This week, we'll cover updated Power Systems rebates, news about COMMON Europe, COMMON Americas, and the push for more PowerLinux in China.

Written by Steve Pitcher

As per announcement letters 313-040 and 313-041, IBM has added POWER7+ hardware to the list of qualifying and eligible products in their software solutions' first-in-location or competitive migration rebate programs. You can receive a rebate equal to the total invoice price of the eligible new ISV software licenses acquired, up to a maximum rebate that is dependent upon the eligible new server minimum configurations outlined in the announcement letters. For example, if you purchase an ISV solution that costs $10,000, that's what you're entitled to as a rebate if the eligible hardware rebate value is greater than or equal to $10,000.

This week, we'll cover V5R4 receiving a service extension, the 8th annual Top Concerns survey from COMMON Europe, IBM marketing the heck out of IBM i, and the IBM i Professionals group on LinkedIn.

Written by Steve Pitcher

You probably knew that this was going to happen once the formal end of support for i5/OS V5R4 was announced for September 2013. IBM makes it official with announcement letter 613-004 stating that, because of significant demand, customers can continue to receive software support and maintenance for the next three years.

This article is an excerpt from the book Fundamentals of Technology Project Management (Second Edition) published in September 2012 by MC Press.

Written by Colleen Garton

Is there a social media/virtual communication generation gap? I would say that the answer is yes. This does not mean that I think one generation is more adept with the tools than another. The adoption rate of the various social media tools differs between generations. What is considered good etiquette for one generation may be quite different for another. The cultural effect of social media also differs between generations. In general, different generations use social media in a slightly different way. One way is not necessarily better than another. However, in a professional environment, it is important to ensure that team members are using appropriate tools and using them in a professional manner. If you are aware of the differences in how your team members use social media, you can help them learn from each other. This will increase communication effectiveness for your entire team.

I was in Austin, Texas, last week for the COMMON User Group annual conference and exposition. There are plenty of highlights I want to discuss here.

Written by Steve Pitcher

IBM announced the AS/400 back on June 21, 1988. On April 8, 2013, IBM officially launched the IBMi25 25th anniversary campaign (although IBM i Chief Architect Steve Will let out some teasers a few days in advance). Check out the IBMi25 Facebook page set up for the celebration, and also view the first three of many videos in which key IBM i community members talk about the launch. It's all part of the promotion leading up to the 25th anniversary.

As always, there were plenty of announcements. Let's look at what the vendors, including IBM of course, told us.

Written by John Ghrist

The COMMON Conference and Expo concluded its inaugural visit to Austin, Texas, last week and featured the usual mix of IBM i professionals seeking education opportunities and independent software vendors unveiling enticing software upgrades and strategic-alliance announcements.

Today, we'll cover the price benefits of recycling old tin and some new PTFs you gotta get. I was going to say something about IBM naming the line of servers called the CanuckleHead after me, but it was a groaner. And I'm sure my editor will leave that in.

Written by Steve Pitcher

IBM really wants you upgraded to Power7 and Power7+ iron and subsequently away from IBM i 5.4. How much so? Effective March 18, 2013, IBM's trade-in value for older machines running IBM i 5.4 have been updated according to announcement letter 313-025. The rebates are based not on what older tin you turn in, but actually what you upgrade to.

Hardware eligible to upgrade are all 940x (feature codes 5028 through 5033), 8203-E4A (FC 0533), and 8204-E8A (FC 0533).

What's kind of odd is the Power7 rebates are deeper than the Power7+ rebates. For instance, the 6-way Power7 3.0 GHz 720 Express rebate is $4000, but the 6-way Power7+ 3.6 GHz 720 Express is only $400.

This week, I'm talking about the SWMA price increase and subsequent reduction; new collaboration options, including expanded support for IBM I; COMMON 2013; and Power Systems manufacturing going south of the border.

Written by Steve Pitcher

As I covered in my last article, IBM i software maintenance (i.e., SWMA) prices were scheduled to go up as of next month. But before customers could say "there goes the budget," or more likely afterward, the cost increase was declared null and void by IBM. That's a good thing if you're an IBM i customer as the announcement of the cost increase came on short notice when most of us already had our budget plans laid out for the year. Larger customers with systems in higher processor tiers and many active cores would've been on the hook for a significant amount of scratch.

In this issue, we're covering IBM i security monitoring, mobility with IBM MobileFirst, and SWMA price increases.

Written by Steve Pitcher

With all the recent great news surrounding IBM i Technology Refresh 6, the new Power7+ iron, and IBM's precision-like Power Systems targeting of the SMB x86-64 market, it's a bit of a downer to have to lead in with a "you have to pay more" story.

According to IBM announcement letter 313-006, IBM i software maintenance prices are going up April 16, 2013.