Welcome to another edition of Talsco Weekly

Development:  Low-Code Platform for IBM i can help reduce operational costs. Containers, Microservices and Open Source: IBM i From Another Perspective. Have you ever heard of ILEastic?
Trends:  Technology Is Already Disrupting Our Lives. What Will the Future Look Like?
Modernization:  IBM i Application Modernization Mini Course(s).

Development

Low-Code Platform for IBM i can help reduce operational costs

What is the value of using a Low-Code Platform?

“Low-code platforms allow organizations to build new applications using a visual development environment with various tools such as drag-and-drop interface modelers, pre-built components, smart services, connector templates, etc.”

This is not the first time we have covered low-code options for the IBM i. Keep in mind there are a number of options both on and off the IBM i that can be used based on the business need.

Key takeaway

“Unlike high-code development, which requires highly qualified programmers specializing in different languages and tools, low-code solutions make creating and implementing new apps more accessible to companies.”

Containers, Microservices and Open Source: IBM i From Another Perspective

Kubernetes, microservices and open-source frameworks and technologies are becoming more and more common in the IBM i space.

This article effectively analyzes how we use these technologies today, the approaches used in the past, how IBM i played a primary role, and why the IBM i has a great future ahead.

Here are some use cases for Kubernetes and microservices on the IBM i.

Have you ever heard of ILEastic?

ILEastic “is a self contained web application server for the ILE environment on IBM i to run microservices.”

“ILEastic is a service program that provides a simple, blazing fast programmable HTTP server for your application. You can easily plug your RPG code into a services infrastructure and make simple web applications without the need of any third party webserver products.”

Trends

Technology Is Already Disrupting Our Lives. What Will the Future Look Like?

“Technology has impacted our lives in ways we may never fully comprehend.” Sometimes it’s a little scary what technology can do.

The following technology domains that are most relevant to the IBM i community will continue to expand and evolve in years to come.

IoT: The Internet of Things has become an expected part of our lives. From watches to connected TV’s to machines on the factory floor and GPS enabled systems. Everything is connected.

Blockchain: Blockchain “has the potential to create a secure and immutable record of everything in our digital world. It’s not just about how we access information daily, but also about how we handle and secure our data.”

AI & Machine Learning: Data and AI go hand in hand. It has quietly started to shape the future and made it’s way into the enterprise. “Major companies have all picked up on this new technology, introducing AI into their businesses to boost efficiency.”

3D Printing: This has been a paradigm shift for manufacturing. “And now that 3D-printing technology is getting more accessible, there is no limit to what can be produced and sold to consumers.”

Modernization

IBM i Application Modernization Mini Course(s)

The AS/400, iSeries and the IBM i have a long history dating back to 1988.

The “AS/400” was launched in 1988 and over the course of the next 10 years new “models were launched, that were bigger, and faster than the ones before.” Then the “iSeries” line was introduced which offered “a redesign of the hardware using the latest technology.”

This was followed by what we have today, “IBM Power Systems”. This is a “brand-new modern hardware system, light-years ahead of the early AS400 and iSeries machines. IBM’s Power System can run multiple different operating systems on the same machine using Logical Partitions (Virtual Machines).”

For obvious reasons, IBM has wanted to support all previous versions of the platform, thus making all of the new systems backwards compatible.

The challenge now is how to modernize the AS400/iSeries Applications.

“AS400 application modernization is complex and requires different approaches depending on the requirements, workload and risk profiles.”

If you are unsure of where to start, you are in the right spot.

Nick Litten, IBM i guru has put together a series of “mini courses that will help you on your IBM i Modernization” journey.

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