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June is almost here, so it seems an appropriate time to explore results of the marriage of two aspects of computer technology that seem destined to remain together: artificial intelligence and computer operations, a concept becoming better known as AIOps.
By John Ghrist
Even if your enterprise doesn't seem to need, for example, an AI-driven chatbot to handle customer-service activities quite yet, there's another application type that might be the icebreaker for AI introduction to your organization. That would be applications that use AI to automate many aspects of computer operations traditionally handled by humans.
Data security and data privacy are terms that often appear in the same sentence. Although some of the means of securing both are identical, there are also critical distinctions between them that mustn't be overlooked when considering service providers.
By John Ghrist
We've likely all heard for many years now about how globalized the world is becoming. In the Internet Age, many points on the planet now communicate and share information instantaneously, and the practice of direct buying and selling of goods across borders has gone from an almost exotic happenstance to a commonplace goal of a majority of U.S. business enterprises in the last two decades. Hand in hand with that has been the need to secure data needed to handle business transactions: customer contact information, credit card and bank account numbers, and routing information are obvious examples. Everyone agrees such things must be kept securely confidential. Yes, we've seen this movie before.
Maybe these companies were able to pivot easily because IBM i doesn’t require the daily hand-holding required to keep other platforms working.
By Steve Pitcher
It’s easy to look at the year 2020 with contempt.
I’ve done it. Most all of us probably have. There’s no reason to do a recap of 2020. It started with a near-miss war with Iran, and it hasn’t let up since. I was joking the other week that the only thing we’re missing in 2020 is the equivalent of the Ten Plagues of Egypt. And we still have a couple of months for that to unfold.
Calling Stored Procedures. Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this series.
By Roger Sanders
Editor's Note: This article is excerpted from chapter 6 of QuickStart Guide to Db2 Development with Python, by Roger Sanders.
If an application has one or more transactions that perform a relatively large amount of work with little or no user interaction, those transactions can be encapsulated and stored on the database server as a stored procedure. Stored procedures make it possible to perform data processing operations directly at the server, which typically is a high-performant computer that can provide quick, coordinated data access. More importantly, because a stored procedure is invoked by a single SQL statement (or API/Cursor object method), fewer messages have to be transmitted across the network—only the data that is actually needed at the client has to be sent across the wire.
In this second and final part of this short series about mobile app dev, let’s talk about grids and glyphicons.
By Jan Jorgensen
In a previous article, I covered how the grid system in Bootstrap works, so in order not to bore you I will try not to repeat myself.
The grid system in version 4 is still based on a maximum of 12 columns! But even though the grid system seems the same from version 3 to 4, something has changed under the hood. In Bootstrap 3, the grid system was based on floats, but that changed in Bootstrap 4; it is now based on flexbox.
Carol discusses why you should understand the features of IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS) and why you may not want all users to have access to all features.
By Carol Woodbury
Don’t get me wrong: I am a huge fan of ACS and all the features it provides. But what you may have never done is think about those features from the point of view of an end user. In other words, put yourself in the shoes of some of your end users and examine exactly what parts of ACS they can access and what they can do with those features. Then ask yourself: is that access appropriate for those roles?
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Ghosts and witches—they’re kid stuff. But there really are other things to be afraid of.
By Victoria Mack
This being October, Steve Pitcher has a bit of a Halloween scare for you. But this goblin isn’t a fantasy. It’s real. IBM has announced end of support for the exceptionally popular POWER7 machines. Will IBM offer extended hardware maintenance? Who knows? It hasn’t happened yet. Read Steve’s article to see his perceptions of what some may consider a truly horrifying announcement.
Initiating a Project
By Colleen Garton and Erika McCulloch
Editor's Note: This article is excerpted from chapter 3 of Fundamentals of Technology Project Management, by Colleen Garton and Erika McCulloch.
Project management has changed significantly during the past 20 years. What used to be an optional role on projects is now a key role. It is hard to imagine that projects used to be launched with very little documentation or planning involved. Companies wasted huge sums of money working on projects without clear business, or technical, goals and objectives. The projects had little strategic or tactical planning and lacked the focused direction needed for long-term business success.
These days, consumers expect retailers to provide information tailored personally just for them.
In the industry’s current disruptive environment, retail and consumer product companies are competing with new business models and being forced to refresh their consumer experiences and brand engagements to be more relevant.
A new IBM study finds retailers' current strategies to deliver engaging brand experiences are not keeping pace with what customers’ expect and want out of their brick and click shopping experiences.
Do you realize how many of your personal or business devices are connected to the Internet? Let's talk about that.
By Jan Jorgensen
The Internet of Things (IoT): You've heard somebody talk about it; or you've read about it in a newspaper, in a tech magazine, or on a website; or you've attended a seminar or conference where somebody told you about the next big thing.
SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
By HelpSystems
Editor's note: This article introduces the February 2022 Report: 2022 IBM i Marketplace Survey Results, which is available to download from the MC White Paper Center.
Cybersecurity continues to top the charts as the main concern when planning an IT environment.
Perhaps the most consistent data point in the IBM i Marketplace Survey Results is the ongoing cybersecurity threat. Over the past six years, cybersecurity has been the main concern for people planning their IT environment, and this year was no exception. Although it has decreased since last year’s results, 62% of respondents still said this was their number one concern. And although organizations prioritizing security seem to be implementing multiple solutions, it is still alarming that, on average, almost 30% of respondents do not plan to implement each of the surveyed cybersecurity solutions. If your organization has concerns over IBM i cybersecurity skills, managed security services could be a way of filling in any holes.
IBM Notes Domino gets a new future with HCL Technologies.
By Steve Pitcher
On October 25, 2017, IBM announced (well, they blogged it) that they were entering into a strategic partnership with HCL Technologies to give the following products a new lease on development life: