With another new IBM i Technology Refresh upon us, here’s a quick reminder how to find your server’s current TR level. It’s getting easier and easier to do. An IBM i Service using DB2 and SQL provides the TR level more cleanly than older approaches. I love that we can use the universal SQL to expose the innards of our beloved system!
CIO-level view at the CIO Summit in Manhattan Most people know Seiden Group as PHP specialists who help IBM i teams develop and tune PHP applications running on IBM i. But we also work with CIOs to help them solve the unique challenges they face. We’ve found that for many IBM i CIOs, it’s lonely at the top. CIOs would love to have a community of peers who fully understood the nature of the decisions they must make. Whereas developers can discuss technical issues with team members or through online forums, CIOs often lack such support and sharing because of…
The Seiden Group team is headed to Orlando May 6-10 to participate in COMMON 2017. In addition to teaching sessions and workshops on best practices for using PHP and other open source technologies on IBM i, we’re looking forward to meeting up with our clients and friends. One of our favorite opportunities at COMMON is to meet professionals at all levels of the IT organization. Understanding the challenges faced by each member of the IT team — from admin to CIO — strengthens our ability to build effective solutions that are easy to use, easy to extend, easy to maintain.
In just two weeks I’ll have the pleasure of joining some of the top IBM i development experts in Orlando for the RPG & DB2 Summit. Run by Susan Gantner, Jon Paris and Paul Tuohy, this conference is full of big personalities who create a warm, friendly environment that’s perfect for learning. I enjoy the community feeling and how excited everyone is to solve development problems and share tips and techniques. The RPG & DB2 Summit is one of the few training events that focuses exclusively on topics of interest to IBM i developers. That includes PHP and SQL, of…
Every year I look forward to WMPCA’s Spring Technical Conference. And it’s not just because this active IBM i user group does a great job of bringing experts to beautiful Wisconsin (in March!) to teach a broad range of IBM i topics. I also love meeting the next generation of IBM i talent, always represented by Jim Buck’s RPG students at Gateway Technical College. And, of course, there are many PHP and open source sessions to choose from, including these from me: Make Your IBM i Sizzle with WordPress Apache Web Server Magic on IBM i Using DB2 and SQL…
I was thrilled yesterday to see the familiar face of Seiden Group’s own Stephanie Rabbani smiling up at me from IBM i’s Home page, next to our friend and Club Seiden colleague Liam Allan. Both are currently featured by IBM as “Fresh Faces of IBM i” along with Kody Robinson of Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation — just a few of the outstanding young professionals on our platform. This honor calls attention to what I know of Stephanie first-hand from working side-by-side with her on Seiden Group consulting projects. With 14 years experience on the IBM i, she is versatile, resourceful,…
We are pleased to announce the start of a re-branding from Alan Seiden Consulting to “Seiden Group,” reflecting our evolution from a one-person consultancy to a team of experts. We still specialize in PHP and open source on IBM i, but now we’ve gained the ability to manage and develop large projects, all while mentoring our clients so that they can become self-sufficient if they so choose. Our range of skills has also broadened to include many complementary areas including RPG, User Experience testing, Git workflow and code review services, and WebSmart (a fine BCD product), which all go nicely…
An IBM i colleague today asked me for tips to make his presentations at COMMON and other conferences more effective and helpful. I told him that I like to arrive a day early, talk to people, gauge the audience’s level of experience with PHP, IBM i, DB2, performance, whatever topics I plan to cover. I ask people what they hope to learn at the conference and from my talks specifically. With that information in mind, I adjust the content, emphasis, and pacing of my talks for that specific group. Such pre-conference socializing also helps attendees become comfortable talking to me,…
At today’s free webinar at 12pm EDT, sponsored by Zend, a Rogue Wave Company, I will join Mike Pavlak in sharing tips on optimizing PHP in the IBM i environment. The webinar is being recorded and will be available for replay later. Details here: http://www.zend.com/en/resources/fundamentals-of-tuning-php-on-ibm-i At Alan Seiden Consulting, we specialize in all aspects of PHP with IBM i, from mentoring, performance help, troubleshooting, DB2 and toolkit, application lifecycle management, and development projects from very small to large and complex. If you have questions about tuning or optimizing PHP or IBM i performance, get in touch on our contact page.
Join me for the 2016 COMMON Annual Meeting and Exposition, May 15-18, with pre-conference workshops May 14. Don’t miss New Orleans! Learn about IBM i 7.3, open source languages, security, and more. Alan will speak about PHP, SQL, performance, and how to relax your neck, back, and shoulders at the keyboard. Also looking forward to spending time with the gang from “Club Seiden.” https://www.common.org
