COMMON POWERUp 2024

Attending this event?

COMMON POWERUp 2024

THE BEST IBM i & POWER SYSTEMS EDUCATION.When you come to POWERUp, you’ll be able to customize your experience. Choose from 300 sessions, covering over 20 areas of IT, when you plan your schedule. Visit the largest Expo of its kind and meet the experts behind the solutions. Attend social events to meet renowned speakers and peers alike. This conference is structured to give you the pure education and professional connections needed to best enhance your career. Are you ready to POWERUp?

Exhibitor Hall: https://www.expocad.com/host/fx/common/s24/exfx.html

Exhibitor Hall Map Here

10:15am CDT

383: Maintaining an IBM i Development Staff in a Changing World

For a long time, IT was treated as a cost center in many businesses. Now, your IT team should be a business asset, and should be treated like one from a business perspective. In this session we will examine how to maintain a development staff effectively in a post-pandemic world. Topics covered will include:
• Experience breakdown of a dev team
• Managing turnover as a business risk
• Telecommuting pros/cons
• Staff development
• Managing expectations/shop standards
• Finding talent

Learning Objectives:
1. Better manage an IBM i development staff
2. Manage attrition/turnover as a business risk
3. Find talent

Speakers

Brian May

Vice President of Product Management, Profound Logic

Professional IT Leader, Speaker and WriterSpecialties:Team Building, Development and RetentionTechnical SalesSolutions ArchitectureSoftware DevelopmentEnterprise Systems Manufacturing ProcessesApparel IndustryAccounting Principles

Maintaining an IBM i Dev Staff pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

IT Leadership and Management

Session Level All
Digital Badge IT Strategy
Audience IT Management trying to overcome staffing issues as more IBM i talent retires.

10:15am CDT

103: Basics of QA and Testing for IBM i Professionals

Quality Assurance in software development is known to be an important factor for IT teams and goals. Regardless if testing is done by developers or testers it is crucial. We will talk about concepts and practices defined as the foundation of testing by ISTQB methodology. This will covering topics such as defects and ramifications, how testing is part of the larger quality assurance model, the definitions of error, defect, fault, and failure. We will discuss the difference between debugging and testing, the objectives of testing, and how testing changes at different parts of development and in different development lifecycles.

Learning Objectives:
Describe how a defect in software can cause harm to a company. Distinguish between the cause of a defect and its effects. Give reasons why testing is necessary by giving examples. Describe why testing is part of quality assurance with examples of how testing contributes to higher quality. Explain and compare the terms error, defect, fault, failure, and the corresponding terms mistake and bug. Recall the common objectives of testing.

Speakers

Yvonne Enselman

Principal Architect for Quality Assurance on IBM i, Yvonne Enselman Professional Services

I am a Quality Assurance, Project Management, and Professional Services expert.Named IBM Champion 2024I have twenty-five years of experience in the IBM i industry starting in application development, transitioning through quality assurance, and into management. My passion has been... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 10:15am - 11:15am CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Program Testing

Session Level All
Award SILVER
Audience Testers interested in the ISTQB methods and doctrine. Developers who want to test more efficiently and work with QA/Testers more effectively.

11:30am CDT

188: SQL Coding Tips and Techniques

SQL is a very powerful language for processing data. There are many ways to write SQL statements to get the desired results. However, not all queries are created equal. This session will compare different ways to approach a problem from an SQL perspective in terms of code maintenance and performance. Taking the right approach for writing SQL helps Db2 for i help you.

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Kent Milligan

Senior Db2 for i Consultant, IBM

Kent Milligan is a Senior Db2 for i Consultant in IBM Technology Expert Labs. Kent has over 25 years of experience as a Db2 for IBM i consultant and developer working out of the IBM Rochester lab. Prior to re-joining the Db2 for i Expert Labs practice in 2020, Kent spent 5 years... Read More →

SQL Coding Tips and Techniques pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Developers

11:30am CDT

326: Visual Studio Code and IBM i - Bring Your Own Device

Bring a laptop to this session and work through live exercises in the browser with Liam and Jesse!

This session covers everything you need to know about using Visual Studio Code with IBM i - from editing, to compiling, to accessing the database, using the RPGLE linter, database tools, and many other features.

Learning Objectives:
* Installing VS Code and extensions
* Working with IBM i inside of VS Code
* Writing and compile in RPG, CL, etc
* Using database tools for Db2 for i inside of VS Code
* Introduction to git

Speakers

Jesse Gorzinski

Business Architect, IBM

Jesse Gorzinski works for the IBM i development lab in Rochester, MN. He is a Senior Business Architect and Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) responsible for open source technologies on the platform. Jesse, who was doing RPG programming at the age of 18, is an expert on application... Read More →

Liam Allan

Software Advocate, IBM

I am a developer and open-source advocate. Ask me about Node.js, VS Code, app deployment and CICD :)

Monday May 20, 2024 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programmer Tools

Session Level All
Digital Badge VS Code
Audience IBM i Developers

11:30am CDT

426: Options for Running IBM i Workloads on the IBM PowerVS Cloud

Learn the fundamental, options and best practices for running your IBMi workloads on Power Virtual Server. In this session we will talk about how to get started, best practices, lessons learned while getting started on a hybrid and multi-cloud journey- all while reducing risk and realizing immediate and significant ROI efficiencies.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about IBMi on PowerVS Solutions
2. Learn about the ideal workloads and the ROI
3. Understand the solutioning and all steps required

Speakers

Anthony Fiorot

Public Cloud Sales Leader, Americas, IBM

Anthony is committed to help IBM Power AIX and IBM I clients with advancing innovation, modernization and business reinvention strategies improving performance while optimizing TCO and ROI. The teams he leads continue to help clients accelerate both Power Systems hybrid and cloud... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 11:30am - 12:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

1:30pm CDT

415: Be The Star That You Are! Empowering You to Make a Difference in Your World

In a world turned upside down, sometimes it seems that all around us is darkness. When surrounded by clowns and frowns, it is tough to see things clearly.

To counter this darkness, we need light, more light. And like the galaxies over our heads, the darkness dissipates when all the stars shine together.

Each and every one of us is a star. Our unique extraordinariness means that we have our own light to shine that no one else can offer. Often, though, we don’t recognize that we are a star, and our light is dim, or does not shine at all.
Trevor brings his signature keynote “Be The Star That You Are!” as a campaign to have all of our stars shine – together – to vanquish the darkness in our world.

Using his Seeing Stars framework, Trevor offers fresh perspectives to be comfortable with our own personal presence, uncover personal power, find balance from engaging and indulging in play, and discover our purpose and mission.

Together, we can shine our light, overcome darkness, and collectively make a difference in this world.

Speakers

Trevor Perry

Storyteller | Instigator | Agitator, The Extraordinary Company L.L.C.

Trevor Perry is a technologist by trade and a motivational speaker by passion. His keynote speeches and breakout sessions are in demand across the globe at technology conferences and events. He is an Australian of Irish heritage who lives in America, and spent time faking an English... Read More →

SeeingStars TrevorPerry pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Ballroom B, 2nd Floor 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

385: IBM Power: Made by Innovators for Innovators

This session reviews the history of innovation driven by the Power platform and explores how Power innovations fit strongly into current and future industry trends

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Bill Starke

Power Processor Chief Architect, IBM

William Starke is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Chief Architect for Power microprocessors. Since graduating from Michigan Tech University, Bill has been employed by IBM for over 30 years in several roles, spanning mainframe and Power systems performance analysis, logic design... Read More →

2024 0520 PowerUP v4 shareable pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

379: Foundations of IBM i Security Defense

The most important step in crafting any successful IBM i security strategy is identifying the practices and tools that will serve as the foundation for your security efforts – because until you do – all other security measures can be easily undermined.

Fortunately, this first step is simple. At the core of every successful IBM i security strategy is the exact same set of fundamentals – no matter what size your organization is or what industry you’re a part of.

Learning Objectives:
1. The importance of building your IBM i security foundation
2. What this foundation consists of
3. How to prioritize the layers of defense you implement

Speakers

Sandi Moore

Sr. Solutions Engineer, Fortra LLC

Sandi has been working with Fortra customers for over 20 years supporting systems monitoring and security software. With experience on IBM i, AIX, and Linux, she has been involved in product demonstrations, implementation, support, training, research, and product testing. Sandi is... Read More →

POWERUp 2024 Session 379 Foundations of IBM i Security Defense pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Anyone tasked with addressing security on the IBM i will benefit from this session.

2:45pm CDT

342: Use Service Commander to manage ALL your stuff

So many different kinds of jobs run on IBM i. Node.js, RPG, Java, COBOL, Python.... All of them are managed in different ways, and that can get really frustrating, really quickly! Thankfully, there's an open source tool, Service Commander, that can simplify the management of all these IBM i jobs!

Learning Objectives:
Leverage Service Commander to manage running services on IBM i.

Speakers

Adam Shedivy

Software Developer, IBM

Adam is a software Developer working on enhancing client and open source integration on IBM i.

Monday May 20, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience System Administrators

4:00pm CDT

402: IBM Power S1012: The Latest Hardware for IBM i

Just like with the operating system, the team has been hard at work continuously innovating to provide our community with the latest technology to run business-critical workloads and applications. The IBM® Power® S1012 has new capabilities for IBM i users to help them achieve business and IT goals. In this session, Daniel Goldener, Product Manager, IBM Power Scale-Out Servers, and Brandon Pederson, IBM i and Power Product Marketing Manager, will show you the latest hardware to run IBM i. You'll learn the features and benefits of the system and new use cases, including edge computing and transactional AI.

Speakers

Daniel Goldener

Product Manager, Power Systems, IBM

I embarked on a dynamic career journey leading me to IBM, where I've dedicated over two decades to diverse roles. Beginning as an intern in 2004, I've navigated through Sales Operations, IT Strategy Consulting, and leadership in Systems Technical Sales, making significant contributions... Read More →

Brandon Pederson

IBM i and Power Product Marketing Manager, IBM

Brandon Pederson is the Product Marketing Manager for IBM i and Modernization within the IBM Power business. Prior to this role, Brandon was Content Marketing Manager for IBM WebSphere and Content and Community Manager for IBM Power. He has a degree in Marketing from Concordia University... Read More →

The Latest Hardware for IBM i POWERUp 2024 Presentation V1 5 17 24 pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

4:00pm CDT

157: IBM i Strategy, Roadmap and Innovation

IBM i is an amazing platform for running a business today, and its future is bright – innovative, integrated and incredible! Hear Steve Will, IBM i CTO, talk about the strategy, roadmap and future of IBM i.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn what the direction of IBM i is.
2. See how IBM i is being used in the industry

Speakers

Steve Will

IBM i CTO & Chief Architect, IBM

Steve is the CTO and Chief Architect for the IBM i Operating System. Spending the past fourteen years of his IBM career in this position, he has become an award-winning speaker, author of the influential blog "You and i," (https://bit.ly/You-and-i-blog) and is one of the most sought-after voices at customer briefings and events. Steve has worked on IBM i and its predecessors since before the creation of the AS/400, and is currently responsible for setting the strategy of the IBM i operating system, as well as deciding which enhancements will be implemented. In his role, he talks to clients and pa... Read More →

IBM i Strategy, Roadmap & Innovation PowerUp 2024 pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Digital Badge IT Strategy
Audience Anyone using IBM i

4:00pm CDT

101: Agile Testing and Concepts

Iterative development models are being used more frequently. We will discuss the concepts of Rapid Application Development focusing on agile methodology. Topics include the manifesto and how it relates to teams and practices. From there we will explore testing advantages and challenges and how to be productive. Test automation is a core concept in most agile implementations so we will cover how tools apply and can be used.

Learning Objectives:
Learning Objectives:
Understand Iterative Life Cycles
Define incremental development models and Iterative development model
Understand Basic Agile concepts and the manifesto
Determine the best types of testing for specific applications in a RAD environment

Speakers

Yvonne Enselman

Principal Architect for Quality Assurance on IBM i, Yvonne Enselman Professional Services

I am a Quality Assurance, Project Management, and Professional Services expert.Named IBM Champion 2024I have twenty-five years of experience in the IBM i industry starting in application development, transitioning through quality assurance, and into management. My passion has been... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Program Testing

Session Level All
Audience Audience: Developers and Testers who want to further their quality assurance knowledge base and how QA applies in Agile Software Lifecycle Development.

4:00pm CDT

361: Decoding Fullstack: A Comprehensive Guide to Front-End Strategies

Embark on a journey of front-end development mastery in this sessopm which will delve into effective strategies for utilizing popular frameworks such as Angular, React.js, Vue.js, and navigating the dynamic realm of full-stack development.

Key Focus Areas:_
- Angular, React.js, Vue.js Strategies:_
-Gain in-depth insights into the distinctive strategies and best practices for front-end development using Angular, React.js, and Vue.js.
- Navigating Fullstack Development:_
Explore the intricacies of full-stack development, understanding how to seamlessly integrate front-end frameworks with back-end technologies.
- Comparative Analysis:
Benefit from a comparative analysis of Angular, React.js, and Vue.js, enabling you to make informed decisions based on your project requirements.
- Optimizing User Experience:
Discover techniques for optimizing user experience through effective front-end development strategies, ensuring your applications are both functional and user-friendly.

Learning Objectives:
This session is for anyone who would like to gain invaluable insights into front-end development and selecting the ideal framework. Learn efficient techniques for integrating front-end frameworks seamlessly with back-end technologies and productivity-boosting strategies to streamline your front-end development workflow.

Speakers

Scott Gingerysty

Team Lead, Web Application Services, Fresche Solutions

I am a Senior Web Developer/Team Lead and Application Modernization expert at Fresche. I am passionate about IBM i application modernization. Since 2013, I have added new life into business-critical RPG applications using web technology. Whether it is a new development, augmenting... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - General

Session Level All

4:00pm CDT

208: IBM i Navigator an Administrators View

IBM Navigator for i is the web based interface for accessing, managing, and monitoring your IBM i. A brand new versions has been released. This session will look at how to get started, how to best leverage this interface for one users or an entire company. We will look at some of the administrative features added to New Nav to help with rolling this out to many users. This include how to set up TLS for you connections and how to limit select users from working with areas within the interface, and some key function that an admin will for sure find useful.

Speakers

Ann Wilkerson

Software Developer, IBM

Ann Wilkerson is the technical team lead for Navigator for i and a developer for IBM i Services.

Navigator for i an Admin View pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

4:00pm CDT

410: Performance Based Workload Management on IBM i

We've all experienced the pain of an untuned, ad-hoc query or poorly written, untested application causing wide-spread pain on a partition. Learn how you can manage and mitigate unruly workloads on IBM i using monitors, watches, workload groups, and more. Learn about the types of activity that can cause performance problems on an IBM i partition, and what can be done to mitigate the impact of that activity.

Speakers

Anil Madan

Sr. Managing Consultant, IBM

Anil Madan is a Senior IBM i Performance Consultant with specialization in system, application and Db2 for i performance management. He is an IBM certified Thought Leader Technical Specialist and an IBM certified Executive Project Manager. Working out of the IBM Expert Labs in Rochester... Read More →

Performance Based Workload Management on IBM i pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

5:15pm CDT

191: IBM i ACS 5250 Overview

IBM i Access Client Solutions (IBM i ACS) provides a best of breed 5250 emulator with many transformational features and capabilities that you may not be aware of or using most effectively. Join us for a quick, predominantly live demo session to get the most out of your IBM i ACS 5250 emulator 1) Get the most out of your IBM i ACS 5250 Emulator

Speakers

Wayne Bowers

Software Engineer, IBM

Wayne Bowers has been with IBM since 1997, where he works with the IBM i Global Support Center in Rochester MN. He is an Advisory Software Engineer specializing in the support of the IBM i Access (aka Client Access) products, Console, the TCP Telnet communications server, and the... Read More →

ACS 5250 PowerUp24 pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Client Connectivity

Session Level All
Digital Badge ACS
Audience IBM i Access Client Solutions 5250 users

5:15pm CDT

132: How to Become a Speaker at COMMON

You have a wealth of experience and expertise. Have you thought about sharing your know-how by speaking at COMMON? Speaking at COMMON is fun and a great way to get involved with other members as well as the organization at large. Come join this Question and Answer discussion with members of the Volunteer Excellence Committee. Let's talk about your questions, ideas for sessions or whatever is on your mind. We will share experiences about what it is like to speak at COMMON, successful speaking techniques, preparation steps, etc. You may be the next outstanding speaker at COMMON!

