April 18, 2018
April 18, 2018 | Volume 12 Issue 20
- LEAD ARTICLE: IBM i Receives Package Manager Support
- FEATURED ARTICLE: Watson for i: Watson Conversation Can Generate Chatbots and Virtual Agents for Your Business, Part II
- FEATURED ARTICLE: A Small Intro to Big Data, Part 1
- NEWS HIGHLIGHT: New Survey Finds Deep Consumer Anxiety over Data Privacy and Security
- WEBCAST: 5 New and Unique Ways to Use the IBM i Audit Journal
- FEATURED VIDEO: Design an Invoice in 10 Minutes
- EVENT: Not interested? IBM Query, Reporting and Analytics

IBM i Receives Package Manager Support
With Red Hat Package Manager (RPM), IBM aligns itself with the open-source community.
By Steve Pitcher
From what I can tell, this story has not been covered anywhere, and that really surprises me. This is arguably one of the most important updates to IBM i in the history of the operating system. Not since the advent of PASE has there been an enhancement with the potential that this has. Now that's a tall order, I know.
IPwe and IBM Seek to Transform Corporate Patents With Next Generation NFTs Using IBM Blockchain
IBM Reports 2021 First-Quarter Results

Watson for i: Watson Conversation Can Generate Chatbots and Virtual Agents for Your Business, Part II
IBM Watson Virtual Agent uses the Watson Conversation API to help you build automated, conversational chatbots to provide self-service experiences to customers.
By John Ghrist
In "Watson Conversation Can Generate Chatbots and Virtual Agents for Your Business, Part I," we reviewed how IBM Watson Conversation can help enterprises build chatbots that can use natural-language text and spoken input from humans to support customer-service applications. IBM Watson Virtual Agent (WVA) carries this concept a step further to provide customized tools that can help you create automated self-service environments for customers, as well as analytics tools for customer engagement.
What to Do When Your AS/400 Talent Retires
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small.
This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business?
This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
- Why IBM i skills depletion is a top concern
- How leading organizations are coping
- Where automation will make the biggest impact
Enjoy!
Download your copy today!
2019 State of IBM i Modernization
The annual Profound Logic ‘State of IBM i Modernization Survey” takes a look at the trends and attitudes that shape the IBM i modernization market. We reached out to the IBM i community, and the response was outstanding: close to 800 people, nearly 300 more than last year, took the survey. This enthusiasm resulted in very interesting findings for how businesses plan to use and modernize the platform in the coming year.
As you read through each section of the survey, you will see our summary of the results and suggestions for the future. We hope the survey will help your business better understand what is possible for your IBM i platform in the coming year.
Node Webinar Series Pt. 1: The World of Node.js on IBM i
Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.
Part 1 will teach you what Node.js is, why it's a great option for IBM i shops, and how to take advantage of the ecosystem surrounding Node.
In addition to background information, our Director of Product Development Scott Klement will demonstrate applications that take advantage of the Node Package Manager (npm).
watch now!
What Most IBM i Shops Get Wrong About the IFS
Can you trust all of your users all of the time?
A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six month later.
A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:
- How phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated
- Three little-known ways malicious programs can reach your IFS
- Why the IFS is IBM i’s “Typhoid Mary”
You’ll also learn why some of the most common malware solutions still leave IBM i systems vulnerable—and what you can do to protect your organization.
Easiest Way to Save Money? Stop Printing IBM i Reports
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A Small Intro to Big Data, Part 1
Everyone is talking about it. You hear the buzzword on a daily basis, but do you really know what Big Data is?
Written by Rafael Victória-Pereira
You probably heard that joke about the guy who calls his favorite pizza parlor and places his order just to hear the operator tell him that his cholesterol is too high and he should order a different pizza instead. Let me tell you that’s not a joke. That’s the (not so distant) future, filled with Big Data, Data Science, and similar buzzwords. It’s time to get onboard that train and start learning about this brave new world.