More on Pulse

On Tuesday there was an interesting user session on OMEGAMON deployment.  Representatives from three OMEGAMON customers (Lockheed Martin, Total Systems, St of CA) led a Q&A session to discuss their deployment and usage of OMEGAMON in their respective shops. 

Two of the three shops reported that they have converted their install process to PARMGEN and have seen very good results.  Install times and maintenance windows have been reduced markedly by using PARMGEN processing.  Lockheed Martin has deployed the e3270ui and have already customized quite a few screens in the e3270ui.  They reported that screen customization seemed relatively easy and straightforward (although some screens can take longer).  State of California reported they have seen much benefit out of being able to deploy OMEGAMON and ITCAM using the Tivoli Portal and being able to present customized views to various user audiences, depending upon their respective requirements.  On the other hand, Total Systems still seemed to prefer traditional "green screen" approaches.

Some observations so far from the Pulse conference.....

Well, I just attended the Pulse general session.  It's always interesting and educational, since it's here that you get a feel for the tone and perspective of what's happening technology and business wise.

There are some clear themes that I'm sure will be repeated often at the show.  The first one is, of course, cloud.  Cloud, and the support of cloud, will continue to be a dominant theme.  Along with SaaS (software as a service).  Look for much more to emerge from this paradigm.

Other buzz words to be aware of?  Mobile is one.  Mobile will be a pervasive them going forward, as is Open.  There has been a big emphasis on IBM adhering to open standards. 

From a specific technology perspective, what does this mean?  A couple things were mentioned.  One was Bluemix (a development environment based on open standards), and another was IBM's acquisition of Cloudant (a cloud based database service).

Bluemix sounds interesting, and if you want to learn more go to:  www.bluemix.net

Smartcloud Analytics Log Analysis and System z

Smartcloud Analytics Log Analysis refers to an IBM solution that looks at log data from a variety of sources (servers, applications servers, middleware, you name it), and parses through the log data looking for indications of issues and anomalies.  Smartcloud Analytics Log Analysis, or SCA LA for short, provides the backbone, if you will, for employing Big Data type techniques to analyze system activity, and identify issues. 

I will be posting more on SCA LA in the coming weeks.  SCA LA is interesting technology, and I see this area of Big Data and Analytics as being a major area of innovation in the realm of systems management. 

Meanwhile, here is a link for more information (and a free download to try the tool out):
http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/en/ibm-smartcloud-analytics---log-analysis/

Pulse begins this coming Sunday the 23rd in Las Vegas

I will be attending the Pulse conference in Las Vegas beginning this Sunday.  Pulse, for those who are not familiar with the event, is the annual Tivoli (aka Cloud and Smarter Infrastructure) event.  There will be sessions and labs on a wide variety of Tivoli (aka C&SI) technologies.  I'm sure there will be some announcements on new and emerging technologies, and I will try to forward the announcements that I think are most relevant to System z.

For those of you attending Pulse, there will be a reception on Tuesday night for System z people.

Some interesting upcoming technical presentations

Coming next week is a set of presentations on DB2 11.  "DB2 11 for z/OS: Technical overview and hot topics" will cover much of what has been added to the new DB2 release.  Announced in October 2013, DB2 11 offers many improvements in performance and CPU savings, including management of large volumes of data with minimal disruption for running applications. Hear about hints and tips for a fast migration, pitfalls to avoid and important lessons learned from early client experiences. Learn about many important enhancements and other DB2 11 news.

The event is delivered in two parts, on February 18th and 19th, at 11 AM Eastern time.  To attend here is a link to register:
http://bit.ly/1c0c5c5

I will be presenting next week at MDUG

If you happen to be in the Detroit area, I will be presenting next week at the Michigan DB2 User Group.  I've built  a new presentation,  "DB2 Systems Management: It's What You Don't Know That Can Hurt You".  This is some new material, and will provide a slightly different spin on DB2 and systems management on z/OS.

The event is next week, on the 13th in Novi, MI.  To attend, here's a link for more information:
www.mdug.org