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Kim Greene

President, Kim Greene Consulting, Inc.

Kim Greene is president of Kim Greene Consulting, Inc. specializing in providing consulting services for the HCL Collaboration Solutions portfolio for IBM i, Windows, and Linux. Kim has over 20 years of experience with IBM Domino and 25 years of experience with the AS/400, iSeries... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Developing Business Skills

Session Level All
Audience Anyone looking to speak at a COMMON education offering.

5:15pm CDT

313: BRMS Recoveries

There's so much to cover in BRMS when setting up the backups that discussing recoveries sometimes gets lost. In this 20 minute session we will focus solely on the recovery process for both full system and single item recoveries. A few tips and tricks for making sure that you are able to recover exactly what you need when you need.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn the steps to a full system recovery
2. Learn to recover single objects and IFS files
3. Take home a few tricks to make sure you are able to recover what you need

Speakers

Sarah Jacob

VP of Customer Experience, Agile Technology Architects

Sarah Jacob is the Vice President of Customer Experience at Agile Technology Architects. She is a Subject Matter Expert in Power Systems Administration and a volunteer for COMMON. Sarah specializes in Backup and Recovery planning and recovery testing. Additionally, she acts as primary... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Audience Anyone who wants to use BRMS to perform recoveries

5:15pm CDT

247: Best Practices for Collecting Performance Data with Collection Services

IBM i performance data collection using Collection Services is enabled by default, but you may still be using default configuration settings. In this session, you will learn why you may want to adjust the Collection Services configuration settings for your performance analysis or trending needs.

Learning Objectives:
1. How to use Navigator for i to configure Collection Services
2. Recommendations for changing default configuration settings

Speakers

Shauna Rollings

IBM i Performance Tools & High Availability Development, IBM

Shauna joined the IBM i development team in 2008. She has developed and supported IBM i performance data collector tools throughout her entire IBM career. From the very beginning of the Db2 Mirror for i project, she has also been the technical team lead for the Db2 Mirror Configuration... Read More →

247 CollectionServicesBestPractices pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

5:15pm CDT

420: IBM i Security: A Dual Responsibility

Everyone wants their IBM i platform to be secure … But is this IBM’s responsibility or the organization’s running IBM i? The answer is ‘Yes’. In other words, there are responsibilities on both sides of this security equation. During this session IBM i CTO and Chief Architect Steve Will discusses IBM’s secure coding philosophy as well as the steps taken during the development process that address security – including how IBM responds to newly identified security vulnerabilities. Then, Carol Woodbury, co-founder and President of DXR Security, discusses an organization’s responsibilities – including addressing emerging security threats.

Speakers

Steve Will

IBM i CTO & Chief Architect, IBM

Steve is the CTO and Chief Architect for the IBM i Operating System. Spending the past fourteen years of his IBM career in this position, he has become an award-winning speaker, author of the influential blog "You and i," (https://bit.ly/You-and-i-blog) and is one of the most sought-after voices at customer briefings and events. Steve has worked on IBM i and its predecessors since before the creation of the AS/400, and is currently responsible for setting the strategy of the IBM i operating system, as well as deciding which enhancements will be implemented. In his role, he talks to clients and pa... Read More →

Carol Woodbury

IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor, Kisco Systems

With over 30 years' experience in the area of IT security, Carol is known world-wide as an expert in the area of computer security. During her career, Carol has architected security solutions for Fortune 100 companies as well as small and medium-sized organizations. Carol is passionate... Read More →

IBM i Security A Dual Responsiblity pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

5:50pm CDT

192: IBM i ACS IFS Overview

IBM i Access Client Solutions (IBM i ACS) provides an IBM i IFS utility with many features and capabilities that you may not be aware of or using most effectively. Join us for a quick, predominantly live demo session to get the most out of your IBM i ACS IFS Utility. 1. Get the most out of IBM i ACS IFS

Speakers

Wayne Bowers

Software Engineer, IBM

Wayne Bowers has been with IBM since 1997, where he works with the IBM i Global Support Center in Rochester MN. He is an Advisory Software Engineer specializing in the support of the IBM i Access (aka Client Access) products, Console, the TCP Telnet communications server, and the... Read More →

ACS IFS PowerUp24 pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Client Connectivity

Session Level All
Digital Badge ACS
Audience IBM i Access Client Solutions users

5:50pm CDT

250: Top 10 Reasons to Build Your Own SQL Indexes

In todays world many of us use vendor supplied software. Many of us also are under the edict from manage to 'Not modify the Software'. Many CIOs do not necessairly understand that 'modify' means. This session will provide reasoning for developers, lower level managers can use to make the case for upper mananagement that creating indexes is not modifying the software, and can result in significant performance gains.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn that adding indexes does not necessarily mean you are modifying packaged software.
2. Learn the most important reasons WHY you should add indexes to packaged software.

Speakers

Tom Davidson

Sr Consultant, Cleindori Consulting

I'm a 40 year veteran of the IBM i (System/38,AS/400, iSeries, IBM i). My background is in Manufacturing and Performance. I specialize is tuning older systems to extend their life.I am also a JDE CNC (18 years), and my second specialty is JDE/IBM i/Weblogic.

Monday May 20, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Programmers and DBAs that are trying to improve performance of their applications.

5:50pm CDT

339: 20 SQL Tips in 20 Minutes

In this new session, Scott will take you through 20 tips that will help you be more successful with SQL on IBM i. Rapid fire SQL tips to help you do more and do it better, because #SQLcandoit and so can you!

Learning Objectives:
1. Some SQL statements you may not have noticed
2. Some SQL options you may not have understood
3. Working SQL examples!

Speakers

Scott Forstie

Db2 for i Architect, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

20 SQL tips in 20 minutes pdf

Monday May 20, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Room 202 A-B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Anyone who wants to improve their SQL skills

5:50pm CDT

336: Understanding How Tech Impacts Our Bodies and What We Can Do About It

Our bodies weren’t designed to sit starring at a screen for hours every day. Whether you are at your desk interacting with Tech or looking down at your gadgets, we have all experienced the outcomes: decreased energy, fatigue, neck and back pain, issues with the hands and wrists, eye strain, disrupted sleep and the list goes on.

It doesn’t have to be this way. This session will delve into the science behind what makes our bodies feel so poorly in addition to what we can do about it. By making some simple changes we can improve how we feel, get our energy back and erase the negative impacts Tech can have on our bodies.

Learning Objectives:
1) Understand the impact Tech can have on our bodies
2) Understand the science behind why Tech can have a negative impact on our health
3) Learn what you can do to improve the outcome of interacting with Tech

Speakers

Kim Greene

President, Kim Greene Consulting, Inc.

Kim Greene is president of Kim Greene Consulting, Inc. specializing in providing consulting services for the HCL Collaboration Solutions portfolio for IBM i, Windows, and Linux. Kim has over 20 years of experience with IBM Domino and 25 years of experience with the AS/400, iSeries... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Audience All IT professionals

5:50pm CDT

206: Introduction to RDi's Code Coverage Tool

This session will take the mystery out of using Code Coverage. Learn how this tool can help you adequately test your code and help QA with their goal of improving code quality. We cover setup, running and reporting.

Learning Objectives:
1. Understand what this tool can do to help you improve your coding efforts.
2. Demonstrate how this tool can help your Quality Control staff track testing of new modified code.
3. Show more productivity and help make a case for purchasing RDi.

Speakers

Jim Buck

CEO & Head Instructor, imPower Technologies

Jim Buck’s career in IT has spanned more than 35+ years, primarily in college education, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Past president (13 years) of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (www.wmcpa.org) and has served on several teams developing IBM... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Room 202 C-D 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programmer Tools

Session Level All
Audience Any level Developer, Managers, or Quality Control personnel!

5:50pm CDT

239: IBM i Event Monitoring with Manzan

In this session, we will explore a new tool for monitoring the system. Manzan provides a gateway to making IBM i watch facilities easily consumable by user applications, external resources, and/or open source technologies. Identified use cases include:

Monitoring system events for Kafka, ELK, SMS, FluentD, Grafana Loki, or AI
More comprehensive integration with syslog facilities
Queryable system events
Consolidated auditing/reporting activity.
In short, this project aims to make IBM i more integrated with infrastructure monitoring of a heterogeneous IT infrastructure, whether on-prem or cloud.

Speakers

Jesse Gorzinski

Business Architect, IBM

Jesse Gorzinski works for the IBM i development lab in Rochester, MN. He is a Senior Business Architect and Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) responsible for open source technologies on the platform. Jesse, who was doing RPG programming at the age of 18, is an expert on application... Read More →

Monday May 20, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience System administrators looking for a way to monitor for various system events

8:00am CDT

272: Access MongoDB from IBM i

MongoDB is a database / document management system which arose from the NoSQL movement to become a popular backend for web applications. While MongoDB is, in our opinion, no competition in the RDBMS space for IBM i Db2, Mongo is still fun and easy. You can use Seiden Community PHP+ and/or Python to access remote MongoDB installations from IBM i : we'll show you exactly how.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about MongoDB.
2. Learn to access remote MongoDB from IBM i PHP or Python.
3. Learn how to perform typical web application tasks using MongoDB and why you might wish to do so, or find yourself doing so.

Speakers

Jack Woehr

Senior Engineer, Absolute Performance, Inc.

Author of Ublu, an open source remote language for IBM i. A Quantum Computing enthusiast, Jack is an IBM Qiskit Advocate, 2021 IBM Champion, 2022 IBM Champion, 2023 IBM Champion, and 2024 IBM Champion.A consulting programmer with over 30 years' experience in open source specializing in open source based IBM i modernization... Read More →

AccessMongoDBfromIBMi pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Anyone interested in MongoDB, especially in the context of accessing remote MongoDB installations from IBM i.

8:00am CDT

386: IBM Power's Differentiated Memory Roadmap

This session explores the historical importance of Power's memory architecture, reviews recent developments in Power's memory roadmap, and highlights the strengths of Power's memory architecture going forward versus developments in industry memory architectures.

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Bill Starke

Power Processor Chief Architect, IBM

William Starke is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Chief Architect for Power microprocessors. Since graduating from Michigan Tech University, Bill has been employed by IBM for over 30 years in several roles, spanning mainframe and Power systems performance analysis, logic design... Read More →

2024 0521 PowerUP v2 shareable pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

8:00am CDT

229: IBM i 7.5 Plus Favorite Features

The Development lab is continues to roll out new functions and features with every release and technology refresh. In this session we will review some of the key features that have been delivered over the past couple of releases. These are things that you should be aware of either for you to incorporate today, or to help you tomorrow.

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Scott Forstie

Db2 for i Architect, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

1 IBM i 7.5 Plus our Faves pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Award GOLD

8:00am CDT

341: Open Source: How to not mess it up

Free open source software (FOSS) is "free as a puppy." We should know that the "free" indicates freedom, not zero cost!

Adoption of open source software also brings its share of responsibilities. Failure to properly care for your open source stack can be costly. Incorrect use can also be costly.

In this session, we will look at best practices surrounding the use of open source software, which involves proper management of user authorities, support, CVE mitigation, and more.

Learning Objectives:
Understand how to successfully deploy open source projects and avoid some of the "foot guns" that come with "free" software.

Speakers

Jesse Gorzinski

Business Architect, IBM

Jesse Gorzinski works for the IBM i development lab in Rochester, MN. He is a Senior Business Architect and Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) responsible for open source technologies on the platform. Jesse, who was doing RPG programming at the age of 18, is an expert on application... Read More →

OSS How to not mess it up v3 pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience IT managers, project managers, or developers

8:00am CDT

219: Modernization Case Study – Creating a Database Abstraction Layer

By providing a layer of separation between your applications and your database, you have much more agility to respond to changing business requirements and you can reduce your maintenance burden at the same time. This case study will review three approaches that can be used to provide database abstraction and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

Learning Objectives:
1. Evaluate three different approaches to database abstraction and their benefits.
2. Walk step by step through the implementation of a Logical File database abstraction layer.
3. Review the reference architecture for a database I/O service program.
4. Best Practice design recommendations for new tables.

Speakers

Ray Everhart

Senior IBM i Analyst and X-Analysis Product Manager, Fresche

For over 30 years, Ray has helped companies understand, develop and manage their RPG, COBOL and CA 2E application environments. He also specializes in helping clients enhance and modernize their systems to meet evolving business demands and take advantage of digital transformation... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - RPG

Session Level All
Audience Developers

9:15am CDT

327: Db2 for i Inside of VS Code

VS Code is really built with developers in mind. IBM has been building a neat Visual Studio Code extensions that makes accessing and working with the database much simpler for developers. Not only can VS Code be used for writing in many different languages, but now it has great tools for working with Db2 for i. You might see exporting data, working with examples, browsing your schemas, or even managing multiple database configurations. There's a lot to see!

Learning Objectives:
* How to connect to Db2 for i thru VS Code
* Using content assist for SQL
* How Visual Explain works in VS Code
* Understanding the power of Notebooks

Speakers

Ryan Moeller

Software Engineer, IBM

Ryan Moeller is a software engineer working on Db2 for i, specifically on the SQL Query Engine (SQE) team. He joined the team in the Rochester, MN development lab in 2020. Ryan specializes in SQL, database development, and query performance analysis.

VSCode for i Database Extension pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Digital Badge VS Code

9:15am CDT

295: BRMS Beyond the Basics

This session will discuss some of the advanced topics in using BRMS for your back up and recovery. Featured topics will be tape and library management, BRMS Networking, control group and list controls, BRMS Policies and how they affect the overall operation of BRMS, and using SQL to manage BRMS. Recovering from a BRMS back up can be extremely easy, but it can also present some opportunities for trouble. This session will discuss some of the landmines in a BRMS recovery and how to avoid them.

Learning Objectives:
1. Ultilize control groups and lists to fully customize BRMS backups
2. Set up and manage BRMS Networking
3. Learn how to make a BRMS recovery simple and as easy as possible
4. Using SQL services to manage BRMS and reports

Speakers

Sarah Jacob

VP of Customer Experience, Agile Technology Architects

Sarah Jacob is the Vice President of Customer Experience at Agile Technology Architects. She is a Subject Matter Expert in Power Systems Administration and a volunteer for COMMON. Sarah specializes in Backup and Recovery planning and recovery testing. Additionally, she acts as primary... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Digital Badge HA/DR
Audience BRMS users who know the basics but want to expand beyond that.

