can be elucidating. Instead, it’s more common to pull an existing image from a public container hub.”

AI

How AI Can Help Identify Supply Chain Vulnerabilities

“Thankfully, innovations in technology are allowing vulnerabilities in supply chains to be pinpointed — giving organizations a chance to fix them before problems arise. One of the most important technological resources being used to detect supply chain vulnerabilities is AI technology, which has predictive abilities that can be more effective than the human mind in some cases.”

“As supply chains are becoming more digitalized, AI technology is beginning to take a more important role in the process. The technology’s capabilities — such as increasing efficiency, automating problem-solving, and forecasting trends — are helping supply chains to run smoother and fix vulnerabilities in their operations faster.”

Blockchain

Enterprise Blockchain Isn’t Boring

Will Blockchain transform financial services, payment systems, and even, EDI?

“Enterprise blockchain matters. It matters for the same reason that “enterprise internet” matters: we live in a world that runs on commerce. The world of blockchain is heavy on commerce as well, but that expansion has been one vertical at a time, starting with finance and payments.”

“Enterprises spend a disproportionate amount of time and money trying to keep these two worlds in sync, doing simple things like matching an invoice to a shipment of goods and making sure that it complies with the terms of an agreement. Blockchains can make all of that automatic, cheap and simple.”

As this article highlights, conceptually, it is easy to see how blockchain can be utilized in the enterprise.

“Business agreements boil down to this: I have money. You have stuff. We’re going to exchange my money for your stuff. This is a swap.”

But, Enterprise blockchain is easier said than done.

The difficult part is this all needs to be done privately.

If you are curious about the world of blockchain, this is a great read.

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