Here are some items that I found interesting.

1.  WebSphere Dashboard Framework, already available for z/OS, now also
available for Linux on z:

http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/9/897/ENUS207-329/ENUS207329.PDF

Dashboard Framework lets you build attractive and useful Web "dashboards,"
e.g. management presentation views, quickly and easily. There's "business
blogging" support for making annotations, you can integrate dashboard data
with spreadsheets (including .ods Open Document Format), publish alerts,
etc.  There's a recorded demo here:

http://demos.dfw.ibm.com/on_demand/Demo/IBM_Demo_WebSphere_Dashboard_Framework-Mar07.html?S=index&S_CMP=rnav

Yes, you read that right, Dashboard Framework runs on z/OS and Linux on z.
I guess you'd say this is 2008's SDF III. :-)

Along similar lines, Lotus ActiveInsight Version 6.0 is now available for
Linux on z:

http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/1/897/ENUS207-331/ENUS207331.PDF

This software helps businesses focus their employees on managing goals and
objectives, by presenting active scorecards in dashboards.  You can arrange
for a demonstration here:

http://docs.dfw.ibm.com/activeinsight/

2.  The IBM SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition, V6 -- "Java 6" in
shorthand -- is now available as a no charge feature.  Both 31-bit and
64-bit are available, and JZOS is included.  If you'd like to find out
what's new in the Java 6 specifications, here's one place to look:

http://java.sun.com/javase/6/

Watch here for details on electronic downloads:

http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/software/java/

Of course you can keep previous JDK versions installed on your system and
use them when and where needed.  One interesting bit of trivia: Java 6 is
not yet available for the Apple Macintosh.

3.  A bunch of Information Management products got announced: DB2 Audit
Management Expert for z/OS V2.1, WebSphere Replication Server for z/OS
V9.1, WebSphere Data Event Publisher for z/OS V9.1 PTF, DB2 SQL Performance
Analyzer for z/OS V3.2, IMS Buffer Pool Analyzer for z/OS V1.2, DB2 Log
Analysis Tool for z/OS V3.1, IMS Recovery Expert for z/OS V1.1, DB2
Accessories Suite for z/OS V1.2, and IMS High Performance Fast Path
Utilities for z/OS V3.2.

IMS Recovery Expert is a brand new product and does what the name suggests.
If you had WebSphere Data Integration Connector for z/OS you get WebSphere
Data Event Publisher for z/OS, if you have active subscription & support.
(That goes for the other products, too, if you have an older version
today.)

4.  There are some withdrawal announcements that might be important.

NALC pricing for z/OS is being withdrawn effective March 31, 2008, for new
customers anyway.  zNALC replaces NALC.  NALC and now zNALC are specially
priced z/OS licenses for "new workload."  It looks like zNALC, which also
replaces z/OS.e, is a much better offering.  The details on zNALC are here:

http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/swprice/znalc.html

The Service Flow Feature for CICS Transaction Server V3.1 will be withdrawn
on June 30, 2008.  This is a no charge feature; get your orders in before
the deadline.  (Also includes some rights to Rational Developer for System
z; read the license terms in the announcement for details.)  Better yet,
upgrade to CICS Transaction Server V3.2 and its Service Flow Feature.  The
Service Flow Feature lets you create higher level flow abstractions to
execute multiple CICS transactions in sequence (or in parallel), as
"microflows."  You can create these flows without programming.  It's quite
useful as a building block for service-oriented architectures and for
better aligning your CICS programs, on an ongoing basis, with changing
business needs.

- - - - -
Timothy Sipples
IBM Consulting Enterprise Software Architect
Specializing in Software Architectures Related to System z
Based in Tokyo, Serving IBM Japan and IBM Asia-Pacific
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO
Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html

Reply via email to