9:15am CDT

182: Test Analysis and Design Focusing on Planning, Cases, and Conditions

This session is a deep dive into the creation of tests:
• Covering scope, approach, resources, schedule of activities, features, tasks.
• Determine entry and exit criteria and the rational for what is decided upon as well as establishing bi-directional functionality.
• Organize input values, execution preconditions, expected results, and post conditions into test cases.
• Isolate what items or components of the system can be verified by a case.
• Write cases that are repeatable, verifiable, and traceable back to the requirements, quality risk, etc.
• Transform the above into executable tests that scale to all levels of testing infrastructure

Learning Objectives:
1) Take foundational or informal knowledge of testing and improve it procedurally for optimal results.
2) Organize the components of proper testing into a viable plan

Speakers

Yvonne Enselman

Principal Architect for Quality Assurance on IBM i, Yvonne Enselman Professional Services

I am a Quality Assurance, Project Management, and Professional Services expert.Named IBM Champion 2024I have twenty-five years of experience in the IBM i industry starting in application development, transitioning through quality assurance, and into management. My passion has been... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Program Testing

Session Level All
Audience Anyone who wants to learn about testing and quality assurance

9:15am CDT

384: Intro to Modern Application Integration via API

We no longer live in a world where we have one system of record that is used for all business functions. IT is an everchanging blend of tools, applications, and platforms. Integration is top of mind for most businesses. If there is one common way to link all these systems, it is an API layer. Your IBM i should speak the language of APIs, both consuming and hosting. In this session, let’s look at the big picture with regards to APIs and IBM i.

Learning Objectives:
• Importance of APIs in modern architecture
• Common API integration needs
• Replacing legacy interfaces_
• Elements of a successful API implementation

Speakers

Brian May

Vice President of Product Management, Profound Logic

Professional IT Leader, Speaker and WriterSpecialties:Team Building, Development and RetentionTechnical SalesSolutions ArchitectureSoftware DevelopmentEnterprise Systems Manufacturing ProcessesApparel IndustryAccounting Principles

Modern Application Integration via API pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Room 202 C-D 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - General

Session Level All
Audience Developers interfacing with partners, customers, or internal applications

9:15am CDT

397: Power10 I/O Offerings Update

We will look at the IO offering portfolio including ethernet, fibre channel, NVMe, storage and IO expansion. We will highlight the latest updates and interesting capabilities along the way.

Speakers

John Folkerts

Power Systems IO Product Management, IBM

John Folkerts has recently taken on the role of Power Systems IO Product Manager. John is responsible for direct attach storage, network adapters, fibre channel adapters, IO expansion and a variety of other areas. His previous roles within IBM included hardware development of... Read More →

IO Offering COMMON POWERUp 2024 V2 pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

10:30am CDT

168: Become a Superhero to your CIO: A Day in the Life of a CIO

In today's hyper-competitive world, we're all striving to be the best employees we can be. We want to impress our boss, finish that big project on time and under budget, and earn that big promotion with a hefty raise. If you work in IT, it's very likely you report - directly or indirectly - to your company's CIO, or perhaps CTO. How can we best enhance and leverage that relationship to support your company's IT initiatives, and advance your career?

The first step is to understand your CIO's role. The role of the CIO or CTO may seem mysterious and overwhelming at first, but it's critical for all IT employees to understand the big picture in order to better support your boss, and become a superhero to your CIO!

Learning Objectives:
We'll cover:
- What is your CIO responsible for? We'll discuss the practical elements as well as the strategic decisions of the job
- What does a day in the life of your CIO look like?
- What are the differences between a CIO and CTO?
- Who does your CIO communicate with? Who is he or she responsible to, and for what?
- What pressures does your CIO deal with every day, and from whom?

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

A Day in the Life of a CIO Steven Wolk pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Developing Business Skills

Session Level All
Digital Badge IT Strategy
Audience All IT professionals who aspire to become a superhero to their CIO, or perhaps become a CIO or CTO themselves one day!

10:30am CDT

372: Accessing the IBM i with Rest

Why not use Rest for all connections to the IBM i ? With the new Remote System Explorer, you can establish a secure connection with any IBMi, and request and interact with the IBM i using only Rest as the method. The RSE support allows custom request (CL, SQL) as well as some predefined actions leveraging only the Rest protocol. We will leverage Live demos to show this support in action to help you understand the possibilities.

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Access the IBM i with Rest pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

1:30pm CDT

416: What Does Your Job Look Like in 2030? A Vision of IBM i Work in the Future

Within 60 days of its release, ChatGPT hit 100 million users in 2022, a feat it took TikTok 9 months to achieve. According to Deloitte, “64% of CEOs say they’re facing significant pressure from investors, creditors, and lenders to speed the adoption of generative AI”. This sudden ramp up of genAI, coupled with macro trends such as hybrid work are drastically changing the model of work we all are accustomed to.

What does this mean for IBM® i and for you? In this session, Puneet Kohli – COMMON board member and President of the Application Modernization business unit at Rocket Software, will discuss:

The roles of IBM i admin and IBM i developer and how they change over the next 5 years
What opportunities this will present for you
How you can set yourself up for success in 2030 and beyond

Speakers

Puneet Kohli

President of Application Modernization Business Unit, Rocket Software

Puneet Kohli is the President of Application Modernization BU at Rocket Software. Puneet has two decades of experience managing all facets of engineering for enterprise software. Puneet has deep knowledge of Identity and access management, governance risk & compliance, Devops, hybrid... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Ballroom B, 2nd Floor 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

138: Using SQL to Overcome Challenges when Consuming XML (Case Study)

In this new world of mobile data collection by our field specialists, we ran head-on into special characters as well as emojis. This case study tells the tale of overcoming the hurdles we were stumbling over to deal with them.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn what issues can be raised when using mobile devices to collect information from the field
2. Learn how XML support in Db2 for i was used to resolve these issues

Speakers

Vern Hamberg

Senior Software Engineer, Ecolab, Pest Elimination

Vern has worked on IBM midrange systems for over 30 years, beginning with the System/38 and AS/400. At present he is a senior software engineer for the Pest Elimination division of Ecolab. He serves on the COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) and SET and is one of the SMEs for... Read More →

Using SQL to Overcome Challenges When Consuming XML screenshots 2up pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Developers who need to process XML files and web services and others who need to know what can be done with XML support in SQL for IBM i

2:45pm CDT

133: The Ninja Guide to Building Teams and Creating Engagement

Sure, Ninjas are cool, and they're fun to talk about. And more importantly, there's a leadership lesson there... Ninjas are always 100% ENGAGED! They equate their personal success with the success of their team, and of their mission. How productive would your teams be if they were always completely engaged, like Ninjas? Whether you're a leader looking to learn the secrets behind building strong teams and keeping them engaged, or a team member who wants to better understand team dynamics, you'll find this session illuminating.

Learning Objectives:
During this session you'll learn:
* Hiring tips to ensure you get the people you need on your team (and to communicate better with them)
* Learn to interview candidates like a pro (or to ace your next interview)
* Techniques to build your bench by creating a reserve of good will
* How to keep your people motivated (and yourself!)
* Methods to align your team's success (as well as your own) with that of your organization

By the end of this session you'll have the tools you need to build a team of the best and brightest, and keep them as engaged as... Ninjas!

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

The Ninja Guide To Building Teams And Creating Engagement Steven Wolk pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

IT Leadership and Management

Session Level All
Award SILVER
Audience Everyone who leads other people - or works as part of a team - will benefit from this session!

2:45pm CDT

368: How to Leverage Existing IBM® i Assets to Adhere to Modern Design Systems

You’ve been asked to create nice web user interfaces for an application. You could do a 1:1 replacement of each screen—a tiresome but doable project. But, if you need to adhere to modern design systems like Google Material Design or IBM Carbon, your efforts, no matter how valiant, won’t cut it for your users. Also, what happens when users start asking for better workflows or customization?

In this session, we will discuss:
o How you can take assets you already have—like display files—and smartly approach your web UX projects
o How you can collect each screen, uniquely identify them, and then build the UI
o How you can keep the green screen application and the new UI in sync to handle changes dynamically

Speakers

Nikesh Zalte

Product Manager, Rocket Software

Tuesday May 21, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - UI

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

307: Zero Trust Security for IBM i

While Zero Trust is still one of the strongest trends driving the cyber security industry, there remains much buzzword confusion around the topic. No one product or solution can get an enterprise to Zero Trust. It is a security methodology, not a product.

Learning Objectives:
• A basic introduction to Zero Trust for the larger enterprise
• The unique opportunities within the IBM i for implementing the Zero Trust framework
• How to integrate your IBM i strategy with your organization’s larger Zero Trust initiative.
• Best Practices for implementing Zero Trust on the IBM i

Speakers

Gavriel Meir-Levi

Tuesday May 21, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Administrators responsible for IBM i security

4:00pm CDT

298: Disaster Recovery – What Does That Actually Mean for the IBM i?

Most IBM i shops assume their DR plan is as simple as loading the backups and their up and running – well, that isn’t actually the case. In this session we’ll discuss the devil in the details of Disaster Recovery, what information you need to have done and what steps you should anticipate taking should disaster strike.

We’ll address scenarios like:
- I backed up my system last night and then it crashed today. What do I do about the information that didn’t get uploaded since last night’s backup?
- Who do I speak to to get new software license keys for every single application my system is running?
- What’s my organization's RPO and RTO? What do I think it is and what is it in actuality? What should it be?

Learning Objectives:
Attendees will walk away learning about the importance of DR plans, how to execute them, and what needs to be on their DR checklist.

Speakers

Robert Nettgen

Senior Consultant, Briteskies

Robert Nettgen wanted a career in radio broadcasting, but saw that profession declining and found better pay working in IT. A PC developer in the ‘80’s, Rob started administering AS/400s in the early ‘90s for a Radio/TV group owner. In 1999 Rob accepted a job as IT director... Read More →

Disaster Recovery what does that actually mean for IBM i pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Audience CISOs, System admins, Managers and Directors of IT departments, and anyone else responsible for information security and disaster recovery

4:00pm CDT

312: Developing With Developers In Mind

In the world of software development, effective developing strategies are a crucial part to any project. Join us in this insightful session to explore the art of developing with developers in mind. Discover strategies, tools, and best practices to improve productivity and streamline updates for a better user experience. If you're not sure if this is the session for you, just ask yourself, "Do I want to receive work emails and calls while I'm on vacation?"

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about organizing code using procedural programming
2. Learn to Automate tasks and processes (with a hint of open source)
3. Learn about what to include in project documentation

Speakers

Mike Zaringhalam

Developer, PC Richard & Son

Have you ever wanted to meet someone who started Hawaiian Shirt Fridays at their work place? If the answer is 'Yes!', then feel free to reach out with any questions you have regarding Hawaiian shirts... Or IBM i related topics. My main focuses are RDi, DB2, Modernization, and D... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Anyone looking to improve their collaboration skills

4:00pm CDT

360: Mastering Technical Debt Challenges in the IBM i Ecosystem

A comprehensive session on strategies for addressing the challenges associated with tackling technical debt in the IBM i ecosystem. This session explores the impact of technical debt on your system's performance and longevity and provides actionable insights to effectively manage and reduce it.

Key Highlights:

- Understanding Technical Debt
- Identifying Hotspots and Common Areas
- Impact on Performance and Scalability
- Strategies for Debt Reduction
- Building a Future-Ready IBM i

Learning Objectives:
Join this session to
- Gain practical insights into proactively addressing technical debt in your IBM i environment.
- Learn how strategically managing technical debt not only mitigates risks and reduces long-term maintenance costs but also optimizes system performance and ensures the long-term scalability of your IBM i infrastructure.
- Walk away with actionable strategies and implementation tips tailored to your specific IBM i context, contributing to the future-proofing of your system and its adaptability to evolving technological landscapes.

Speakers

Chris Koppe

SVP Strategy Services, Fresche Solutions

Chris Koppe is responsible for developing client transformation strategies at Fresche Solutions. He has led the development of legacy management strategies for hundreds of companies, across a variety of platforms, languages, databases, and technologies. This insight has allowed Chris... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Digital Badge IT Strategy

4:00pm CDT

412: IBM i Proactive Performance Preparation

No one plans to have a performance problem. When it next happens to you, will you have the information necessary to identify the root cause of the problem? This session will show you how to be prepared in the event of an unplanned performance problem. It will also discuss ways to avoid that problem from happening in the first place, and how to be notified as soon as possible that a problem may be starting.

Learning Objectives:
1. learn how to configure IBM i performance tools to have the data you need when a problem happens
2. learn how to get notified of potential problems

Speakers

Anil Madan

Sr. Managing Consultant, IBM

Anil Madan is a Senior IBM i Performance Consultant with specialization in system, application and Db2 for i performance management. He is an IBM certified Thought Leader Technical Specialist and an IBM certified Executive Project Manager. Working out of the IBM Expert Labs in Rochester... Read More →

IBM i Proactive Performance Preparation pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

5:15pm CDT

193: IBM i ACS Data Transfer Overview

IBM i Access Client Solutions (IBM i ACS) provides a Db2 Data Transfer features and capabilities that you may not be aware of or using most effectively. Join us for a quick, predominantly live demo session to get the most out of your IBM i ACS Data Transfer. 1. Get the most out of IBM i ACS Data Transfer

Speakers

Wayne Bowers

Software Engineer, IBM

Wayne Bowers has been with IBM since 1997, where he works with the IBM i Global Support Center in Rochester MN. He is an Advisory Software Engineer specializing in the support of the IBM i Access (aka Client Access) products, Console, the TCP Telnet communications server, and the... Read More →

ACS DataTransfer PowerUp24 pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Client Connectivity

Session Level All
Digital Badge ACS
Audience IBM i ACS Data Transfer Users

5:15pm CDT

294: How Many Indexes is Too Many?

The creation of indexes can have a positive impact on query performance. However, an index also has a cost since it has to be maintained every time rows in the associated table are inserted, deleted and updated. This session will the discuss indexing tradeoffs including the review of a benchmark test created to quantify the positive & negative impacts of indexes. In addition, you will learn about tooling that can be used to identify your most valuable and least valuable indexes.

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Kent Milligan

Senior Db2 for i Consultant, IBM

Kent Milligan is a Senior Db2 for i Consultant in IBM Technology Expert Labs. Kent has over 25 years of experience as a Db2 for IBM i consultant and developer working out of the IBM Rochester lab. Prior to re-joining the Db2 for i Expert Labs practice in 2020, Kent spent 5 years... Read More →

How Many Indexes is Too Many pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

5:15pm CDT

198: The Secrets to Negotiating and Resolving Workplace Conflict

Do you dread the thought of negotiating on your own behalf? Are you unsure of the best ways to handle conflict in the workplace? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you need to attend this session! We'll cover time-tested techniques for negotiations and conflict resolution that could change your life!

Learning Objectives:
In just 20 minutes, you'll:
- Learn to consider the value of an argument vs the cost
- Find common ground to smooth the negotiation
- Understand that all new ideas are great, and that we all make mistakes
- Show respect and build a reserve of good will to allow everyone to leave the negotiation with their head held high

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

The Secrets to Negotiating and Resolving Workplace Conflict Steven Wolk pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

IT Leadership and Management

Session Level All
Audience We can all benefit from the techniques presented in this session!

5:15pm CDT

203: My Vision For the Future

The world is changing. You can see it if you look around you... computers understand your voice, cars drive themselves, and so much more! What will things look like in 10 or 20 years? How will the world change? And, most importantly, how can we be ready for it?

Learning Objectives:
1. Understand how automation is already changing the world.
2. Think about how it will change things over time.
3. Be inspired to become a part of it!

Speakers

Scott Klement

Development & Solutions Architect, Midrange Dynamics

Scott volunteers as a member of COMMON's Board of Directors, Strategic Education Team, Certification Committee and Innovation Awards. He is the author of around 1000 articles and a dozen open source projects. Scott's efforts to help out the IBM i Community have resulted in dozens... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

5:15pm CDT

207: Developing an Weather Application for your IBM i

I know, I know... we don't need another Weather Application. This is a fun session where I can show you how to put the pieces together, using an API, JSON_TABLE function, RPG, PHP into a store procedure. This will give you ideas on things you can do to impress your users and boss!

Learning Objectives:
1. Internalize how API"s can be used in your shop.
2. Understand how easily these pieces fit together.

