Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: The State of the Power Systems Base 2024: The Operating System. Storage and Server spending predictions.
Career: How prepared are you? Best new language to learn.
Hiring: The Unretiring RPG Developer. RPG Flex Hire.
Modernization: Preparing for Potential Pitfalls in Digital Transformation and Modernization.
Security: Three Layers of Security for JDE running on the IBM i. Ensuring Secure Development of AI API-Driven Product Features.

IBM i Briefs

The State Of The Power Systems Base 2024: The Operating Systems

Here is the continued breakdown of the IBM i Marketplace Survey, focusing on the makeup of the Power Systems Base in 2024. There are some interesting dynamics between “active” and “laggard” IBM i shops, as well as their adoption and migration patterns. There are some potential shifts taking place in response to security vulnerabilities and the introduction of newer hardware and software offerings.

Prediction for Storage and Server spending in the coming years

IDC released its latest quarterly results for combined server and storage spending recently and also updated its forecast for 2023 spending and spending out through 2027 for cloud and non-cloud systems.

Cloud: This is for servers and storage that is in the cloud (well, really a datacenter) and is rented out to consumers.

Non-cloud: meaning “bare metal and virtualized iron used to run mission critical applications statically in the datacenter.” Typical in traditional IBM i environments.

📈The chart shows that, “traditional non-cloud systems have their ups and downs, but are averaging just a little north of $15 billion a quarter. The spending on infrastructure to build clouds is now six times as large over the decade of this dataset. This is nearly twice as large as the non-cloud portion.

Key Takeaways for IBM i shops

IBM i shops should note the server and storage spending’s CAGR of 7.4% from 2022 to 2027, outpacing both global economic and inflation rates.
Traditional spending on non-cloud (in-house) infrastructure will still exist in the future for mission critical applications.

Career

How prepared are you?

Most people are not very well prepared when it comes to a job search.

In fact, most people are not prepared for many of life’s unexpected events.

Some you can’t be prepared for. Others, you can.

What new language should a RPG developer learn?

Most RPG developers get stuck on what language they should learn that will make them more marketable.

They hear about all the different open source languages (and technologies) that are used on the IBM i such as PHP, Python, Node.js, Javascript, and Java, just to name a few.

Then, they get stuck and don’t make a decision.

My advice, pick one and start learning.

Hiring

The Unretiring

“In what is no longer just a trend but rather a permanent feature of the new world of work, more people are “unretiring” and returning to the workforce.” While some workers are simply not retiring at all.

Depending on your perspective, this can be good or not-so-good.

Good in that, in many ways, people who unretire (or the ones that delay retiring) serve as a much-needed stabilizing force for the talent issues employers are facing. This helps with succession planning and passes along the much-needed institutional or tribal knowledge to the next generation of the workforce.

The not-so-good is that younger workers, in some cases, “might feel that older workers are overstaying their welcome and limiting their opportunities.”

In our IBM i search practice, we hear about some of the not-so-good aspects where there are developers or leaders that are reluctant to embrace modern methods and tools that are widely available on the IBM i platform. Unfortunately, this holds these organizations, as well as aspiring developers, back. This is not for any company, let alone the IBM i platform.

On the other hand, we are happy to report that we see far more good out of the delay in IBM i developers retiring or those RPG developers that have come back to work. Here, we witness the remarkable spirit of the IBM i community, dedicated to sharing knowledge and nurturing the next generation to guarantee the platform’s future success. 👏

The unretiring RPG developer.

We are seeing an unretiring of sorts in the IBM i community. We find that while there are very talented RPG developers who have or are looking forward to retirement, there are, on the other hand, others who just love to code and want to still contribute. The IBM i and RPG is part of who they are. They love to contribute, create, and give back to the IBM i community. In a nutshell, they don’t see themselves hanging it up just yet.

If you are an RPG developer that falls into this category or a hiring manager that is in need of a forward thinking “unretired” RPG developer, feel free to reach out to learn more about our RPG Flex Hire Service.

Modernization

Preparing for Potential Pitfalls in Digital Transformation and Modernization

Is the push to the cloud, the emergence of AI, and the move to modernize and digitally transform the enterprise creating a perfect storm?

One ERP modernization and transformation expert seems to think so.

Studies show that 70 percent to 80 percent of ERP implementations or digital transformations are failures.

These failures are typically a result of the following:

Unrealistic Expectations
Poor Implementation Planning
A Lack of Executive Vision and Alignment
Poor Organizational Change Management
No Clear Definition of Success

If you are thinking about or getting ready to kick off a major project that involves modernization, AI or ERP, this article will be a worthwhile read.

Security

Three Layers of Security for JDE running on the IBM i

“The performance, reliability, and security of any software, from the simplest mobile application to complex enterprise platforms like JD Edwards, depend on the environment in which they operate.”

If you are a JD Edwards shop, understanding the different layers of security is essential to protecting your environment.

This article gives a nice overview of things you must consider from a security standpoint. This equally applies to any number of ERP packages that run on the IBM i, as well as in-house ERP systems.

“In the case of JD Edwards running on IBM i, this means expanding the administrator’s perspective to include not just JDE application security, but also the complexities of securing the IBM i operating system, and the policies & procedures that govern that.”

Key takeaways:

It is critical to understand the technical ecosystem to maximize uptime, optimize performance, and protect critical business data when running JD Edwards on IBM i.
The need for a comprehensive security strategy, including layering application, data, and OS security, to address potential threats.
Data protection strategies, such as using IBM i data protection technologies and implementing a disaster recovery plan, are needed to ensure the security and availability of JD Edwards

Ensuring Secure Development of AI API-Driven Product Features

As IBM i shops consider incorporating AI into their API workflow, understanding the security implications should be a top priority.

While the IBM i platform is known for its security, AI is an emerging technology, so one should consider the risks and what controls are available.

Companies that haven’t spent years proactively investing in AI are launching as AI consumers. This involves building product features, often incremental ones, on top of third-party LLMs. Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic offer access to LLMs via popular APIs.

This article does a deep dive into the security nuances and risks of AI.

Its focus is on security risks ”that are relevant when consuming AI and building features on top of LLM APIs.”

In other words, if you are thinking of building products on top of third-party LLMs, such as OpenAI or Anthropic, you need to understand what is available to control the risks and vulnerabilities.

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