Kimberly Madia’s IBM/Optim team is hosting a Virtual Tech Briefing this Thursday:

DB2 Connect for DBAs: A Primer and Look Ahead

Whether you are a DB2 for LUW DBA who would like to access enterprise information or a z/OS DBA wondering how all those Java and .NET programmers are getting to your data, DB2 Connect is the solution.   Frank Fillmore, A DB2 Gold Consultant with an extensive history in training and consulting, will step you through a DB2 Connect primer from end-to-end, including platform architecture, DB2 Connect configuration parameters, and more. Case studies from large scale DB2 Connect health checks will be included.   IBM’s Kevin Foster, who manages the development of the product, will be on hand to discuss licensing, new packaging options such as the DB2 Connect Advanced Edition, which provides pureQuery acceleration in the box, and upcoming changes to the product.

Date: 19 August 2010
Time:  10:00-11:00AM Pacific, 1:00-2:00PM Eastern
Register here: http://ow.ly/2iAlr

As much as I dislike the relentless repetition that’s part of the nature of the world of blogs and twitter and listserves and email blasts, here I go with a shameless pitch for a TFG special services offering I emailed to several DB2 users earlier today.  I am doing this because, at the end of the day, the rate disparity in today’s DB2 services market baffles me.  Are the ridiculously high rates being charged eroding product adoption?  I am afraid so, which is why we are offering a summer services special. 

Read More…

The developerworks team has announced a free technical webcast next week on pureQuery, based on feedback from the z community.  Like other developerworks webcasts it will be available for replay - as is the recommended prerequisite, pureQuery Part 1.

pureQuery Deep Dive Part 3:  Client Optimization Administration Enhancements for DBA’s

June 24th, at 1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific

Our dynamic duo of client optimization experts is back again!  Patrick Titzler and Chris Farrar, who some of you may remember from pureQuery Deep Dive Part 1, will discuss the enhancements released in Fix Pack 3 in Optim Development Studio and pureQuery Runtime that make the maintenance, security, and management of the client optimization processes better for DBA’s.  These enhancements are driven by real customer experiences and are centered around a relational repository that enhances security, fosters collaboration and streamlines the process of administering a pureQuery-enabled application.  Tooling support for these capabilities in Optim Development Studio will be demonstrated. 

Register today and don’t miss out on your opportunity to hear from the experts!

IBM has moved DB2 Connect support into the Optim group, as it is in some ways the original Optim solution.  Kathy Zeidenstein, who manages community outreach efforts for the Optim team (a weekly e-newsletter, content on the developerworks site, Twitter, etc.) is coordinating a DB2 Connect Virtual Briefing scheduled for August 19th.  The primary purpose of the presentation is to introduce new features in the advanced edition, however, as DB2 Connect can be used in so many ways, and is so often under-utilized, she’s invited Frank to devote some of the time allocated to delivering an overview of what DB2 Connect can do.  More information is on the way…for the moment we have the date and time reserved (mark your calendars - August 19th at 1pm Eastern), and a tentative agenda:

DB2 Connect for DBAs:  A Primer and a Look to the Future

Whether you are a DB2 for LUW DBA who would like to access enterprise information or a z/OS DBA wondering how all those Java and .NET programmers are getting to your data, DB2 Connect is the solution.  Frank Fillmore, A DB2 Gold Consultant with an extensive history in training and consulting, will step you through a DB2 Connect primer from end-to-end, including platform architecture, DB2 Connect configuration parameters, and more.  Case studies from large scale DB2 Connect health checks will be included. Kevin Foster, who manages the development of the product will be on hand to discuss packaging including licensing, new packaging options such as the DB2 Connect Advanced Edition, which provides pureQuery acceleration in the box, and upcoming changes to the product.
What you will learn:
• Why you need DB2 Connect
• How DB2 Connect is packaged and licensed
• Platform architecture
• Configuration and tuning options

As soon as I have registration information I will post it.

While there are many indications the “Great Recession” is over, the budget lag and fear of one last dip seems to be constraining IT project funding - EXCEPT - of all places, training.  While this seems perfectly logical (when there are fewer hands to do the work, making sure those hands are skilled is critical), historically, training budgets are the first to be cut when there’s a downturn.  Maybe organizations are wising up this time around…here at The Fillmore Group we are receiving more training requests than anytime in the past five years.  Read More…

If you will be in Baltimore on May 6th please join us!

