IBM i subscription licensing and transition issues, IBM’s historical evolution and modern relevance, procedure RPG programming with object‑oriented concepts, Node.js vs PHP web development comparison, API types and importance, leadership challenges in talent availability and platform perception, the IBM i skills gap and initiatives to address it, and highlights of IBM i 7.5 features.
Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly
- IBM i Brief: Making sense of IBM i subscriptions. The Roots Of IBM.
- Development: Procedure RPG Programming and Adapting Object-Orientated Programming. Node.js vs PHP: Decoding the Premier Web Development Choice. What are APIs and Why are they important?
- Leadership: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities.
- Learning: The IBM i Skills Gap 🎙️. Things to Love About IBM i 7.5.
IBM i Brief
Making sense of IBM i subscriptions There has been a lot of confusion around the details and the important dates related to perpetual and subscription pricing for IBM i software and Power10 hardware.
"As IBM transitions to subscription pricing for IBM i software stack and Power10 hardware, some questions remain. Recent updates to FAQ documents add some confusion, highlighting changes in licensing terms and conversion options."
Important Dates: (relating to IBM i in the P05 and P10 tiers)
- March 26, 2024: This is supposed to be the last day you will be able to get new perpetual licenses and Software Maintenance on these systems on new Power10 systems.
- May 8th: After this date "you can transfer perpetual licenses and their IBM i entitlements to a different machine and you can also add more core and user entitlements to an existing Power Systems machine as you need to."
Other takeaways: Clarified licensing of IBM i on the Capacity BackUp (CBU):
The CBU backup machine for IBM i stack can have perpetual or subscription licenses, as can the production machine. The licenses on the CBU box must match; you can't mix perpetual and subscription licenses for LPARs under the same serial number.
Summary: "There are many unanswered questions, such as how extended support will work for IBM i subscriptions, how you transfer licenses between machines, including instances running on IBM’s Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) cloud offering, and how you transition from perpetual to subscription licenses." Stay tuned. The Roots Of IBM IBM's Evolution from Punch Cards to Modern Computing. IBM's roots trace back to Herman Hollerith's punch card machines used for the US Census in 1890. Over the years, it evolved from the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co to IBM. While IBM led early computing, it's now overshadowed in AI development by Nvidia. IBM's Evolution into International Business Machines Corp. From its origins in the late 19th century, IBM's development into the tech giant it is today involved strategic mergers, operational improvements, and savvy leadership transitions. The renaming of International Business Machines Corp. in 1924 signaled the company's ambitious global outlook and set the stage for its future dominance in the industry. If you are interested in a detailed history of IBM, you can find it here. And, here is a short film that highlights IBM's role in the development of the personal computer.
Development
Procedure RPG Programming and Adapting Object-Orientated Programming The four pillars of OOP—abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism—have evolved, significantly influencing programming. In this article, IBM i Software Engineer, Gregory Simmons discusses their development and dives into the advantages of using OOP, such as increased modularity and code reusability, and how RPGLE incorporates encapsulation and inheritance, enhancing code organization and reusability. Node.js vs PHP: Decoding the Premier Web Development Choice In the area of web development, the choice of backend technologies is frequently restricted to Node.JS and PHP. Each has unique strengths and disadvantages, making the decision difficult for developers and companies. To go deeper into this issue, we'll talk about Node.js vs PHP and look at the histories, benefits, drawbacks, and practical applications of both Node.js and PHP. What are APIs and Why are they important? “The API is a powerful and versatile means to connect diverse and disparate software applications. APIs allow a vast array of unrelated software products to integrate and interoperate with other software and data. APIs also allow developers to add features and functionality to software by utilizing a rich array of other developers’ APIs. Much of today’s enterprise, mobile, and web software depends on a wide range of APIs.” There are four types of APIs:
- Public APIs: “A public API is open and available for use by any outside developer or business.”
- Partner APIs: “Only available to specifically selected and authorized outside developers or API consumers, is a means to facilitate business-to-business activities.”
- Internal APIs: “An internal or private API is intended only for use within the enterprise to connect systems and data within the business.”
- Composite APIs: “Combine two or more APIs to craft a sequence of related or interdependent operations.”
Leadership
Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities There are two main challenges facing the IBM i community.
- The availability of talent.
- The perception of the platform.
We can break both of these areas down into any number of subcategories, but we will save that for another time. Here is an interview with Barry Snyder, an IT Leader, who has helped several organizations transform. He believes transformation comes from addressing and overcoming the following three main challenges:
- Cultural Shifts
- Improvement in moral
- Modernization and Trust Building
Although he does not come from an IBM i background, all three of the above challenges need to be overcome as organizations that run the IBM i platform look to transform. Quote:
"Leadership First". Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation. - William Arthur Wood
Learning
The IBM i Skills Gap 🎙️ Over the past few years, we have witnessed several changes in the IBM i community, and many of these changes tie into retirements. It's not just RPG developers retiring but the founding members of any number of ISVs, software, and hardware vendors that are deciding to hang it up. But, with these retirements, as always, we are seeing the resilient IBM i community bounce back in new and innovative ways. Take a listen to the recent The Incredible i Show podcast episode where Scott Klement and Yvonne Enselmen talk about their new endeavor that aims to help bridge the skills gap in our community. It's a unique approach and should gain some traction as it is launched. Things to Love About IBM i 7.5 While IBM i 7.5 has been out for some time, here is a great video giving a rundown of some of the amazing features it has to offer.
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