Speakers

Jim Buck

CEO & Head Instructor, imPower Technologies

Jim Buck’s career in IT has spanned more than 35+ years, primarily in college education, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Past president (13 years) of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (www.wmcpa.org) and has served on several teams developing IBM... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Room 202 C-D 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - RPG

Session Level All
Audience Manager or any type of developer

5:15pm CDT

283: Leveraging Text to Group Objects for Security (20min)

Three object types provide a critical information needed to manage your security project:

User profiles, Libraries, and IFS root-level directories. These “high-level” objects need to be assigned groups for simplified maintenance and security management.

Learning Objectives:
We will review how to simplify your security project by grouping critical object-sets; leveraging a little bit of code; and trusty PDM.
Bonus: O/S upgrade customization management.

Speakers

Tim Hawkins

System Admin, Tanimura & Antle

I've got one year to go before I retire.... The boss said to "give back", and since that matched my plans anyways; here we go. I present 4 classes on IBM i Security, showing all of the gory details. Some can be leveraged for just system administration, and some elements work... Read More →

Job Schedule Entries sql

Job Schedule Entries xlsx

Sample PDM subsets docx

Leveraging Text to Group Objects for Security pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience IBM i System Administrators who will be attending the “Using SQL to drive IBM i Security scans” session.

5:15pm CDT

200: 20 Tips in 20 Minutes

In my work with real-world environments, I have found a number of very common configuration settings that are not optimal for today's environment. Whether it be system values, job descriptions, memory pools, many shops have configuration settings at the system default value, or settings that were done years ago.

This session is a fast-paced session covering 20 configuration tips in 20 minutes.

Speakers

Dawn May

Owner, Dawn May Consulting, LLC

Dawn has been involved with COMMON for over 20 years and has been a consistent volunteer since 2008. She's been a member of the strategic education team, a subject matter expert, and a speaker. Now, as President of COMMON, she's focused on leading COMMON as the industry leader of... Read More →

20 Tips in 20 Minutes POWERUp2024 pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Award SILVER

5:15pm CDT

205: Logging options for Rest APIs on IBM i

The IWS Rest API support has some exciting new logging options that has been recently added. With the new options you can now easily have tools like Splunk or Elastic Stack, or others, as you can now create a JSON based log file with Lots of additional details to help you better understand your API work flow and who is making connections.

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Logging options for Rest APIs on IBM i pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:15pm - 5:35pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

5:50pm CDT

333: IBM i ACS Printer Output Overview

IBM i Access Client Solutions (IBM i ACS) provides an IBM i Printer Output utility with many features and capabilities that you may not be aware of or using most effectively. Join us for a quick, predominantly live demo session to get the most out of your IBM i ACS Printer Output Utility. 1. Get the most out of IBM i ACS Printer Output

Speakers

Wayne Bowers

Software Engineer, IBM

Wayne Bowers has been with IBM since 1997, where he works with the IBM i Global Support Center in Rochester MN. He is an Advisory Software Engineer specializing in the support of the IBM i Access (aka Client Access) products, Console, the TCP Telnet communications server, and the... Read More →

ACS PrinterOutput PowerUp24 pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Client Connectivity

Session Level All
Digital Badge ACS
Audience IBM i Access Client Solutions users

5:50pm CDT

197: The Secrets to Making the Most of Online Meetings

Now that virtual meetings have become the new normal for so many of us, it's vital that we learn to make the most of this approach to getting things done. Whether you use Zoom, Teams, Webex, or another product, come to this session to learn the secrets to supercharging your online meeting productivity and getting results!

Learning Objectives:
In just 20 minutes, you'll learn:
- How to plan your meeting for success
- How to run your meeting for maximum productivity
- The best ways to take meeting notes
- When and how to end your meeting
- Tips and tricks to maximize your use of technology and supercharge your work from home environment

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

The Secrets to Making the Most of Online Meetings Steven Wolk pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

IT Leadership and Management

Session Level All
Audience Anyone who coordinates or attends online meetings

5:50pm CDT

249: What's up with the RDi Debugger?

For many users getting started with the RDi debugger is intimidating. In this short session, we'll help the attendee understand the power of the debugger and feel comfortable with the features of the tool!

Learning Objectives:
1. Letting go of the 5250 debugger
2. Getting started with RDi debugging
3. Batch and interactive debugging
4. Service Entry Points (SEP)
5. How to debug different type of programs
6. Understand break-points and Monitor Expressions
7. Tips and Tricks!

Speakers

Jim Buck

CEO & Head Instructor, imPower Technologies

Jim Buck’s career in IT has spanned more than 35+ years, primarily in college education, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Past president (13 years) of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (www.wmcpa.org) and has served on several teams developing IBM... Read More →

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Room 202 C-D 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programmer Tools

Session Level All
Audience Attendees who are new to RDi or those that have had trouble "Quitting" The 5250 debugger

5:50pm CDT

284: Object-level Authorities by Application, with Automation

The ownership and authority privileges for all objects on the system are gathered and summarized for review; SQL code is set to identify when objects in the application don’t follow preset authorities; and code to automate the maintenance of ownership and authorities in a fast-paced development environment. Ownership and public authorities are critical elements of a secure environment.

Learning Objectives:
We will review sample application authorities, and the code that drives the creation of an application_authorities table. We review a few of the methods to categorize libraries for ownership and authority maintenance. Finally, a second SQL set of stored procedures are presented to maintain authorities on a schedule basis.

Speakers

Tim Hawkins

System Admin, Tanimura & Antle

I've got one year to go before I retire.... The boss said to "give back", and since that matched my plans anyways; here we go. I present 4 classes on IBM i Security, showing all of the gory details. Some can be leveraged for just system administration, and some elements work... Read More →

Set application authorities sql

Object level Authorities by Application, with Automation pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience System Administrators who will be attending the “Using SQL to drive IBM i Security scans” session; or who need to know about application authorities in-use on their system.

5:50pm CDT

212: Using System Monitors in IBM Navigator for i

Learn how to create and work with System Monitors in IBM Navigator for i. Also learn how to use the Performance Data Investigator (PDI) visualization tool to view System Monitor data.

Learning Objectives:
1. How to create a System Monitor
2. How to view system monitor data

Speakers

Shauna Rollings

IBM i Performance Tools & High Availability Development, IBM

Shauna joined the IBM i development team in 2008. She has developed and supported IBM i performance data collector tools throughout her entire IBM career. From the very beginning of the Db2 Mirror for i project, she has also been the technical team lead for the Db2 Mirror Configuration... Read More →

212 UsingSystemMonitorsNavigator pdf

Tuesday May 21, 2024 5:50pm - 6:10pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience System Administrators looking to take advantage of the performance monitoring capabilities of IBM i.

8:00am CDT

344: Open Source Always Wins. Let's Talk about it

Open source wins. It always wins. There's no fighting it. There's no denying it. But, it's important to understand "why" open source is such a disruptor and how you can tailor your IT strategy around its predictable wins.

Learning Objectives:
Understand and Leverage the momentum of open source technologies

Speakers

Jesse Gorzinski

Business Architect, IBM

Jesse Gorzinski works for the IBM i development lab in Rochester, MN. He is a Senior Business Architect and Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) responsible for open source technologies on the platform. Jesse, who was doing RPG programming at the age of 18, is an expert on application... Read More →

OSS How to not mess it up v3 pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience IT planners, executives, IT managers, or even developers

8:00am CDT

365: How to Set Up Your IBM i Environment to Weather the Evolution of Work in 2024

The evolution of work is on every IT leader’s mind, whether it’s in the context of hybrid work, generative AI, or automation. For IBM i teams, though, there’s also the challenge of a shrinking workforce that has deep expertise in IBM i administration and development. The good news is IBM I teams can take advantage of this evolution in a way that not only mitigates the skills shortage business impact but also sets up the organization for success.

Learning Objectives:
In this session, we will discuss what you need to do to take advantage of the trends in the evolution of work, including how to:
• Leverage pipelines to visualize and document your DevOps processes
• Enable 3rd party tried and true tools
• Weave hyper-automation into your every day
• Enable teams to experiment with new tech and IT trends like AI
• Simplify a move to the cloud

Speakers

Jeroen van Dun

Product Manager, Rocket Software

Herman Rensink

Distinguished Engineer, Rocket Software

Wednesday May 22, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Digital Badge IT Strategy

8:00am CDT

407: Steve's Yin to Josh's Yang - Maximizing Your Productivity in a Distracted World!

The distractions are EVERYWHERE! Emails, texts, social media, meetings, phone calls - the list is as endless as the demands on our time. We live in a fast paced multi-tasking world of constant change, never having enough time! We NEED to find ways to maximize our productivity, despite the distractions! But there are questions…

Is it possible to use technology more efficiently and effectively to stay organized and communicate better?
Are we using technology too much, not allowing enough time for other aspects of life?
Can both be true? Spoiler alert… Yes, they are! Come join this session to find out how. Enjoy two speakers for the price of one, and learn two different but complementary approaches to the same goal!

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

Josh Bander

IBM i Account Executive, IBM Champion, Rocket Software

Josh Bander is an IBM i Account Executive based in Cleveland, Ohio. He works at Rocket Software, one of the leading IBM i software providers with familiar products such as Rocket DevOps (Aldon), iCluster, and Rocket API. Recently, Josh has become well-known within the IBM i community... Read More →

Steve's Yin to Josh's Yang Maximizing Your Productivity in a Distracted World! Steve Wolk & Josh Bander pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Audience Everyone who would like to be more focused, less distracted, and more productive!

8:00am CDT

127: Hidden Gems of IBM i

The IBM i team has been delivering new function two times per year since 2010. New releases and technology refreshes deliver a broad range of function and sometimes the smallest line items can be easily missed. The IBM i team has reviewed the past releases/refreshes and have assembled some of their favorite hidden gems; things that you might have missed but should know. Everyone will leave with something new that will help them in their day to day work.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about some of the very useful but lesser known functions of IBM i.

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Douglas Gibbs

IBM i Product Manager, Program Director, IBM

Douglas Gibbs is the offering manager for IBM Power Systems I/O and works closely with the overall Offering Management, Sales and Development teams regarding all manners of I/O. Douglas has worked in the IT Industry for more than 25 years and has been in a variety of positions at... Read More →

Shauna Rollings

IBM i Performance Tools & High Availability Development, IBM

Shauna joined the IBM i development team in 2008. She has developed and supported IBM i performance data collector tools throughout her entire IBM career. From the very beginning of the Db2 Mirror for i project, she has also been the technical team lead for the Db2 Mirror Configuration... Read More →

Ryan Moeller

Software Engineer, IBM

Ryan Moeller is a software engineer working on Db2 for i, specifically on the SQL Query Engine (SQE) team. He joined the team in the Rochester, MN development lab in 2020. Ryan specializes in SQL, database development, and query performance analysis.

Ann Wilkerson

Software Developer, IBM

Ann Wilkerson is the technical team lead for Navigator for i and a developer for IBM i Services.

Wednesday May 22, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Room 202 A-B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - General

Session Level All
Award GOLD

8:00am CDT

325: Can PowerVS help me in accomplishing my DR and Cyber Resiliency goals.

in this session we are going to find out how IBM Power Virtual Server can help you to accomplish your Disaster Recovery and also your Cyber Resilience goals.

Also the reason for PowerVS as a DR environment will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:
-Understand how to set up a secure environment in IBM Power Virtual Server
-Compare on premise security to IBM Power Virtual Server security.
-How can IBM Power Virtual Server help you around Cyber Resiliency.

Speakers

Tonny Bastiaans

offering manager, IBM

Tonny Bastiaans is World Wide Product manager Power System at IBM. Started more than 20 years ago as an engineer on RS6000 systems (the predecessor of Power). He moved via several roles to his current role. With his technical background he is bridging the gap between technic and business... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience it administrators, architects, business strategist

9:15am CDT

106: 30 PHP Tips in 60 Minutes

Inspired by longtime presenters at the Summit, this discussion looks at the most popular tweaks, hacks and just plain good practices the for IBM i PHP community to enjoy. Sometimes you just need a shopping list of things to watch out for and many of the tips that are scattered throughout these presentations are consolidated in a single place. Performance, security and best practices and more will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:
• Common tips useful to all PHP shops
• Common mistakes to overcome with PHP in most shops

Speakers

Mike Pavlak

Solution Architect, Perforce Software

Mike Pavlak has been working with IBM midrange solutions since 1992 and IBM Mainframes before that. After years of developing applications using RPG, CL and PHP he managed IT development and IT for power protection manufacturer Tripp Lite. Later Mike was instrumental in developing... Read More →

PHP tips in 60 minsV7.2 pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - PHP

Session Level All
Award BRONZE
Audience PHP developers and IBM i System Administrators where they are running PHP workload

9:15am CDT

189: How to set up your IBM I system and applications with a layered security defense using MFA

While the IBM i is more securable than distributed systems, it is still vulnerable to potential security risks. This is especially true as you modernize the applications through API creation to engage the data and applications that live on the system. In this session, we’ll discuss how you can build out a layered defense against security threats, including integrating IBM i with your existing enterprise SSO architecture.

Learning Objectives:
*Why IBM i specific security is critical and how to convince the business it should be part of the security policy
*How to set up MFA for IBM i using MFA
*How to integrate MFA into your applications like terminal emulation, and your SSO infrastructure

Speakers

Tim Hill

Distinguished Engineer, Rocket Software

Tim Hill is a Distinguished Engineer and VP of Engineering at Rocket Software. He’s responsible for security, cloud, and AI/ML products on Power and Z. Technology areas of personal focus include model-based reasoning, deep learning, complex event correlation, network management... Read More →

Hrithik Govardhan

Software Lead, Rocket Software

Long time Rocketeer working in the Security/MFA/Cloud spaces on Power and Z.

PMFA Powerup2024 pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Those who want to ensure data and applications on the IBM i are secure by layering on MFA.

9:15am CDT

375: 30 Information and Cyber Security Tips in 60 Minutes

Security is a big topic but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Just like weight lifting, where you can start with smaller weights and work your way up, so to in cyber security you can reduce your risk by doing some basic things as you work toward bigger goals. Examining the most common causes of security failures and a few simple countermeasures can help you take some action now.

Learning Objectives:
You know security is important, you do what you can to keep your IBM I and ERP secure, but is there anything more you could and should be doing? Get your checklist out and start checking the boxes of Robert’s 30 Security Tips in 60 Minutes. From no-brainers like MFA and limited ALLOBJ Authority to more detailed considerations like antivirus software and various security tools, this presentation will tell you what you should be doing, a little about how to do it, and a lot about what you may not be thinking of.

Speakers

Robert Nettgen

Senior Consultant, Briteskies

Robert Nettgen wanted a career in radio broadcasting, but saw that profession declining and found better pay working in IT. A PC developer in the ‘80’s, Rob started administering AS/400s in the early ‘90s for a Radio/TV group owner. In 1999 Rob accepted a job as IT director... Read More →

30 Security Tips in 60 minutes pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience CISOs, System admins, Managers and Directors of IT departments, and anyone else responsible for information security.

9:15am CDT

231: iSee with Scott and Tim

In this session Scott and Tim will show, ie live demo how to solve real problems that we get asked, using ACS and the power of SQL.

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Scott Forstie

Db2 for i Architect, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

10:30am CDT

347: How to Begin a Real-life DevOps Journey

A DevOps strategy unites your software development and IT operations teams so you can deliver software faster. In this session, we share tips, advice, and anecdotes from teams just like yours who are implementing DevOps along with CI/CD pipelines to integrate and automate essential processes. Moving forward seems less daunting when we learn from the experiences of others.

