IBM Impact 2014

I am fortunate once again to be attending IBM Impact. The general session again focused on mobile, and featured speakers from Tangerine Bank, Square, and Daimler Car2Go. Live demos did not go too well due to apparent networking issues, but speakers covered nicely.

Here are some of my biggest take-aways from today’s CICS sessions:

• The 5.2 Developer Trial can be turned into a full version without re-installing.
• The mobile feature pack introduced in 5.1 is integrated into the base in 5.2.
• “Simple” Occurs Depending On is supported in 5.2 web services.
• 5.2 has something called Multi-Versioning, which allows a new version of a program to be implemented, and taken out, quickly. It is possible to have the new version and old version available simultaneously.
• Of course, as with every new release of CICS in recent years, more things are moving above the bar for virtual storage relief, and more commands are threadsafe.
• It was not explicitly stated, but all indications are that the CICSPlex WUI is going away after V5. It is time to really start using the CICS Explorer, if you’re not already using it.

I had a great one-on-one “Lunch and Learn” session on the CICS Explorer. It was originally slated for myself and one other person, but they were a no-show. The session was a good review of many of the things I already knew, and I picked up a couple of new tidbits. The one-on-one and Lunch and Learn sessions alone pretty much make the trip for Impact worthwhile.

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Free IBM White Paper – Threadsafety and the CICS OTE

IBM has published another CICS whitepaper that will be of interest to everyone squeezing more performance out of CICS using the OTE available in V3 – Threadsafety and the CICS Open Transaction Environment: Background, Hints, and Tips, by Tony Fitzgerald and Andy Wright. Tony is a CICS Software Support Specialist with IBM Global Services, and Andy works for the CICS Change Team in Hursley.

The white paper is a nicely written overview of setting up CICS and applications to exploit the new OTE. It is an excellent follow-up to John Tilling’s recent teleconference in which he talked about DB2 and threadsafety. Be sure and check it out – did I mention that this white paper is FREE?

IBM Teleconference – CICS and DB2 Performance

If you have CICS and DB2, be sure to register for the free IBM teleconference Blow the doors off CICS and DB2! It will be held at 11 a.m. EST (4 p.m. GMT) on January 13, 2009. If you cannot attend, you can watch it later (view the teleconference page for details).

This teleconference is being hosted by John Tilling, Senior Software Engineer from Hursley. I have attended many SHARE sessions featuring John, and he is an excellent speaker.

This teleconference appears to be geared towards saving CPU by eliminating TCB switches when DB2 applications are made (and defined) as threadsafe.

Looks like an excellent use of time … Did I mention that it is FREE? With budgets being watched so carefully in these economic times, can you afford NOT to invest an hour or so learning how to make your site better, which will further establish the need for your services?