Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: IBM Merlin 2.0: Boosting Modern IBM i Development.
AI: Debate on AI’s Future: Code and Data Availability. Six Questions To Ask To Help Outcompete With Digital And AI.
Development: Best Practices for Cleaning, Archiving, or Deleting Old IBM i Spool Files. SQL Table Function for Code Lookup.
Hiring: Hiring IBM i Talent: A Balancing Act.
Security: Shield Advanced Solutions has released FT4i.

IBM i Brief

IBM Merlin 2.0: Boosting Modern IBM i Development

IBM recently launched Merlin 2.0, a web-based tool for IBM i development, intending to encourage users to adopt modern coding techniques.

Big Blue is betting that the new and improved offering will encourage IBM i shops to (finally) begin their journey toward truly modern coding techniques.

Merlin 2.0 has introduced a paradigm shift.

A move away from RDi (Rational Developer for IBM i) to a lighter weight IDE, VS Code out of the box
Extending database extensions tooling for the VS Code for i developer -delivering a better developer experience
Merlin 2.0 allows customers to operate the tool on a Single Node OpenShift (SNO) server.

Merlin’s Adoption

It’s still early, but it is promising to see that IBM i shops are testing out the product.

The principles of Merlin that we’ve put out, which is modern development, leveraging Git, VS Code, modern RPG pipelines, and doing DevOps-like things – the messaging . . . is getting huge adoption. In fact, we have a number of customers that are actively looking at Merlin doing POCs.– Tim Rowe

Barriers Faced by the IBM i Community

Despite the availability of modern tools, many IBM i developers persist in using outdated tools and techniques, such as SEU, PDM, and old techniques.

Breaking old habits is hard, and the IBM i installed base is full of folks who have a lot of old habits. The introduction and continued enhancement of Merlin – ARCAD and IBM are already in talks about what will go into Merlin 3.0 – show that IBM is serious about tackling the problem.

AI

Debate on AI’s Future: Code and Data Availability

The debate over AI, its use cases and ultimately its security implications are paramount to all enterprises including those that leverage the IBM i.

While the IBM i is as modern as you want it to be, historically it has been labeled (more so the former name, the AS/400) as a legacy where things were slow to change. And when things did change, they took place not in months but in years.

Enter AI.

Here is the world of technological innovation world has never seen before.

The rapid development and inherent complexities of AI are presenting challenges that are completely unprecedented. It’s not just the new elements like model weights and parameters, but also the speed at which it was developed and released that are unique. This has never been seen before.

The world of AI, and how it plays into the open-source ecosystem, is confusing, so here is an article that helps make sense of it all.

The article highlights:

What is open-source software?
How it applies to AI?
Why it (open-source) matters?
The risks of open-source software and AI.
Which companies are truly open and the ones that are not.
The path forward.

Read the detailed article here.

Six Questions To Ask To Help Outcompete With Digital And AI

Enterprises in all industries are experimenting with AI or are well down their AI transformation journey.

Here is an article directed toward the CPG industry, but many of these questions are relevant across all industries that are looking to leverage AI.

AI interacts with various aspects of a business, including its applications, the fundamentals of the business itself, talent, and virtually everything else.

Development

Best Practices for Cleaning, Archiving, or Deleting Old IBM i Spool Files

Spooled files on an IBM i (formerly known as AS/400) are a way to manage output data for printing or processing. They can contain basic text layouts of printed pages, or complex PDF-style data streams.

Here is how you can clean, archive or delete old IBM i spool files.

SQL Table Function for Code Lookup

With the technology refreshes for IBM i 7.5 TR3 and 7.4 TR9 there comes a table function where one can pass it the SQL code and it will produce the results you desire. Learn more here.

Hiring

Hiring IBM i Talent: A Balancing Act

When it comes to hiring IBM i professionals, there are numerous factors to consider.

As a recruiting and consulting firm specializing on the IBM i platform, we’ve partnered with companies across various industries throughout the United States for the past twenty-five years.

Our goal?

To assist IBM i shops in finding, recruiting, attracting, and retaining the most skilled IBM i professionals. These professionals will help support your company’s succession planning, modernization, and digital transformation needs now and into the future.

Ultimately, finding the right talent is a balancing act between matching your needs and the availability of that talent in the market.

Key Hiring Considerations

The process of hiring IBM i talent is influenced by a myriad of factors. The candidate’s level of skill, their experience, and their compatibility with your current and future tech stack are all crucial elements.

However, it’s equally, if not more, important to consider the non-technical aspects of the role.

Read the full article here.

Security

Shield Advanced Solutions has released FT4i

A utility aimed at securing File Transfer Protocol (FTP) activity on IBM i.

What does it do and how does it work?

It controls and logs FTP access to detect potential unauthorized actions.
Uses IBM exit points for control and tracking.
Is compatible with standard FTP, FTPS, and SFTP variants.
Records user access details and IP addresses.

Who is it for?

FT4i won’t be useful for IBM i shops that built their own exit point programs, or bought a third-party exit point sution. But for large fraction of IBM i shops that have done neither, FT4i can help close one of the biggest and most persistent security vulnerabilities on the IBM i platform

A cost-effective solution for securing your IBM i

FT4i features Web-based and 5250 interfaces, giving customers a choice in how they interact with it. With a subscription costing only $55 per month, its hard to put a price tag on how valuable FT4i will be to secure your IBM i environment.

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Contact us

If you are an RPG programmer looking to explore opportunities or a client who is looking for a talented IBM i professional, please contact us. We look forward to assisting you.

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