Learning Objectives:
1. DevOps fundamentals
2. First steps to take to prepare for implementing DevOps and CI/CD pipelines
3. How DevOps and CI/CD best succeed with an evolutionary approach
4. Tips on where to start, how to make regular progress, and set realistic goals to deliver on time and within budget.

Speakers

Donna Westmoreland

CTO, Midrange Dynamics North America

Experience gained from leading major projects, including application modernization, at 100s of corporations has given Donna a well-rounded view of development needs, audit requirements, and testing principles.

Wednesday May 22, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Those interested in implementing DevOps methodologies.

10:30am CDT

139: Everything They Never Taught You!

Ok, maybe we're setting the bar a little high by saying EVERYTHING, but did you ever feel like all the people around you seem to just KNOW things, things you don't? Sure, you're a wiz with SQL, and no one codes RPG like you do, but when it comes to people skills, to working in teams, to communicating well, to building your career... Well, they never taught you THAT! Come to this session to learn everything you've been missing out on.

Learning Objectives:
Attend this session to learn to:
* Collaborate more effectively with other team members
* Resolve conflict with coworkers
* Improve your relationship with your boss
* Negotiate to get what you want
* Effectively market yourself in your current position
* Communicate better with everyone
* Understand EVERYTHING THEY NEVER TAUGHT YOU!

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

Everything They Never Taught You! Steven Wolk pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Award GOLD
Audience Anyone who must work with other people will benefit from this session!

10:30am CDT

382: Intro to Developer Productivity Engineering (DPE)

The tech ecosystem has been changing drastically, and there are some technologies that are disrupting the way developers are expected to operate. For instance, we're seeing the VSCode ecosystem grow, we're seeing AI do amazing things, and we have more open source CI/CD options than ever before.

What does all this mean? In short, it has caused a strategic shift of focus to developer productivity. That is, how do we enable developers to be productive as possible? Developer Productivity Engineering, or DPE, is the study of how to analyze and improve efficiency for programmers. In this session, get an overview of DPE so that you can apply the concepts within your organization. Doing so will increase efficiency and decrease cost.

Learning Objectives:
Learn what DPE is and discuss how it can be applied in a realistic setting

Speakers

Jesse Gorzinski

Business Architect, IBM

Jesse Gorzinski works for the IBM i development lab in Rochester, MN. He is a Senior Business Architect and Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) responsible for open source technologies on the platform. Jesse, who was doing RPG programming at the age of 18, is an expert on application... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Room 202 C-D 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programmer Tools

Session Level All
Audience IT planners, executives, IT managers, or even developers

10:30am CDT

194: What to know when moving to the Cloud

In this session, we'll discuss what you need to think about when moving to the cloud. It’s not as easy as just moving your workload from one machine to another. Pete will cover: Costs associated with moving to the cloud, what you should be moving, understanding planning, migration, testing and more.

Learning Objectives:
Is the cloud right for you? What to expect from a cloud provider? Migration issues.

Speakers

Pete Massiello

IBM i Advisor, Massiello Holding Corp.

Pete Massiello has been working with the AS/400, iSeries, IBM i since 1989, focusing on systems management and technical support. He has held numerous technical positions through out his career. He is the President of iTech Solutions Group, an IBM Premier Business Partner delivering... Read More →

Things to Consider When Moving to the Cloud 2024 pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience Anyone thinking of moving their IBM i to the cloud.

1:30pm CDT

265: Ask Dr. *nix

As Dr. *nix any questions about the PASE/Linux/USS/*nix environment and shell. Dr. *nix will have his laptop open and logged in to various systems to demonstrate solutions. The mysteries of shell scripting explored! If Unix-like environments are as puzzling to you as IBM i is to Linux weenies, this is your session!

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn more about the shell
2. Learn more about scripting
3. Learn more about utilities, pipelines, and shell job control

Speakers

Jack Woehr

Senior Engineer, Absolute Performance, Inc.

Author of Ublu, an open source remote language for IBM i. A Quantum Computing enthusiast, Jack is an IBM Qiskit Advocate, 2021 IBM Champion, 2022 IBM Champion, 2023 IBM Champion, and 2024 IBM Champion.A consulting programmer with over 30 years' experience in open source specializing in open source based IBM i modernization... Read More →

AskDrStarNix pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - General

Session Level All
Audience Anyone with questions about the *nix facet of IBM i can benefit from this session.

1:30pm CDT

371: Secure Rest APIs

Rest is a key technology in todays world. Security has to be at the for front of any conversation. In this session we will look at best practices in creating a secure Rest API experience. Leverage TLS to encrypt all communication, JWT as an authentication mechanism. Like many session, not only we will review the best practices, we will show the possibilities with live demos.

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Secure Rest interactions on IBM i pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - General

Session Level All

1:30pm CDT

163: What's the Fuss? Using Procedures and Service Programs

This session discusses the advantages of using modern techniques in your RPG programs. After a short introduction to modularity in programming; we go step-by-step through the process of replacing called programs with sub-procedure modules and then converting these modules to procedures in a called service program.

Learning Objectives:

Internalize the benefits of using modular coding practices.
Understand the steps in coding modular subprocedures and service programs.
Develop reusable subprocedures and service programs.

Speakers

Jim Buck

CEO & Head Instructor, imPower Technologies

Jim Buck’s career in IT has spanned more than 35+ years, primarily in college education, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Past president (13 years) of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (www.wmcpa.org) and has served on several teams developing IBM... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Room 202 C-D 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - RPG

Session Level All
Audience Any developer that wants improve their coding methods and write modern RPG code

1:30pm CDT

308: Best Practices for Preventing and Recovering from Ransomware

You need to implement a ransomware preventions strategy to protect your IBM i. However, what happens if you do get compromised? What if you could restore back to a point before the ransomware attack occurred?

Come learn about how by the combination of external storage, Flash Copy and logical replication can be used to rewind a large database to a point back in time.

Learning Objectives:
* Understanding Ransomware prevention strategies
* Preventing most common ransomware vulnerabilities
* How to get back to a point before the ransomware attack

Speakers

Barry Kirksey

Principal Sales Engineer, Precisely

Bill Peedle

Principal Sales Engineer, Precisely

Gavriel Meir-Levi

Wednesday May 22, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience IBM i administrators and security professionals

1:30pm CDT

116: Clean Up Your IBM i Disk

How much disk storage do you have on your system? The most common answer is 'not enough!' Attend this session and find out where all that space went, what you can clean up, and what should be left alone. Learn about reporting, automating, and managing your disk space in IBM i. Develop a deeper understanding of the tools IBM has built into IBM i and how to leverage them to help keep your system clean. Especially learn how to leverage SQL to find consumers of disk QUICKLY! Walk away with a solid understanding of how to clean up your disk space both QSYS and the IFS.

Learning Objectives:
How to determine where all your disk space has gone.
How to clean up unused space in physical files.
How to search for object filling up the IFS
How to use *nix and PASE tools to work in the iFS.
How to use SQL to find disk users and usage.

Speakers

Larry Bolhuis

Cloud and Datacenter Engineer, IBM Champion, Service Express Inc.

Larry has grown up with computers since his father became a CE in 1967. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Calvin College in 1982 and soon after began working on IBM midrange equipment with the S/34 and S/36. Larry began working on the As/400 at its introduction In 1988.After spending many years as a developer Larry began working on communications, networking, and systems management tasks. Years of... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience This session is for you if you are the person in charge of administering your IBM i and what's filling up it's disk storage!!

1:30pm CDT

309: PowerVS is the Destination, Understand the Journey!

Join us as we enhance your Journey to the Cloud. PowerVS, is an enterprise solution that will allow you to deploy your Power IBM i Development, Disaster Recovery, High Availability and Production workloads into the IBM Public Cloud. We will discuss topics to take into consideration when creating your Roadmap for a successful migration to a robust and secure PowerVS solution.

Your traveling agents are Tonny Bastiaans WW offering manager PowerVS at IBM and David Contreras, IBMI i Power Specialist at Meridian

Learning Objectives:
1. Introduction/learning about IBM PowerVS.
2. Considerations when migrating to the Cloud.
3. Understanding how to plan to their Journey to the Cloud.
4. Slides will reflect some topics covering analysis and design when migrating.
5. Backup and Restore in the cloud will not have a tape drive, what now? Talk about solutions they will need to consider filling this gap.

Speakers

David Contreras

IBM Power Systems Specialist, Meridian IT

My over 35 years of experience range from Senior System Architect, Systems Analyst, Senior System Engineer, Project Manager, Technical Manager and I.T Specialist. I have the ability to work effectively with different levels of staff from executive to technical. I have traveled extensively... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Admins, Managers, and others who are thinking or planning to migrate to the Cloud/PowerVS

2:45pm CDT

351: Simon’s Top Ten SQL

Simon has written a lot about modern Db2 for i and SQL on his blog for the past ten years. In this fast past session he will take you through his top 10 favorites. You will have to attend to learn what these cool SQL tricks and tips are & how they can help you be a SQL super hero! (this will be updated to include any cool new things added to SQL in the intervening time)

Learning Objectives:
1. Get a quick overview of my favorite SQL table functions & views that allow you to get to information you did know you could do
2. Simple examples shown

Speakers

Simon Hutchinson

Author, RPGPGM.COM

Simon Hutchinson has been writing his highly acclaimed IBM i blog, RPGPGM.COM, for eleven years sharing his knowledge, experience, and giving many detailed examples of the latest RPG, SQL, and CL. His work has led him to be recognized by IBM as an IBM Champion for Power and IBM i Community Advocate. He is a subject matter expert for COMMON North America and... Read More →

Simon Hutchinson 351 Simon’s Top Ten SQL pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Examples anyone can use these examples to maximize their use of SQL to make their lives simpler.

2:45pm CDT

102: What IBM i Professionals can learn from NASA

The NASA moonshot initiative in the 1960s and 1970s was groundbreaking in the use of information technology and advanced developments. Correspondingly testing and quality assurance was mandatory, extensive, and equally inventive. Using examples from history we will discuss current issues such as disaster recovery (the Apollo One fire), test coverage (Apollo 13), specifications and prototypes (the development of the LM), user ability and experience (Apollo 14), and further education development (Apollo 17).

Learning Objectives:
Explore disaster recovery, High Availability, testing, and implementation of quality assurance in a unique and informative way.

Speakers

Yvonne Enselman

Principal Architect for Quality Assurance on IBM i, Yvonne Enselman Professional Services

I am a Quality Assurance, Project Management, and Professional Services expert.Named IBM Champion 2024I have twenty-five years of experience in the IBM i industry starting in application development, transitioning through quality assurance, and into management. My passion has been... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Digital Badge HA/DR
Audience Testers and Developers interested in furthering QA knowledge. Anyone who was interested in the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo program in the 1960s.

2:45pm CDT

128: Testing your DR Plan - Reality Check - 5 Yearly Must Haves

Exercising the recovery elements that make up your Disaster Recovery Plan is an integral part of any effective business strategy. Business and Technology has evolved. Ensure you test for today’s digital business world and Cloud computing. Testing your plan is essential to see how to do it right.

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Richard Dolewski

VP, Enterprise Solutions, Connectria

Richard is a recognized SME and award-winning industry speaker specializing in, Cloud Computing Architecture, Business Resiliency, Disaster Recovery Planning and Backup & Recovery Program Design. He leads organizations through the new era of technology, achieving the desired, successful... Read More →

128 Testing your DR Plan Reality Check PowerUp Dallas Final pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Digital Badge HA/DR

2:45pm CDT

364: I've Moved Over to Cloud. Now What?

You've successfully migrated to the cloud, but what's next? Join this session as we explore essential strategies to extract maximum value from your cloud presence. Discover next-step initiatives that go beyond migration, ensuring your organization leverages the full potential of the cloud.

Key Points:

Optimizing Cloud Performance: Learn strategies to enhance the performance and efficiency of your applications and resources in the cloud.

Cost Optimization Tactics: Explore initiatives to manage and optimize costs, ensuring your cloud investment remains efficient and cost-effective.

Security and Compliance in the Cloud: Delve into best practices for maintaining robust security and compliance standards in your cloud environment.

Learning Objectives:
Session Highlights:

- Post-Migration Excellence
- Innovative Cloud Initiatives
- Real-world Case Studies

Speakers

Lief Morin

GM, Cloud Services, Fresche Solutions

Wednesday May 22, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

423: A Practical Guide to IBM i Authority Collection

This session explores practical applications for Authority Collection, including standard and creative use cases. Authority Collection can be used to reduce the security exposure of privileged user profiles and to lock down objects/libraries/IFS. We will cover these in detail, along with some “outside the box” ways of using this technology to answer questions and solve problems.

Learning Objectives: Learn how to:
1. Enable the different types of Authority Collection
2. Analyze data from the Authority Collection repository
3. Turn the data into actionable information
4. Discover creative ways to harness the power of Authority Collection

Speakers

Steve Riedmueller

Certified IBM i Admin - Speaker, Mentor, and Advocate, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

I am a COMMON Certified IBM i Administrator with over 20 years experience on IBM i, as well as a COMMON speaker, N2i mentor, and IBM i advocate.I've been working on the platform since 2001 as a system admin/engineer. I have experience with OS upgrades and patching, system security... Read More →

PU24 Authority Collection Scripts sql

PU24 Authority Collection pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

348: Architecture to Optimize IBM Backup with FalconStor StorSafe Virtual Tape Library

FalconStor® StorSafe® Virtual Tape Library is software that works with any leading backup software, emulating physical tape drives and libraries while shrinking backup images with advanced compression and deduplication. This technical session will present how StorSafe Virtual Tape Library can modernize and optimize AIX and IBM i environments both on-premises and in the cloud. Five use cases will be explored, including on-premises backups, migrating workloads and legacy tapes from on-premises to IBM Power Virtual Server, hybrid cloud backup between on-premises and the cloud, backup and restore for Power Virtual Server-resident workloads, including use of IBM Cloud Object Storage with immutability for Ransomware protection, and replication in Power Virtual Server to another cloud for disaster recovery. Architectural diagrams for technical understanding will be presented and explained.

Learning Objectives:
1. How to optimize IBM i and AIX backup and recovery both on-premises and in the cloud for improved performance and reduced backend storage needs.
2. How to migrate IBM i and AIX workloads to IBM Power Virtual Server.
3. How to help protect against Ransomware with immutability in IBM COS.

Speakers

Niel Balsino

Regional Pre Sales Consultant, Falconstor

Niel is FalconStor’s Regional Pre Sales Consultant and is a systems engineer with 30 years of data center infrastructure experience. Niel began his professional career at UPS, where he first worked on the IBM i platform as an AS/400 Systems Programmer. While at IBM, Niel was a development... Read More →

Paul Cinquegrane

Regional Sales Director, Falconstor

Paul is FalconStor’s Regional Sales Director for the Americas, and his team works with customers and partners on their pressing storage, backup, and infrastructure challenges. Paul started his professional career as a business consultant for PwC Consulting and IBM, and takes a consultative... Read More →

FalconStor POWERUp 2024 Presentation pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience Both sellers and technical audience offering solutions to IBM customers

4:00pm CDT

115: Accelerate Your Excel!

Are you intimidated by spreadsheets? Do you use Excel for the basics, but know you could be so much more productive with it if only you knew how? Do you cringe when other business people within your company ask for data in spreadsheet form? Excel is a wonderful tool, especially when paired with the IBM i! It's incredibly powerful, and can save you lots of time.

This session will begin with the basics and then progress through more advanced Excel topics such as functions, pivot tables, and array formulas. Using real life examples, you'll see how these new skills will help you in your career. Finally, we'll review powerful methods of pulling data from your IBM i directly into Excel spreadsheets! You'll even leave with sample code you can leverage within Excel to give you one click access to run an SQL statement from your desktop and have the results returned in a spreadsheet.

