Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

IBM i Brief: ⚙️ RPG quietly powers critical systems. 🔩 Power11 servers outpace predecessors. 📄 What Are You Thinking?
Development: 🔹VSCode DDS editor gets smart update. 👨‍💻 RPG code should be recipe-like. 💻 RPGLE ILE still powers critical systems.
Database: 🟦 Amazon RDS for Db2 supports backing up a Db2 database. 🔍 How to identify CPU-intensive jobs.
Hiring: 📅 The IBM i Imperative: Why “Wait and See” Is No Longer an Option.
Leadership: 13 Doorways into Awareness and Leadership Beyond the Mind.
Open Source: 🌐 PHP modernizes IBM i applications.

IBM i Brief

⚙️ RPG quietly powers critical systems

Despite modern tech dominance, RPG/AS400 remains the reliable backbone for banks, insurers, retailers, and government agencies in 2025. These systems offer unmatched reliability with minimal downtime while integrating with cloud platforms and modern frameworks. RPG developers bridge legacy with innovation, managing business-critical operations that affect millions. The technology continues evolving, proving that innovation sometimes means building bridges between established and emerging systems rather than replacement.

🔩 Power11 servers outpace predecessors

IBM’s newest Power11 entry servers deliver impressive performance gains over previous generations despite modest clock speed increases.

The S1122 and S1124 models feature approximately 25% more cores than comparable Power10 systems, thanks to improved yields from Samsung’s 7nm process. While Power11 shines, Power10 systems remain capable performers and could offer attractive pricing.

Performance data from IBM’s report indicates the S1122 model reaches up to 1,345,900 CPW, making it a compelling option for businesses considering hardware upgrades this budget season.

📄 What Are You Thinking?

The IBM i community needs your help.

With major analyst firms no longer tracking IBM i in detail, the 13th annual Fortra survey offers the community’s only comprehensive view of market trends and adoption patterns.

The annual Fortra survey provides critical insights that shape the IBM i ecosystem—whether you’re leading innovation or lagging behind. Regardless of where you are at, your input helps.

Spend 10 minutes sharing your perspective that will help the IBM i community as a whole.

Development

🔹VSCode DDS editor gets smart update

The new Display file DDS edit v0.10.1 adds field and record renaming capabilities directly from the schema browser with a simple hover-and-click interface. This productivity enhancement makes DDS source editing more intuitive for IBM i developers maintaining display files.

Remember — with IBM i 7.6 no longer including SDA, and RDi being a paid tool, many developers are moving to VSCode + Code for i. VSCode extensions will play a key role in IBM i development’s future, so why not start using them today?

Despite still being in preview, the extension has nearly reached 500 downloads, highlighting its growing adoption as VSCode increasingly replaces SDA and RDi in IBM i development environments.

👨‍💻 RPG code should be recipe-like

Clean, readable RPG code serves as a sign of respect for future maintainers.

Four key principles create “recipe-like” code:

Code organization: Group related operations for logical flow.
Meaningful naming: Use descriptive identifiers that explain purpose.
Proper indentation: Structure code visually for easy scanning.
Helpful comments: Explain “why” not “what” is happening.

Practical before/after examples demonstrate how refactoring from “novel-like” code creates maintainable solutions that future developers will appreciate.

Enjoy! ☕️

💻 RPGLE ILE still powers critical systems

Despite the cloud migration buzz of 2025, RPGLE ILE remains essential for IBM i development through its evolution from rigid RPG III to flexible modern coding.

Its modular architecture, expanded limits, and seamless integration with modern APIs make it ideal for mission-critical applications in finance and manufacturing.

Static binding boosts performance while mixed-language support creates versatile hybrid environments, positioning RPGLE perfectly for containerized applications.

Database

🟦 Amazon RDS for Db2 supports backing up a Db2 database

Amazon RDS has released numerous features in 2024-2025: Including support for MySQL 9.4, new DB2 capabilities, Oracle enhancements, zero-ETL integrations, and various instance class expansions.

🔍 How to identify CPU-intensive jobs

How can you get the jobs that are consuming the most CPU? You can get the elapsed CPU percent and CPU time from Db2 for i Table functions, ACTIVE_JOB_INFO.

Hiring

📅 The IBM i Imperative: Why “Wait and See” Is No Longer an Option

In the world of IBM i, we’re facing a perfect storm. Experienced professionals are reaching retirement age, skills are evolving rather than disappearing, and many organizations still lack concrete succession plans. But what’s the real cost of inaction?

Our upcoming webinar, “What Are We Waiting For?” tackles this question head-on. A panel of IBM i experts will discuss the tangible costs of uncertainty and provide you with compelling arguments to take back to management.

The Retirement Cliff is Real—and Quantifiable

With IBM i experts averaging 35+ years of experience, a significant portion of this knowledge base will retire within 3-5 years. This isn’t just an HR challenge—it’s a business continuity risk that demands immediate attention.

Talent Development & Training as Risk Management

Organizations without formal IBM i succession plans report significantly higher emergency consulting costs when key staff depart unexpectedly. Meanwhile, companies investing in IBM i training and mentoring programs see improved retention and faster ramp-up for new hires.

Security Vulnerabilities Demand Attention

IBM i systems are increasingly under attack, with over 50 CVEs published since January 2024 alone. With the average data breach costing $4.8M globally and $10.3M in the US, security expertise has become as critical as operational knowledge. This expertise is an absolute must for any enterprise IT environment, let alone the IBM i.

The Integration Imperative

In today’s interconnected business landscape, integration between IBM i and modern systems isn’t optional—it’s essential for maintaining competitiveness. IBM i systems must integrate with modern applications like CRM and web apps to deliver real-time data access despite their robust core processing capabilities.

The Universal First Step to Modernization

Whether your long-term strategy involves staying on IBM i, adopting a hybrid approach, or eventually migrating elsewhere, every path begins with the same critical steps: documenting business processes, mapping dependencies, and ensuring your data is clean and understood.

Join Us for Actionable Insights

This webinar will equip you with five powerful arguments to take back to management—practical points that frame IBM i investment, talent development as a strategic business initiative rather than just an IT concern.

Don’t miss this opportunity to transform how your organization approaches IBM i talent strategy. Register today!

The “What Are We Waiting For?” webinar is designed for IBM i Developers, IT managers, directors, and executives who need to build a compelling case for IBM i investment and talent development.

Leadership

13 Doorways into Awareness and Leadership Beyond the Mind

These aren’t principles to follow but doorways into awareness. They are openings through which life can be seen and lived, differently.

True leadership and transformation come from shifting your perception from thinking to awareness, not from doing more.

Seeing differently isn’t something you learn. It’s what naturally emerges when the mind becomes quiet enough to let awareness reveal itself.

Open Source

🌐 PHP modernizes IBM i applications

Today’s PHP offers IBM i users a reliable, fast solution for creating web and API solutions. As 2024 concludes, this “RPG of Open Source” serves as a versatile tool for modernizing legacy systems. Alan Seiden’s recent IBM i Update provides insights into PHP on i’s current state and demonstrates its practical application through a real-world case study, showing how this open-source technology bridges traditional IBM i systems with modern web requirements.

Join

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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