Baltimore-Washington area DB2 for z users – IBM is hosting a *free* full-day of informational sessions and I recommend you attend if you can.  For details and registration information go to the link below.  IBM has been doing the zEnterprise roadshow for several years.  They consistently deliver quality content in the sessions.  There are FIVE tracks, too – lots to chose from. 

Register now: zEnterprise – The ideal basis for Smarter Computing
Date: Tuesday, February 7
Location: Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20009

In this briefing:

• Learn how to take an integrated and cross-brand view of mainframe hardware and software.
• See how consolidating workloads on zEnterprise can yield a lower cost per workload than consolidating on distributed platforms.
• Look at ways to reduce costs by consolidating and co-locating data marts on zEnterprise.
• Learn how to deploy new business models that can be quickly changed as part of an agile infrastructure that’s unmatched by other enterprise servers.
• See how to use the “fit for purpose” concept to deploy applications on certain platforms depending on the required qualities of service.
• Discover how to provision cloud computing quickly and easily in a very inexpensive and scalable manner through consolidation and virtualization.
• Understand the lessons we learned from our mainframe customers in typical TCO studies as they optimized their current costs

Please join us for a webinar Thursday, February 23, 2012, at noon Eastern.  To register, click here. 

IBM is merging replication offerings with the announcement of the IBM InfoSphere Data Replication V10.1.2 package.  The new Data Replication package updates and consolidates InfoSphere Data Replication, InfoSphere Change Data Capture, InfoSphere Change Data Delivery, and InfoSphere Change Data Delivery for Information Server into a single offering, giving replication users considerable flexibility in making a choice of a data replication solution.   In this session Frank will explain what the consolidation means to customers evaluating a replication technology and make recommendations to ensure your organization makes the right choice to address your business needs. Read More…

Instructor-led classroom training is the most effective and reliable way to develop new data management skills.  The Fillmore Group delivers a select group of public IBM authorized training courses in our state of the art classroom in Towson, Maryland.  Invest in yourself and join us for a class in 2012. 

A list of classes scheduled for the first half of 2012 is attached.  Please feel free to contact me with questions on our training offerings.  In addition to these classes TFG delivers private onsite classes, classes via distance learning, and custom training to meet specific needs.

First Half 2012 IBM Information Management Training Word

If you are in the Baltimore/Washington area tomorrow afternoon, please stop by the BW DB2 Users Group Meeting at the Columbia Sheraton to hear Robert Catterall present on:

“DB2 for z/OS Stored Procedures – Trends and Technology” and 

“The MOST VALUABLE Information I Get From DB2 for z/OS Monitor Accounting and Statistics Reports”

Robert is a terrific speaker (and a great consultant, too!)  For the meeting address and logistics visit the BWDB2UG website at www.BWDB2UG.org

IBM Information Champion Nadir Doctor successfully passed the IBM Netezza technical certification exam on his first try, without attending the bootcamp or any formal training, one handed.  OK, maybe not one handed.

Congratulations Nadir.  As one of the first IBM Business Partners to become a Netezza reseller, and one of the first to close a Netezza sale, The Fillmore Group is excited to have a team of consultants willing to independently prepare to support Netezza implementations.  Nadir is a fine example of our consulting team’s resources.  He has over ten years of DB2 database/data warehouse and tools experience including InfoSphere Federation Server and Optim Performance Manager and Query Tuner.  If your organization is in need of consulting assistance, please contact The Fillmore Group – we would be proud to introduce Nadir.

DB2 Gold Consultant Frank Fillmore will deliver the 3-day DB2 database administration intro class at The Fillmore Group in Baltimore on November 30, December 1 and 2.  TFG instructors built this class to teach DBA’s all the things they should know to support a DB2 database.  Whether you are new to DB2 or have been supporting DB2 without any formal training this class will provide you with a solid understanding of the database and help you prioritize and focus your daily support activities.  The cost of the course is $1500.  For a course outline click TFGE231 Course Outline.  To register email donna.dordai@thefillmoregroup.com.

From IBM’s Beth Flood:

…We also took the opportunity to announce some other Champion awards for 2011 and the categories and winners are:

Champion of the Year:   Bernie O’Connor
Evangelist of the Year:   Mark Lack
Blogger of the Year:    Jim Harris
Special Recognition (Most significant displacement of Oracle to date):   Frank Fillmore

CONGRATULATIONS to all of our winners.

Great job, Frank!!

Congratulations to Frank Fillmore for being recognized at the IOD Champions luncheon for his contributions to the Information Management community, specifically for blogging on the use of Q Replication to minimize the Oracle to DB2 migration outage window at JPMC.  Frank received an iPad as a reward for his efforts and more importantly the sincere congratulations of his peers, colleagues, Steve Mills, IBM Senior Vice President and Group Executive – Software & Systems, and Beth Flood, Champions Program Coordinator. Congratulations!!

To everyone who is, like me, excited to be heading to the IBM Information on Demand Conference in Las Vegas this coming week, best wishes for an exciting, informative time.  Please, however, keep Willie Favero, who is getting well instead of joining us, in your thoughts.  He will be sorely missed.  Get well soon Willie!

The October 18, 2011 recording of the DB2 Connect Virtual Users Group “Addressing DB2 Connect Security Issues” by Adam Koile and Mary Ann Ritosa of IBM can be found here.

http://www.channeldb2.com/video/db2-connect-virtual-users-group-2011-10-18-addressing-db2-connect