Learning Objectives:
After participating in this session, attendees should have the skills and techniques to:
- Understand the benefits of using Excel
- Use spreadsheets to improve your own productivity as well as that of your company
- Pull data from your IBM i directly into a spreadsheet in a variety of ways

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

Accelerate your Excel Steven Wolk pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Developing Business Skills

Session Level All
Award BRONZE
Audience Anyone who has ever had to work with a spreadsheet will benefit from the skills gained during this session. We will start with the basics, but even experienced Excel users will find useful information in this session.

4:00pm CDT

414: We’re Going to the Cloud, but How Do We Get There?

Your leadership has decided your IBM i system is going to the cloud or you know that day is coming. Then reality sets in and the first question is, how do I move business critical apps on IBM i to the cloud and still keep the business running while I migrate? What choices should I make to reduce the risk? Are some clouds better for me than others?

This session will help you answer all these questions and give you the tools to plan a successful migration. We will also share some ideas on how to get the most from your cloud experience once you get there.

Speakers

Keith Zblewski

Product Manager - IBM Hybrid Cloud, First National Technology Solutions

As a Product Manager at FNTS, Keith develops and grows cloud services to help clients modernize their IBM environment by leveraging hybrid cloud technologies. Keith uses 25+ years of experience on IBM Power Systems to help clients on their journey to cloud for applications running... Read More →

PowerUp 2024 Going to the Cloud pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

4:00pm CDT

376: So You Want to Be a Contractor or Consultant

Whether you're looking to retire from full-time work but still do a little work on the side, move to part-time work, or explore a new career path, consulting and contracting work for IBM i developers has become extremely popular. Learn from Bill Onion a consultant turned consulting shop owner and Robert Nettgen, a Director of IT turned consultant about their experiences in the field. Gain valuable insight into the pros and cons of contract work, what companies are looking for, and how to make yourself more marketable as a consultant.

Learning Objectives:
1. Insight into the world of contracting and consulting and tips on how to succeed
2. The pros and cons of consulting vs in-house developer
3. Learn the biggest challenges we see in the industry as consultants for a variety of IBM i run shops

Speakers

Robert Nettgen

Senior Consultant, Briteskies

Robert Nettgen wanted a career in radio broadcasting, but saw that profession declining and found better pay working in IT. A PC developer in the ‘80’s, Rob started administering AS/400s in the early ‘90s for a Radio/TV group owner. In 1999 Rob accepted a job as IT director... Read More →

Bill Onion

Managing Director, Briteskies

I'm a life-long IBM i Fan! Basically born and raised on this awesome platform. Now, I'm leading the Briteskies team as we help companies to: 1) Leverage their investment in IBM i by extending the life of their RPG-based applications, 2) Integrate their IBM i systems with 3rd party... Read More →

2024 So You think You Want to be a Contractor pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Room 202 A-B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Audience Anyone who is interested in becoming or hiring RPG consultants including RPG Developers, IT Directors, and IT Managers.

4:00pm CDT

409: Modernization and 21st Century Skills - How to Move your Business into the 21st Century on IBM i

Faced with pressure from upper management, learn how different companies moved their company's software into the 21st century. Why 21st century technologies, require systematic training. We will discuss the steps these companies have followed to modernize their business and IT staff spending significantly less money and time than moving off the platform.

Topics Covered
1. Modernization requirements
2. Modernization and Staff training
3. Where to find IBM i Developers for your company
4. What about me… where do seasoned developers fit in?
5. Basics of training developers in 21st Century skills
6. Myths and truth
7. A sad alternative
Spoiler alert - abandoning the IBM i platform was not the answer!

Speakers

Jim Buck

CEO & Head Instructor, imPower Technologies

Jim Buck’s career in IT has spanned more than 35+ years, primarily in college education, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Past president (13 years) of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (www.wmcpa.org) and has served on several teams developing IBM... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - RPG

Session Level All
Audience Managers and developers will benefit from this presention

4:00pm CDT

369: Why Should You Use HTML Living Standard and Not Static HTML to Build New UIs

Users don’t accept two-dimensional experiences. They want rich media. They want real-time information. They want an interactive experience. And they want it all at their fingertips. Long gone are the days when users were okay with going to five different sources to get the information they needed. To build the modern user experiences users want, you need to use HTML Living Standard.

In this session, we’ll discuss:
o The value of HTML Living Standard, including bi-directional communication and responsive error handling
o How to integrate with third-party solutions to build an interactive, rich experience
o What are other ways to use HTML Living Standard, such as local storage, database queries, and leveraging local technology such as device cameras and location data.

Speakers

Jeroen van Dun

Product Manager, Rocket Software

Wednesday May 22, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - UI

Session Level All

4:00pm CDT

332: The Expert’s Guide to Power Systems Cloud Security

Many IBM i organizations are considering a move to the cloud or have already done so, but what does this mean for cybersecurity? Unfortunately, migrating your IBM i workload to the cloud will not eliminate cybersecurity concerns. No matter where your data resides, staying ahead of emerging threats requires a well-planned strategy and the cloud presents unique challenges.

This session will give you valuable insight from IT experts who’ve seen it all—Tom Horan, Vice President of mPower at Meridian IT, and Tom Huntington, Executive Vice President of Technical Solutions at Fortra.

Learning Objectives:
1) The division of security responsibility between customer and cloud provider
2) Cybersecurity best practices specifically for Power systems in the cloud
3) How to best configure your system to optimize performance and security

Speakers

Tom Huntington

EVP of Technical Solutions, Fortra

Tom Huntington is Executive Vice President of Technical Solutions at Fortra, and has been with the company for over 35 years. He helps manage the worldwide Fortra software engineer team that works to integrate and promote our automation and security solutions to partners and customers... Read More →

Tom Horan

Vice President, Cloud & Managed Services, Meridian IT

I consult with clients regarding Cloud and Managed Services.

Wednesday May 22, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience System Administrators, IT Managers, CIOs, IT Directors

4:00pm CDT

122: Tales from the Datacenter: Worst Practices in Systems Management

We've all heard stories of things gone wrong, some were just bad, some were horrible, and some were just plain hilarious! The more you know of these gruesome Tales from the Datacenter the more likely you can avoid them.

This session will also allow for user feedback where the horrible terrible and very bad experiences of audience members will be added to the speakers experiences and used as educational tools to prevent those problems from killing us. You have been warned!

System admins, facility managers, developers - everyone has an opportunity to be the "hero" or the "zero" in their company. This session will help you learn from the mistakes of others and lessen the cases of you being the "zero".

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn how the "Titanic effect" of cascading failures and mistakes often compounds a problem.
2. Learn simple tips and tricks for avoiding being the cause of an outage or disaster

Speakers

Larry Bolhuis

Cloud and Datacenter Engineer, IBM Champion, Service Express Inc.

Larry has grown up with computers since his father became a CE in 1967. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Calvin College in 1982 and soon after began working on IBM midrange equipment with the S/34 and S/36. Larry began working on the As/400 at its introduction In 1988.After spending many years as a developer Larry began working on communications, networking, and systems management tasks. Years of... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience System admins, facility managers, anyone interested to learn how others got things wrong, and learn how NOT to do those things themselves.

5:15pm CDT

209: Back Up to the Cloud with IBM Cloud Storage Solutions for i

You can use Cloud Storage Solutions to store IBM i files securely in the cloud, eliminating the need for tape drives, tape cartridges, and courier services for off-site storage. ICC should also be a core part of your Hybrid Strategy. When your IBM i LPAR is already on the cloud, the only backup medium available is cloud storage! You can use Backup, Recovery, and Media Services (BRMS) for i with Cloud Storage Solutions to transfer virtual save media to and from the cloud. This session will cover backups of Cloud LPARs, and also the use of ICC to simplify your on-prem to Cloud hybrid strategy.

Learning Objectives:
1- How to set up and configure an IBM i environment in the cloud with ICC
2- Setting up Cloud Storage for ICC, with Proxies
3- Configuring BRMS for ICC
4- Using the above to simplify your on-prem to cloud migration

Speakers

Hrithik Govardhan

Software Lead, Rocket Software

Long time Rocketeer working in the Security/MFA/Cloud spaces on Power and Z.

icc powerup2024 pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Digital Badge HA/DR
Audience Users interested in DR solutions in a Hybrid Cloud environment

5:15pm CDT

215: Benefits of Continuous Availability with Db2 Mirror for i

Discover how Db2 Mirror for i is a continuous availability solution that can improve your business continuity. Also learn about some of the new and unique features of Db2 Mirror.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about how Db2 Mirror can be used to eliminate outages or load balance workloads
2. Learn about the newest features of Db2 Mirror

Speakers

Shauna Rollings

IBM i Performance Tools & High Availability Development, IBM

Shauna joined the IBM i development team in 2008. She has developed and supported IBM i performance data collector tools throughout her entire IBM career. From the very beginning of the Db2 Mirror for i project, she has also been the technical team lead for the Db2 Mirror Configuration... Read More →

215 Db2MirrorContinuousAvailabilityBenefits pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Digital Badge HA/DR
Audience System Administrators or Business Executives looking for an RTO and RPO of zero.

5:15pm CDT

417: Data Corruption? Cyber Attack? Recover Your IBM i Data in Some Minutes Instead of Many Hours

The creation of several daily recovery copies of your PROD partition is a must-have in today’s world of cyberattacks.
Without ‘Flash for i’, in the event of a successful ransomware or hacker attack, you have to proceed a long time-consuming restoration from tape.
With ‘Flash for i’ you can very quickly and automatically recover your IBM i data!
On top, it's extremely easy to create many consistent and immutable instant-copies, using few disk space!

Speakers

Pascal Ruckebusch

Founder & CTO of M81, M81

Pascal Ruckebusch adopted IBM i at the exact beginning of AS/400, three decades ago, and never left it … Pascal's experience on IBM i covers system and application development, training and operations. Twice CTO of 2 major IBM business partners in France, his technical skills and... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All

5:15pm CDT

396: IBM Client Innovation Stories

IBM i clients around the world are transforming their businesses with the integrated technology available in the IBM i portfolio. In this session, Steve Will, Distinguished Engineer and CTO of IBM i; Brandon Pederson, IBM i and Power Product Marketing Manager; and Douglas Gibbs, IBM i Product Manager, will highlight the business value clients are getting in application modernization, cloud, availability and more. Come hear what others are doing, and get inspired to innovate with IBM i!

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about what peers are doing on the platform through real-life examples.
2. Get inspiration for new ideas and applications.
3. Acquire new knowledge about what is possible on the platform and ask questions.”

Speakers

Steve Will

IBM i CTO & Chief Architect, IBM

Steve is the CTO and Chief Architect for the IBM i Operating System. Spending the past fourteen years of his IBM career in this position, he has become an award-winning speaker, author of the influential blog "You and i," (https://bit.ly/You-and-i-blog) and is one of the most sought-after voices at customer briefings and events. Steve has worked on IBM i and its predecessors since before the creation of the AS/400, and is currently responsible for setting the strategy of the IBM i operating system, as well as deciding which enhancements will be implemented. In his role, he talks to clients and pa... Read More →

Douglas Gibbs

IBM i Product Manager, Program Director, IBM

Douglas Gibbs is the offering manager for IBM Power Systems I/O and works closely with the overall Offering Management, Sales and Development teams regarding all manners of I/O. Douglas has worked in the IT Industry for more than 25 years and has been in a variety of positions at... Read More →

Brandon Pederson

IBM i and Power Product Marketing Manager, IBM

Brandon Pederson is the Product Marketing Manager for IBM i and Modernization within the IBM Power business. Prior to this role, Brandon was Content Marketing Manager for IBM WebSphere and Content and Community Manager for IBM Power. He has a degree in Marketing from Concordia University... Read More →

IBM i Client Innovation Stories POWERUp 2024 Session pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

IT Leadership and Management

Session Level All

5:15pm CDT

297: IBM i Integration - What's the Best Option For You?

Looking to connect your IBM i to more outside applications and tools? What’s the best way to make those pathways? In this talk we’ll review the various industry options and when each should be used. We’ll discuss traditional integration paths, APIs, FTP, SFTP, Webservices, Middleware platforms, utilizing node, etc. in a clear pros and cons format. We will also discuss the security of each option and what needs to be taken into consideration for keeping your system secure when opening it up to the “outside world”. Attendees will leave the session armed with options and knowledge to make the choice that best fits their need, timeline, and budget.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about the various integration pathways and tools
2. Analyze integration tools in a pros and cons format from an unbiased source (we aren’t a tool provider and have no skin in this game!)
3. Identify key security concerns to keep in mind when making integration plans for the future

Speakers

Bill Onion

Managing Director, Briteskies

I'm a life-long IBM i Fan! Basically born and raised on this awesome platform. Now, I'm leading the Briteskies team as we help companies to: 1) Leverage their investment in IBM i by extending the life of their RPG-based applications, 2) Integrate their IBM i systems with 3rd party... Read More →

2024 COMMON Integration pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Middleware (other)

Session Level All
Audience Modern language developers, System Admins, RPG developers

5:15pm CDT

287: Troubleshooting Tips and Tricks

Have you ever tried to figure out a problem and you don’t know where to begin? Have you ever received a level 1 or level 2 help desk call and want to scream? How many times have you looked at your code and wanted to figure out how to troubleshoot the problem? This session is for you. We are going to give you some tips and tricks to help you overcome most common developer and user issues.

Learning Objectives:
1. How to troubleshoot user problems
2. How to add error handling to your programs.
3. How to overcome program issues.

Speakers

Marina Schwenk

Innovative Software Solutions

Marina started her career in January 2015 at Everbrite LLC in Greenfield WI after graduating from Gateway Technical College in May of 2014 with an Associate’s degree in IT Software Development. Marina worked for over nine years as a Senior Programmer Analyst/IBM i admin at Everbrite... Read More →

Shelly Petty

Application Support, Everbrite LLC

I am a Junior Full Stack Developer at Everbrite LLC. We run our production applications on the IBMi Power Server. Primary languages are CL, RPG, DB2 SQL and Java, and the UI: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Drupple, React, and Sencha.My position is a fast paced job and it includes Help Desk... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programmer Tools

Session Level All
Audience Developers, Help desk support, n2i

5:15pm CDT

305: The Cyber Security News Report - A Fun Look At Current Information Security News Stories

You know that cyber security is a real issue - even if your boss doesn’t get it. Time to stress less about it and enjoy a fun look at real, Information and Cyber Security stories in the news. These are a sampling of current security news stories from the last 3 months.

Robert Nettgen will read a sampling of these stories in a dramatic, over the top, radio announcer style. While usually not mentioned by name, it’s a safe bet that some of these companies in the news have an IBM i server hiding in the data center. ?A list of the stories will be shared, so if your boss thinks this stuff is overblown and not a real risk, feel free to share some of these stories - or even the whole list.

Learning Objectives:
1. Gain a deeper understanding about the seriousness of cybersecurity
2. Learn from others' cybersecurity mistakes and how to avoid them in your own systems

Speakers

Robert Nettgen

Senior Consultant, Briteskies

Robert Nettgen wanted a career in radio broadcasting, but saw that profession declining and found better pay working in IT. A PC developer in the ‘80’s, Rob started administering AS/400s in the early ‘90s for a Radio/TV group owner. In 1999 Rob accepted a job as IT director... Read More →

Wednesday May 22, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 103A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience CISOs, System admins, Managers and Directors of IT departments, and anyone else responsible for information security.

