i ViewPosts by Bill Langston
Posted on January 23, 2025 by Bill Langston
IBM i software developers, operators, and system administrators deserve a lot of respect. Their mostly invisible efforts literally enable businesses around the world to process trillions of dollars of economic output each year. However, IBM i and the integrated Db2 on i database make up a very specialized enterprise computing environment. IBM i doesn’t run on ubiquitous personal devices like phones, laptops, and tablet computers; it runs exclusively on IBM POWER servers. In other words, you aren’t likely to find a lot of useful IBM i education on YouTube or tips on social media. Read more 
Posted on June 18, 2024 by Bill Langston
The reporting and analytics software marketplace is mature. Historically, business intelligence software vendors designed their solutions to address every step of the data extraction, transformation, and presentation process. As a result, many applications became increasingly complicated and challenging to deploy. Read more
Posted on January 24, 2024 by Bill Langston
APIs have become the industry standard for trading partners and customers to share the data they need to efficiently collaborate and provide better service. The people who use your ERP software need access to the data APIs can provide. We believe that NGS-IQ and RPG API Express present an optimal solution for IBM i customers. Read more
Posted on January 8, 2024 by Bill Langston
Just as you were returning to work to begin the new year, IBM published a security bulletin, alerting DB2 Web Query customers that the software is "vulnerable to a remote attacker bypassing security restrictions or executing arbitrary code, to a local authenticated attacker obtaining sensitive information, or to denial of service." Read more
Posted on October 17, 2023 by Bill Langston
On October 10, 2023, IBM surprised many IBM i customers by announcing the immediate termination of all DB2 Web Query marketing, which covers all DB2 Web Query modules and licenses. They also said they wouldn't offer customers software maintenance beyond each customer’s current term. So for most companies, technical support and program updates would end in the next year or two. IBM’s announcement letter recommends companies look at alternative solutions. Read more
Posted on October 24, 2022 by Bill Langston
Over the past six months, IBM has delivered new Power 10 servers, IBM i release 7.5, eliminated license fees on a long list of commonly used IBM i utilities, unveiled a new subscription pricing plan for small customers, and announced the Merlin application development solution. If that isn’t enough, it announced IBM i 7.5 TR1 and another TR for 7.4 in October. But not every IBM announcement or new software application matters equally to every IBM i customer. Read more
Posted on August 18, 2022 by Bill Langston
WebRunner is built into NGS-IQ, but maybe you haven't had time to get familiar with IQ Client's HTML formatting features. Read more
Posted on June 28, 2022 by Bill Langston
Technically, a Microsoft 365 user can connect to Db2 on i through the IBM Access Client Solutions (ACS) ODBC driver. But in practice, few Microsoft 365 users understand their company’s Db2 on i database well enough to join tables, select columns, and format the data they need. Read more
Posted on March 3, 2022 by Bill Langston
Hopefully you’ve eliminated your company’s Log4j risks and improved your security practices. Now, world events strongly point to a different security risk: dependence on offshore IT staffing and offshore software development in nations either at risk of attack or aligned with rogue nations. Read more
Posted on January 10, 2022 by Bill Langston
IBM i is a unique and proven enterprise computing platform. IBM announces software, operating system releases, technology refreshes, and new hardware periodically, but often the specific information you need to complete a task or explain a concept effectively isn’t in those announcement letters. Read more
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