The Secret Thoughts of an IBM i IT Manager
Guest Blogger: Paul Conte, President PCES, is a leading Application Development Strategist.
The other day I was reflecting back on what has been a long, and generally fun and interesting IT career. One thing I remember vividly was discovering the IBM System/38, the first incarnation of what would evolve into the AS/400 and the current IBM i. I was responsible at the time for a major planning process for a large university’s (hint: “Go Ducks!”) administrative computing strategy. The S/38 technology promised application flexibility and reliability unimaginable on the other platforms available at the time. The IBM i technology still does.
But, as in the early days of the S/38, this platform’s technology and benefits are a well-kept secret. There were more than a few nights I lay awake wondering whether I’d made the right decision to embark on a consulting career focused on the IBM S/38, AS/400, i world. Would the then “jazzy” Wang system, with its fairly slick, but also fairly shallow, interface capture the imagination of departmental organizations wanting to break free of the central IBM mainframe? Would the just introduced DEC-system 20 dominate, with its far greater horsepower than the S/38 and a more modern operating system than the IBM mainframe (but still years behind the S/38 architecture)? In the end only one of those competitors survived, and has in fact thrived.
So, I empathize with today’s System i IT managers who may share similar worries. But I also can offer encouragement. Before doing that, however, let me spin a story and see if it sounds familiar. I call this “The Secret Thoughts of an IBM i IT Manager.”
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They’re flippin’ something … but it ain’t burgers
There’s delicious irony in Dan Burger of IT Jungle breaking the story that finally lays to rest the ghost of IBM’s ill-judged campaign: “Sure there will be other jobs for programmers who don’t know Java.”
Dan tells the story of long-time IBM AS/400 shop the Harry Fox Agency (HFA), where a couple of IT managers decided their "RPG resources were far too great to squander." This story was refreshing because I invariably read articles and discussion threads that couch the future of RPG developers and the IBM i platform in simplistic black or white terms that belie the real issues and options.
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Top 10 Checklist for Evaluating Modernization Tools
Guest Blogger: Paul Conte, President PCES, is a leading Application Development Strategist.
“Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.” – Winston Churchill, February 9, 1941
While application modernization isn’t as daunting as the challenges Churchill faced during World War II, application developers and IT managers may feel his words perfectly express their sentiments as they face a mountain of “legacy” code that needs updating.
Some developers may wish for the kinds of bombs and artillery Churchill wanted, so they can blow the legacy code to smithereens and start fresh without all the headaches of gnarly old code. Dropping a bomb on an enterprise’s code portfolio might be gratifying to the IT team, but it would likely destroy the enterprise along with the code.
When more sensible views prevail, development teams often start looking for the right “modernization” tools to help them finish (and, in many cases, start) the job.
To help in that search, here’s my “top 10 checklist” for finding the right tool. Continue reading “Top 10 Checklist for Evaluating Modernization Tools” »
The Desperate Project Manager’s Kit (DPMK)
I was reading Jurgen's blog about scrum projects and again saw these issues:
1) Not following a business-driven approach to goals and priorities
2) Not delivering real value early and often
In aXes/RAMP application modernization projects I refer to these two items as BV (Business Value).
I think there is evidence that many IBM i software developers nowadays just don’t get what BV is about - or they don’t care – or they have forgotten. They just don’t recognize BV as being the most important thing in IT - especially in application modernization projects.
Modernization project managers must be getting made pretty desperate about this issue.
I decided to try and help by making a DPMK (Desperate Project Manager's Kit).
The DPMK has 3 key components:
A Stapler |
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Some Post-It Notes |
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The Project Team Foreheads |
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The DPMK usage guidelines are very simple …..
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Top Ten Reasons Application Modernization Projects Fail
Guest Blogger: Paul Conte, President PCES, is a leading Application Development Strategist.
Are we done yet? With “modernizing” our applications, that is?
It seems so long ago that someone came up with the clever concept of application “modernization” as a response to how outdated AS/400 applications looked by comparison with graphical Windows applications.
But now, even after years of screen-scraping, “refacing” and crash courses in Java, there still exists an unfathomable mountain of monolithic RPG applications that – dolled up or not – simply don’t serve modern business needs.
Why have so many attempts at “modernization” failed to deliver? Herewith are my own “top ten” reasons, listed somewhat in the order I’ve seen them occur in many IBM i organizations:
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