5:15pm CDT

411: Leveraging IBM i (SQL) Services for Performance Management

For system administrators figuring out how to call system management or performance related APIs on IBM i can be a challenge. Luckily, many of those APIs have equivalent IBM i Services that can easily be invoked using simple SQL statements. Learn how to take advantage of these services for everyday performance management tasks.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn which IBM i Services are most useful for performance
2. See examples of how Services can be combined to do more advanced tasks quickly and easily

Speakers

Anil Madan

Sr. Managing Consultant, IBM

Anil Madan is a Senior IBM i Performance Consultant with specialization in system, application and Db2 for i performance management. He is an IBM certified Thought Leader Technical Specialist and an IBM certified Executive Project Manager. Working out of the IBM Expert Labs in Rochester... Read More →

Leveraging IBM i (SQL) Services for Performance Management pdf

Wednesday May 22, 2024 5:15pm - 6:15pm CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

8:00am CDT

366: How AI Trailblazes a New Path for Automated Testing

CI/CD is empowering teams to release code faster. But what does testing mean in the world of AI? Intelligent testing is the introduction of AI to the continuous testing process and could transform how IBM® i organizations approach development and testing for IBM i+ environments.

Learning Objectives:
Join us in this session, where we will cover:
o The next stages in the evolutionary journey of testing and how AI will make an impact
o What is happening today as a precursor to AI
o How you can set up your organization to take advantage of AI in your test cycles if and when you’re ready.

Speakers

Herman Rensink

Distinguished Engineer, Rocket Software

Thursday May 23, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

8:00am CDT

248: I'm Interested in Deploying IBM Db2 Mirror for i - Now What?

The IBM Db2 Mirror for i product provides synchronous replication of Db2 for i, which makes your database highly available between two nodes. Having a highly available database allows you to deploy applications in such a way that there is zero downtown required to do system maintenance that has traditionally been disruptive. In this session, you will learn about some of the considerations and planning that must be done before deploying Db2 Mirror.

Learning Objectives:
- You will learn about the types of objects that can be replicated by Db2 Mirror and about tools available to you to begin analyzing the object types used by your existing applications.
- You will learn about active-active and active-passive application topologies that work well in a Db2 Mirror environment.
- You will learn about the hardware and software required for deploying Db2 Mirror.

Speakers

Shauna Rollings

IBM i Performance Tools & High Availability Development, IBM

Shauna joined the IBM i development team in 2008. She has developed and supported IBM i performance data collector tools throughout her entire IBM career. From the very beginning of the Db2 Mirror for i project, she has also been the technical team lead for the Db2 Mirror Configuration... Read More →

248 InterestedInDeployingDb2MirrorNowWhat pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Audience System Administrators, Application Developers, or Business Executives looking for an RTO and RPO of zero.

8:00am CDT

114: Management by the Movies

Do you aspire to be a more effective leader? Are you tired of dull books about abstract leadership and management concepts? Perfect! Then come join this lively session!

Using clips from well known movies and TV shows, we will demonstrate key leadership traits and techniques you can develop within yourself. Seeing these approaches to leadership come to life on the big screen may just make you look at leadership in a whole new way. We will discuss each of the clips shown, to understand what they can teach us about leadership.

Learning Objectives:
Learning Objectives: After participating in this session, attendees should have the skills and vision to:
- Understand the difference between management and leadership
- Lead people more effectively
- Motivate your team to improve results
- Better recognize good leadership qualities in others

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

Management by the Movies Steven Wolk pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

IT Leadership and Management

Session Level All
Award SILVER
Audience Anyone who works with other people will benefit from the skills gained during this session.

8:00am CDT

175: Everything You Need to Know About the IBM i Administration Runtime Expert

Business-critical applications must be up and running reliably without failure. When something unexpected occurs, you must identify the cause and correct it quickly. The relentless push to do more with less is only going to intensify while the tolerance for failure keeps dropping. Yet identifying points of failure can be tricky as complexities scale.

IBM i offers a product at no additional charge that helps ascertain application and infrastructure health. The IBM Administration Runtime Expert for i (ARE) can be used to define attributes of a healthy environment and use those defined attributes to validate that the environment is as expected.

This session will everything you need to know to get started with ARE:
- Overview of what ARE is and example use cases
- Prerequisites, installation, and logging into the ARE console
- Creating and editing templates
- Setting up system groups, verification options, and verifying systems
- Understanding the reports

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn how to acquire the IBM ARE product, where it needs to be installed, and how to log in and get started
2. Learn how to create templates that define the attributes to verify
3. Learn how to set up system groups for verification
4. Learn how to review the reports from a validation

Speakers

Dawn May

Owner, Dawn May Consulting, LLC

Dawn has been involved with COMMON for over 20 years and has been a consistent volunteer since 2008. She's been a member of the strategic education team, a subject matter expert, and a speaker. Now, as President of COMMON, she's focused on leading COMMON as the industry leader of... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience This session is geared for any system administrator that wants an easy way to ensure attributes are not changed on a single partition, or across a set of partitions.

9:15am CDT

373: Ai-Ops – Automation, AI for managing your IBM i

Ai, its all the buzz, but what if you really could start to leverage AI in the automated management of your IBM i systems ? With the latest support from IBM and the Instana product, combined with tools like Prometheus and Ansible, you now have options for monitoring virtual any metric you can dream up, combined with powerful alerting capabilities and AI to help determine the best corrective action via Ansible. In this session we will review these technologies, as well as show demos of this in action.

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

2 Ai Ops – Automation, AI for managing your IBM i pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

9:15am CDT

199: Strategic IT - The Art of Advancing your Career Beyond the Technical

What are your career goals? Sure, we're all great with technology, but to continue growing in our careers requires that we do the unthinkable... we actually have to TALK to each other. And even worse... we have to TALK to the business people in our companies! Why? WHY? Why would we possibly want to TALK to PEOPLE? The answer to that question is that today more than ever, technology IS the business. So it makes sense that IT can help or hurt a business more than ever. It's critical that we align our IT efforts, goals, and strategies with those of the business - and all of that requires good communication. Would you like to have a seat at the table, to be taken seriously as a businessperson, and to have a voice in the decisions our companies make? Then attend this session to partner with your business and communicate for success.

Learning Objectives:
During this session, you'll learn the business and communications skills needed to truly partner with the business and elevate your career. These will include:
1. Speaking the language of the business
2. Thinking like a businessman
3. Demonstrating strong leadership
4. Selling fellow business leaders on the value proposition of IT investments
5. Always being prepared
6. Earning influence
7. Preparing for and navigating board meetings
8. Difficult conversations
9. Always keeping your cool
10. Aligning IT with business goals

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

Strategic IT The Art of Advancing your Career Beyond the Technical Steven Wolk pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Digital Badge IT Strategy
Audience All IT professionals who aspire to grow, become better communicators, and enhance their career!

9:15am CDT

374: Web Application Implementation Patterns for IBM i

Modernization entails user applications which are web applications, but "webify the greenscreen" is only a worn and peeling bandaid. What are the choices of implementation patterns when planning a genuine IBM i-backed web application? Can we design so that integrating other internet applications and workflows is natural? What are the benefits and risks of various strategies? These are no longer new questions to IBM i development and there are solid answers!

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn options for implementing IBM i-backed web applications.
2. Learn strategies for enabling integrations.
3. Learn team and enterprise tactics to improve the experience for developers, administrators, end-users, and managers.

Speakers

Jack Woehr

Senior Engineer, Absolute Performance, Inc.

Author of Ublu, an open source remote language for IBM i. A Quantum Computing enthusiast, Jack is an IBM Qiskit Advocate, 2021 IBM Champion, 2022 IBM Champion, 2023 IBM Champion, and 2024 IBM Champion.A consulting programmer with over 30 years' experience in open source specializing in open source based IBM i modernization... Read More →

WebApplicationImplementationPatterns pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - Frameworks

Session Level All
Audience Developers, administrators, planners, and managers who want to clarify the options for IBM i modernization and integration

9:15am CDT

362: Still Making These IBM i Security Faux Pas? STOP.

Are you still relying on outdated security practices without understanding the risks they pose? Join this session where we unravel the mysteries behind persisting security practices and shed light on the imperative need for evolution. Dive into data-backed insights, discover the motivations behind clinging to the past, and explore strategies to usher in a new era of security resilience.?_

Key Highlights:_
- Legacy Security Pitfalls
- Motivations for Continuity
- Strategies for Modernization

Risk Assessment of Legacy Practices: Understand the risks posed by continuing with outdated security practices and their implications on overall security posture.

Motivational Factors Analysis: Gain insights into the motivations behind the persistence of outdated security practices and how these factors can be addressed.

Modernization Roadmap: Explore practical strategies and real-world examples for transitioning from legacy security practices to modern, resilient solutions.

Join us in this session as we challenge the status quo and pave the way for a more secure and resilient future of IBM i cybersecurity.

Speakers

Alan Hamm

Senior Security Services Engineer, Fresche Solutions

With over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, Alan is a seasoned professional specializing in IBM i services, particularly in IBM i security. His expertise extends to leveraging his development background for automation and configuration purposes. Previously, he served as a... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

10:30am CDT

427: A New Era of Analytics for IBM i using IBM Cognos

Come here about the powerful reporting and analysis capabilities in IBM Cognos Analytics. Whether you're migrating reporting workload from DB2 WebQuery, or exploring new ways you can empower your team for data analysis and distribution, join this session to get a view into what's possible and discover potential pricing benefits to existing IBM Db2 Web Query customers.

Speakers

Jonah Mudse

Product Management, IBM

Jonah Mudse has devoted his professional life to building software products that customers love. He is a product manager, design thinker, and educator. In 2022, Jonah joined the IBM Business Analytics portfolio - driving innovation for business to be better at business, more often... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

10:30am CDT

144: Turn up the Power: External Disk and Hardware Replication on i... A Case Study!

Your IBM i does a great job of managing internal disk, so why upgrade to external storage using a SAN? Your replication software may require some extra time and attention, but it gets the job done - so why change? Turns out there are lots of reasons to change both! This won't be a nuts and bolts how-to session. Rather it will be a case study of the decisions made by one large appliance and electronics retailer to implement these technologies, including the considerations, decisions, trade-offs, and benefits. You may not leave this session knowing how to do it, but you'll understand why you might want to, and you'll be ready to ask many of the right questions to get you there.

Some of the topics we'll discuss will include:
- HA vs DR
- RPO (Recovery Point Objective) and RTO (Recovery Time Objective)
- iASP's
- Tool-kits
- Backups
- Flash Copy
- Recovery Scenarios

Learning Objectives:
You'll leave this session better prepared to:
1. Determine if external storage is right for your environment
2. Understand the trade-offs involved with external storage and hardware replication
3. Know what questions to ask along the way!

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

Turn up the Power External Disk and Hardware Replication on i... A Case Study! Steven Wolk pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Audience Anyone who is curious about using external storage and hardware replication with their IBM i is encouraged to attend!

10:30am CDT

430: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!

Staying in your comfort zone can and most likely hindered your career. Have you tried seeing what happens when you tried something outside of your comfort zone? would you be willing to try? This session will highlight some of the reasons why you should get out of your comfort zone and try something new. You will probably be surprised by the consequences of getting out of your comfort zone.

Speakers

Marina Schwenk

Innovative Software Solutions

Marina started her career in January 2015 at Everbrite LLC in Greenfield WI after graduating from Gateway Technical College in May of 2014 with an Associate’s degree in IT Software Development. Marina worked for over nine years as a Senior Programmer Analyst/IBM i admin at Everbrite... Read More →

Shelly Petty

Application Support, Everbrite LLC

I am a Junior Full Stack Developer at Everbrite LLC. We run our production applications on the IBMi Power Server. Primary languages are CL, RPG, DB2 SQL and Java, and the UI: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Drupple, React, and Sencha.My position is a fast paced job and it includes Help Desk... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Room 202 A-B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Audience Everyone

10:30am CDT

306: Disk-level encryption isn’t enough

As companies look to leverage encryption as part of their security landscape, it can be tempting to just implement disk-level encryption. As security requirements continue to grow and compliance regulations are taken into account for the IBM i environment, administrators are finding they need to implement encryption at the field level versus disk level encryption.

Learning Objectives:
• What are the use cases for disk level and field level encryption?
• How do I satisfy PCI compliance auditors requirements for encryption?
• What types of fields should be encrypted?
• What is an IBM I Field Procedures?

Speakers

Barry Kirksey

Principal Sales Engineer, Precisely

Bill Peedle

Principal Sales Engineer, Precisely

Common Disk Level Encryption is not enough pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Administrators and security professional responsible for IBM i security

10:30am CDT

406: Cross-Platform Compliance, Security and EDR

This session will cover current and planned compliance, security and EDR capabilities across IBM i, AIX and Linux on Power. It will also include a PowerSC product update.

Learning Objectives:

Learn about automated compliance advancements on IBM i
Learn how Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) capabilities can enhance real-time security across the Power platform
Get an update on recent enhancement with the PowerSC product

Speakers

Tim Hill

Distinguished Engineer, Rocket Software

Tim Hill is a Distinguished Engineer and VP of Engineering at Rocket Software. He’s responsible for security, cloud, and AI/ML products on Power and Z. Technology areas of personal focus include model-based reasoning, deep learning, complex event correlation, network management... Read More →

Debbie Quick

Power Security Product Manager, IBM

Debbie Quick is a Power Security Product Manager at IBM. She began her career 21 years ago as an Administrative Assistant, moved into z/OS Content Development three years later, and has been in Product Management for two years. She is the Product Manager for IBM PowerSC and leads... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

10:30am CDT

398: IBM Power Virtual Server for an IBM i Customer

IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) provides a simple and straightforward solution for infrastructure modernization, while delivering the benefits of a hybrid cloud architecture. It provides a seamless and fast cloud transition for IBM Power workloads since there is no need to change architectures. A customer has access to additional application and data services as well as high availability and disaster recovery. Leading businesses worldwide use IBM Power Virtual Server for their production operations, so attend this session to hear the latest and greatest about IBM PowerVS for an IBM i customer.

Speakers

Daniel Sundt

IBM i Product Manager, IBM

Dan Sundt is an IBM i product manager. He has the responsibility for the IBM i business, including defining and guiding future directions and strategies. He works with the IBM i sales, marketing, and development teams as well as customers and partners to ensure that the IBM i operating... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

1:30pm CDT

334: Configuring ACS (Access Client Solutions) to Use TLS

"The use of encrypted sessions is both an effective way to prevent credential theft, as well as a requirement for numerous laws and regulations.

In this session, you will see how to configure the replacement for Client Access—Access Client Solutions—to use an encrypted (TLS) session.

This session will include an example of using your IBM i as a CA (Certificate Authority). You’ll also see an example of creating a request to send to a well-known CA to create the digital certificate you’ll need to assign to the servers to enable encrypted communications."

"1. What is TLS.
2. How to create a Certificate Authority and a Certificate.
3. How to configure the IBM i servers to use TLS."

Speakers

Amy Williams

Sr Security Services Consultant, Fortra LLC

Amy Williams is a Senior Security Services Consultant who joined Fortra in 2015. She holds CISSP, CISA, and PCI-P certifications.Amy has worked on the IBM i platform for nearly 30 years and her experience includes application testing, system installation, system administration, and... Read More →

Configure ACS (Access Client Solutions) to Use TLS pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Client Connectivity

Session Level All
Digital Badge ACS
Audience System administrators needing to harden their IBM i system and prevent unauthorized access.

1:30pm CDT

270: You're Fired! ... Now What?

Some of us are lucky enough to have a single job for our entire career, but for most, we will at some point change jobs - either by our choice or our employer's choice. It just makes sense to be prepared for that reality, in case it happens. The irony is that many of the things you can do today to make yourself more employable in the event you ever do find yourself fired also may just make it far less likely that you ever will be fired!

