February 21, 2018
February 21, 2018 | Volume 12 Issue 18
- LEAD ARTICLE: Speculating About Speculative Execution
- FEATURED ARTICLE: IBM Partnering: Panacea or Peril?
- FEATURED ARTICLE: IBM i Security Event Logging and Active Monitoring: A Step by Step Guide
- NEWS HIGHLIGHT: Fresche Solutions Named One of Montreal's Top Employers For 2018
- WEBCAST: IBM i Resources Retiring?
- FEATURED VIDEO: Design an Invoice in 10 Minutes
- EVENT: WMCPA Spring Conference 2018
- MC PRESS MAGAZINE: A Small Intro to Big Data, Part 3: HFDS and the MapReduce Algorithm

Speculating About Speculative Execution
Pondering what we do about mitigating Spectre and Meltdown.
By Steve Pitcher
There's been a lot of talk about Spectre and Meltdown since Google developers first announced the vulnerabilities on January 3, 2018. Rightfully so, as this type of vulnerability is arguably the biggest security concern in the history of computing.
On January 10, 2018, in the PSIRT blog entry, IBM released information regarding the current Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, which affect almost every processor in the world, including IBM Power Systems. On January 13, they also released a set of operating system PTFs for IBM i 7.1 (MF64553), 7.2 (MF64552), and 7.3 (MF64551) along with firmware PTFs previously released. On January 26, IBM released additional PTFs for IBM i 7.1 (MF64571), 7.2 (MF64565), and 7.3 (MF64568).
IBM Makes Higher Quality Weather Forecasts Available Worldwide

IBM Partnering: Panacea or Peril?
Lately, IBM has been on an outsourcing spree, particularly with things that are core to the IBM i. How does that make you feel? Can we talk?
By David Shirey
It all started last summer. That feeling of queasiness, of uncertainty, a feeling that things just weren't quite right.
It's easy for me to feel that way. I'm pretty much a "glass half empty and cracked on the bottom to boot" sort of person. And living in the IBM i world probably hasn't helped alleviate that tendency.
Mobile Computing and the IBM i
Mobile computing is rapidly maturing into a solid platform for delivering enterprise applications. Many IBM i shops today are realizing that integrating their IBM i with mobile applications is the fast path to improved business workflows, better customer relations, and more responsive business reporting. The ROI that mobile applications can produce for your business is substantial.
This ASNA whitepaper takes a look at mobile computing for the IBM i. It discusses the different ways mobile applications may be used within the enterprise and how ASNA products solve the challenges mobile presents. It also presents the case that you already have the mobile programming team your projects need: that team is your existing RPG development team!
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.
IBM i skills depletion is a top concern for IBM i shops around the world. The strategies you discover in this webinar will help you ensure that your system of record—your IBM i—continues to deliver a powerful business advantage, even as staff retires.
During this 30-mintue recorded webinar, our panel of IBM i experts outline strategies that allow your company to cope with IBM i skills depletion by adopting these strategies that allow you to get the job done without deep expertise on the OS:
- Automate IBM i processes
- Use managed services to help fill the gaps
- Secure the system against data loss and viruses
watch now!
Make Modern Apps You'll Love with Profound UI & Profound.js
It's time to make your apps proud to be seen! Whether you have green screens or a drab GUI, your outdated apps can benefit from modern source code, modern GUIs, and modern tools. Alex Roytman and Liam Allan show you how Free-format RPG and Node.js make it possible to deliver apps your business will love.
You'll learn how you can use both Profound UI and Profound.js to: Transform legacy RPG code to modern free-format RPG and Node.js; Deliver truly modern application interfaces with Profound UI; Extend your RPG applications to include Web Services and NPM packages with Node.js.
Comply in 5! Well, actually UNDER 5 minutes!!
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ACO MONITOR Manages your IBM i 24/7 and Notifies You When Your IBM i Needs Assistance!
ACO MONITOR is a complete systems management solution for your Power Systems running IBM i. ACO MONITOR manages your Power System 24/7, uses advanced technology (like two-way messaging) to notify on-duty support personnel, and responds to complex problems before they reach critical status.
ACO MONITOR is proven technology and is capable of processing thousands of mission-critical events daily. The software is pre-configured, easy to install, scalable, and greatly improves data center (and staff) efficiency.
Try ACO MONITOR FREE for 30 days.

IBM i Security Event Logging and Active Monitoring: A Step by Step Guide
Active monitoring and log collection are at the top of the list of effective security controls. IBM i (AS/400, iSeries) users have to solve some special challenges to implement this critical security control.
by Townsend Security
Editor's note: This article introduces the white paper
IBM i customers often run multiple back-office applications on the IBM i server and it is a well-known repository for sensitive information and an active target of cyber criminals and state actors. In this eBook we discuss the core requirements for a successful active monitoring strategy, how to identify sources of security information on the IBM i platform, and steps you can take to implement an IBM i active monitoring solution.