Do you know the cost of capturing a change in your production database systems?  Does it cost an extra $100,000 per month to capture that change - and then is the change moved to a data warehouse that’s left many users dissatisfied?  We have a solution, InfoSphere Change Data Capture.

The Fillmore Group is teaming with IBM for a *free* lunch session at Orioles Park at Camden Yards, from 11am to 1pm, where we will explain how InfoSphere Change Data Capture can do an intelligent capture on heterogeneous databases to:  1) create an audit trail detailing who did what and when, 2) replace inefficient staging of changes on your mainframe, 3) eliminate the overhead and instability of ad hoc queries, 4) remove the inefficiency of triggers and message queues, and 5) reduce mainframe costs by $1 million per year - reliably feed downstream ETL, MDM, or SOA applications.

If you are interested in attending, click here for more information.  See you at the Yard!

I am happy to announce the return of distance learning to The Fillmore Group.  Our team developed and implemented a proprietary distance learning tool, built using a combination of WebSphere and DB2, with the free RealPlayer plug-in providing the ability to deliver streaming instructor audio and video, after the events of 9/11 made traveling for DB2 training a challenge.  Over the years we perfected the distance learning tool’s use and used it to deliver training to hundreds of people around the world - who would otherwise not have been able to attend classes.

A couple years ago IBM’s Information Management training group began evaluating distance learning technologies and limiting their use as they have been trying to find a methodology they can use consistently.   But progress hasn’t been as fast as anyone hoped, so the training team has given us the approval to again offer the public classes we deliver for IBM via distance learning.  Starting with the three classes below students can enroll in the IBM classes, use the same curriculum and lab exercise portal as the students in class, and “see and hear” the instructor lecture on the materials.  If you don’t have a travel budget, you can still join us for class!

Coming up soon are the following courses:

CE821, Using InfoSphere Data Architect, starting March 1

CF602, DB2 Connect for z/OS with DRDA, starting March 8

DW352, InfoSphere Warehouse Components, starting March 15

For course outlines and registration information go to www.ibm.com/training

The Mid-Atlantic IBM technical team - specifically Linda Snow, Paul Westfall, Warren Heising, Brad Greeley and Martha Fields - were all on hand this past Thursday to assist customers interested in learning more about Optim products using the IBM Proof of Technology hands-on labs.  The PoT format is pretty straightforward, with an IBM tech team member introducing the product and giving a high-level technical product overview for about 30 minutes, followed by the attendees performing hands-on lab exercises for 30-60 minutes. 

The format was well-received and the attendees all stayed until the last exercise was completed.  Each attendee received a lab manual and collateral on the Optim products. 

Warren Heising tells me there are many, many product PoT’s available.  He’s promised me a list; I will share it when I get it.  I encourage anyone interested in learning more about a particular product to call their local IBM team or Business Partner to see if a PoT on the product is available.  These are great!  And oh, by the way, these were delivered at no charge to our customers or us!!

Just announced - The Fillmore Group will host four Optim sessions with the IBM team, featuring Paul Westfall, on Thursday, January 7th, from 9am - 3:30.  If you are “local” and interested in learning more about Optim (regardless of your database of choice), I hope you will join us.  More info below:

Enterprise applications and databases don’t just help run your business - they ARE your business.  And every year, they grow in size and complexity - making them harder and more complicated to manage.

IBM® Optim™ gives you the power to manage enterprise application data through every stage of its lifecycle – regardless of the relational database your organization uses.  These sessions will introduce the Optim products that can enable you to meet your service level agreements, decrease maintenance costs and protect data privacy and security, reducing your legal liability exposure, whether you use Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, DB2 – any or all! Read More…

I was finally able to confirm all the speakers for the LUW track at the December meeting and - wow! - here’s the lineup summary:  Curt Cotner and Paul Westfall from IBM, and the BWDB2UG board’s own Steve Rosenberger from FEPOC doing a user case study on their archiving implementation.  If you are in the area on Wednesday, December 9th, PLEASE join us - it should be great…the z/OS track includes Rick Weaver from BMC and Roger Miller.  Great presenters and great networking.  Hope to see you!  The full agenda is included after the jump and all the registration and PayPal access is through our (new) website at: www.bwdb2ug.org.

Read More…