Learning Objectives:
During this session we'll discuss:
- How to maximize your value and your employability to make it far less likely you'll ever be let go from a job
- Building your networking skills to widen your professional circles
- Practical considerations you should do today to be prepared in case you ever do find yourself let go
- How to handle yourself in the situation of being fired
- Best ways to conduct your job search
- Interviewing tips to maximize your chances of finding your new dream job as quickly as possible

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

You're Fired Now What Steven Wolk pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Audience Everyone who wants to make the most of their career and be prepared for all possibilities would benefit from attending! Join us for this very practical session on what you can do now to protect and prepare yourself!

1:30pm CDT

367: How to Choose the Best API Management Deployment Options: On-Site/On-Premises, Cloud, or Hybrid

Selecting the ideal deployment of your API Management tools will significantly impact your company’s bottom line. Should you deploy on-site, cloud, or hybrid? How do you go about choosing the best option for your company? Do you have the resources, data, and tools to determine the best action? Do you have enough data to back your decisions?

Learning Objectives:
During this session, we will discuss:
o Best practices for selecting the right deployment that will help you drive greater ROI
o New tools available to you to better understand use case workflows
o How to create a development plan that quickly delivers what businesses are looking for

Speakers

Herman Rensink

Distinguished Engineer, Rocket Software

Thursday May 23, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programmer Tools

Session Level All

1:30pm CDT

254: Alan's Favorite Tips for Open Source on IBM i

Open source delivers new interfaces and functionality for your IBM i applications—and broadens the talent pool for your development team. Python, PHP, and Node.js are among the most popular open source tools on IBM i, for good reason. Combined with today’s ODBC database connectivity, API standards, and RPG/ COBOL integration, they are a powerful way to extend traditional applications to the web, mobile devices, and APIs.

Join Alan Seiden to learn his favorite tips for making your open source stack as reliable as your traditional IBM i applications. He’ll share ways to ensure smooth operation of
1. Python, PHP, Node.js
2. ODBC
3. Apache
4. Connections to RPG and COBOL
5. And how to manage the rapid pace of updates!

Learning Objectives:
1. Tips from the trenches and managing and using open source
2. Best practices for the various languages
3. How to use them in practice and get speed and security

Speakers

Alan Seiden

Principal, IBM Champion, Seiden Group

How to modernize and create something new while leveraging your valuable business logic.APIs, IBM i, open source, web, PHP, Node.js, Python, RPG, ERPs

Thursday May 23, 2024 1:30pm - 2:30pm CDT
Room 202 C-D 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Programming - General

Session Level All
Audience Developers

2:45pm CDT

421: Modernize & Improve Development Practices Using AI

In this technical session, we will explore the various ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged to modernize and enhance development practices. We will delve into real-world examples of how AI can be integrated into day-to-day development tasks, enabling developers to achieve higher coding velocity, improve code hygiene, generate test data, and automate documentation generation.

Key Points Covered:
• Examples of AI in Day-to-Day Development Practices: We will showcase practical use cases where AI can be applied to streamline and optimize development processes. These examples will highlight the tangible benefits that AI brings to software development.

• Using AI to Improve Coding Velocity: Learn how AI-powered tools can accelerate the coding process, automate repetitive tasks, and provide intelligent code suggestions. Discover techniques to boost productivity and efficiency through AI-driven development environments.

• Enhancing Code Hygiene with AI: Explore how AI can assist in maintaining clean and high-quality code. Discover tools and techniques that leverage AI algorithms to analyze code for potential bugs, vulnerabilities, and best practices, enabling developers to improve code quality and minimize technical debt.

• Test Data Generation using AI: Understand how AI techniques can be utilized to generate realistic and diverse test data, enhancing the effectiveness of software

Speakers

Scott Gingerysty

Team Lead, Web Application Services, Fresche Solutions

I am a Senior Web Developer/Team Lead and Application Modernization expert at Fresche. I am passionate about IBM i application modernization. Since 2013, I have added new life into business-critical RPG applications using web technology. Whether it is a new development, augmenting... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

155: IBM i Services for the Developer

IBM i services provided by Db2 for i can be used to access system information that is useful for developers. In the past you may have considered using CL or coding to system APIs to access and work with some system information. Today there is a better option: SQL. In this session you will learn how to use SQL to work with data areas and data queues, discover how easy it is to review your program and service program attributes, and more.

http://ibm.biz/Db2foriServices

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Ann Wilkerson

Software Developer, IBM

Ann Wilkerson is the technical team lead for Navigator for i and a developer for IBM i Services.

SQL for the Application Developer pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 102 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

230: Merlin, DevOps, Git, and Modern Development for IBM i

Application Modernization on IBM i has been a topic of discussion for years. Moving forward into the modern world can be a daunting task. Merlin was created to help. Leveraging Git, a Modern secure browser based IDE, Pipelines, Merlin is a ecosystem provided by IBM to help our IBM i application developers move toward a modern development world. This session will review what is 'Modern', how Merlin helps, we will include some live demos to help you understand the value and benefits.

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

3 Merlin, DevOps, Git and Modern Development for IBM i pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

158: How to Remain Relevant In a Changing IT Environment

Education in today’s IT and Business Environment challenges both the Company and the employee. What skills are needed to provide for today’s (and tomorrow’s) business needs? How does the company and the employee deal with these challenges? How to decide; what to learn, how to learn and when to learn, when planning for future needs. These challenges differ depending on where a person is in their careers path. Jim discusses these challenges and more in this presentation. Great presentation for managers and employees!

• The question of being relevant?
• How to know… your relevancy
• Uh Oh… I’m not relevant (what to do)
• Business vs IT Skills – the Balance
• The Specialist vs the generalist – Let’s hire a consultant

Learning Objectives:
1. Internalize the need to continue learning in Information Technology
2. Understand how your current skills can be leveraged into new skills
3. Have a better understanding of how to approach today's educational opportunities

Speakers

Jim Buck

CEO & Head Instructor, imPower Technologies

Jim Buck’s career in IT has spanned more than 35+ years, primarily in college education, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Past president (13 years) of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (www.wmcpa.org) and has served on several teams developing IBM... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 201C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Audience Explains to IBM i Professionals why education is important to them and how to efficiently gain needed education

2:45pm CDT

378: Building a Successful IFS Security Strategy

Ask any security professional which area of IBM i security is most often ignored and chances are the unanimous response is a chorus of “the Integrated File System.

Many organizations are either unaware of the risks that an unsecured IFS poses or are simply unsure of how to secure it. Regardless of the reason, this is a problem. The system interface doesn’t differentiate how a user profile accesses data – which leaves sensitive data exposed and vulnerable to manipulation, malware, and even theft.

Learning Objectives:
1 What the IFS is and where it is vulnerable
2 The risks of ignoring IFS security
3 How to secure the IFS and what you need in order to do so

Speakers

Sandi Moore

Sr. Solutions Engineer, Fortra LLC

Sandi has been working with Fortra customers for over 20 years supporting systems monitoring and security software. With experience on IBM i, AIX, and Linux, she has been involved in product demonstrations, implementation, support, training, research, and product testing. Sandi is... Read More →

POWERUp 2024 Session 378 Building a Successful IFS Security Strategy pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Anyone tasked with addressing security on the IBM i will benefit from this session.

2:45pm CDT

172: Keep Your System up to Date: Image Catalogs - How They Changed my Life!

Keep Your System up to Date

Business Case:
Take advantage of the latest technologies and prevent yourself from experiencing problems IBM has already fixed

Part I: Moving to 7.4
Part II: Image Catalogs - How they Changed my Life!
Part III: LIVE Q&A and Panel Discussion

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Jeffrey Carey

Sr. System Administrator, Ensono

Jeff Carey is an IBM i professional with over 25 years of experience on the platform, specializing in system administration. He currently is a Senior System Administrator for Ensono, a company providing managed services for Mainframe, IBM i, Cloud, and hybrid IT, headquartered in... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 203C 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

2:45pm CDT

296: Work Management Optimization

This session will introduce IBM i Work Management to the developer and other new system administrators. We will explore how the system is configured and managed using IBM i Navigator for i, with examples from ACS, SQL Services, and the traditional character based interface as well. As delivered your IBM i installation work, but it is not optimized for your environment. All too often the performance of your system is impacted by poor work management practices. Learn how to take the first steps to optimizing your IBM i Work Management.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn what objects are used in most work management configurations and how to modify them using the tool of your choice
2. Learn how to optimize your environment, your applications
3. Learn how to monitor your system to keep it in tip top shape

Speakers

Sarah Jacob

VP of Customer Experience, Agile Technology Architects

Sarah Jacob is the Vice President of Customer Experience at Agile Technology Architects. She is a Subject Matter Expert in Power Systems Administration and a volunteer for COMMON. Sarah specializes in Backup and Recovery planning and recovery testing. Additionally, she acts as primary... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience Developers or new system administrators

2:45pm CDT

413: "Peeling the Onion” using iDoctor for IBM i

In this session you'll learn how to use IBM iDoctor for IBM i (iDoctor) to analyze a performance problem from top to bottom. This session will demonstrate the capabilities of IBM i's built-in performance instrumentation combined with iDoctor's ability to visually analyze that data to identify and resolve a performance problem that is commonly experienced by clients. After this session you will have the skills to analyze this specific type of problem while having a basis for analyzing other types of problems.

Speakers

Anil Madan

Sr. Managing Consultant, IBM

Anil Madan is a Senior IBM i Performance Consultant with specialization in system, application and Db2 for i performance management. He is an IBM certified Thought Leader Technical Specialist and an IBM certified Executive Project Manager. Working out of the IBM Expert Labs in Rochester... Read More →

Peeling the Onion Using iDoctor for IBM i pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 2:45pm - 3:45pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All

4:00pm CDT

232: Using SQL Services in Everyday Life

There has been a significant strategic shift in how IBM i exposes data and how you can access and leverage that data. No longer are CL command and APIs the best way. Today, its all about SQL. You may go, great… I know nothing about SQL… no worries, neither do I! This sessions is about equipping you with some useful activities, and resources so that even if you are a novice, you can be successful with SQL Services to manage your IBM i today.

Speakers

Tim Rowe

Business Architect Application Development & Systems Management for IBM i, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Scott Forstie

Db2 for i Architect, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 201B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All

4:00pm CDT

331: Deploy, Administer, and Restrict IBM i ACS: Ask Me Anything

Deploy, Administer, and Restrict IBM i ACS

Use the best practices and tools to be the most effective System Administrator possible. This module will extend your knowledge of IBM i Access Client Solutions (IBM i ACS) to more effectively deploy, administer and restrict the best IBM i access and administration client available.

Part I: Get and Deploy IBM i ACS
Part II: Administer and Restrict IBM i
Part III: Ask Me Anything

Learning Objectives:

Speakers

Wayne Bowers

Software Engineer, IBM

Wayne Bowers has been with IBM since 1997, where he works with the IBM i Global Support Center in Rochester MN. He is an Advisory Software Engineer specializing in the support of the IBM i Access (aka Client Access) products, Console, the TCP Telnet communications server, and the... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 203A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Client Connectivity

Session Level All
Digital Badge ACS
Audience IBM i IT responsible for Deploying and Administering IBM i ACS.

4:00pm CDT

225: Geographic Mirroring: HA with Any Storage Including Cloud and Hybrid-Cloud

Geographic mirroring is a PowerHA hardware replication technology that provides a complete high availability solution for IBM i working with any type of storage, enabling the simplicity of hardware replication with the flexibility of cloud and hybrid-cloud environments. In addition, if simple real-time disaster recovery meets your needs, Geographic mirroring can also be used in an IBM i-hosted environment for a very easy-to-implement DR solution.

This session will explain the concepts of geographic mirroring, as well as best practices and sizing considerations. We will walk through a complete configuration of a geographic mirroring environment.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn the basics of IBM i Geographic Mirroring
2. Learn best practices and sizing considerations when considering geographic mirroring
3. See geographic mirroring in action

Speakers

Brian Nordland

Director of Development, Fortra

In addition to his role as Director of Development for Power Development at Fortra, Brian Nordland serves as the technical product manager for PowerHA and Robot HA. Brian has spoken at events, webinars, and user groups—including COMMON—since 2014. He is a co-inventor on multiple... Read More →

Geographic Mirroring pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 101 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

High Availability Resilience

Session Level All
Digital Badge HA/DR
Audience HA and DR planners looking for solutions that provide availability in their environment

4:00pm CDT

246: Upgrade Your TODAY!

We all want to upgrade our computer, car, house, phone... The list goes on and on. But how about upgrading our TODAY, so we get the most out of each new day? How much more productive would TODAY be if we could focus on the right things? How would you like to give your TODAY a processor upgrade, and get more done TODAY? How about a memory upgrade, so forgotten tasks don't fall through the cracks TODAY, and all the information you need will be at your fingertips TODAY? What does each new TODAY mean to you, and how do you make the most of it? Attend this session to upgrade your TODAY, and make TODAY matter!

Learning Objectives:
In this session you'll learn:
- The value of each day and how to live TODAY to the fullest with no regrets
- How to spend each TODAY wisely by focusing on the right things, supercharging our productivity
- Ways to use tools and develop systems to be organized TODAY, supplementing our limited memories

Speakers

Steve Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the Chief Technology Officer for PC Richard & Son, a family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance and electronics superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Founded in 1909, PC Richard has always been known for honesty, integrity, and reliability throughout... Read More →

Upgrade your TODAY! Steven Wolk pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 204A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All
Audience Everyone who wants to make the most of all their TODAY's should attend this session!

4:00pm CDT

428: Strive for Excellence

We all come from different backgrounds. Some of us might have heard or lived under the mindset of “Failure is not an option” or “You have to keep pushing to reach your goals” and that was the only way we knew to strive for excellence. While this session will help you hit the same goals but, give you tools to avoid the burnout that many of us failed to avoid.

Speakers

Marina Schwenk

Innovative Software Solutions

Marina started her career in January 2015 at Everbrite LLC in Greenfield WI after graduating from Gateway Technical College in May of 2014 with an Associate’s degree in IT Software Development. Marina worked for over nine years as a Senior Programmer Analyst/IBM i admin at Everbrite... Read More →

Thursday May 23, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Room 202 C-D 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Personal Development

Session Level All

4:00pm CDT

281: Surviving a Ransomware Attack

A few years ago the company was hit with a ransomware attack. This is the tale of how it happened and how we continue to recover.

Learning Objectives:
1. How 1 particular attack happened to a company with an IBM i.
2. What happened in the immediate aftermath?
3. How we continue to improve our systems to prevent future attacks?
4. How we continue to educate our users about threats?

Speakers

Michael McClure

ICT ERP Team Lead, Mueller, Inc.

Surviving a Ransomware Attack PU2024 pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 203B 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Session Level All
Audience Anyone interested in a real life story of surviving a ransomware attack.

4:00pm CDT

165: What You Need to Know to Successfully Upgrade to IBM i 7.5 or 7.4

When doing an upgrade to IBM i, there is more work involved in the planning of the upgrade than in the actual upgrade itself. When you have done the planning, the actual upgrade is simple. We will cover planning tips, pre-requisites, and then post-installation requirements. Your upgrade isn’t complete until this last step is done.

Learning Objectives:
What you need to check for when preparing your system for an upgrade. What PTFs that are required before the upgrade to avoid problems, and the steps you need to complete a successful upgrade.

Speakers

Pete Massiello

IBM i Advisor, Massiello Holding Corp.

Pete Massiello has been working with the AS/400, iSeries, IBM i since 1989, focusing on systems management and technical support. He has held numerous technical positions through out his career. He is the President of iTech Solutions Group, an IBM Premier Business Partner delivering... Read More →

What You Need to Know to Do Successful IBM i Upgrades to 7.4 & 7.5 2024 pdf

Thursday May 23, 2024 4:00pm - 5:00pm CDT
Meeting Room 201A 1508 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102

Systems Management

Session Level All
Audience Anyone wanting to upgrade to IBM i 7.4 or 7.5