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…

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…

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!!

It’s exciting to see business starting to heat up, particularly with the IOD Conference approaching.  One of my annual goals at the IOD Conference is to try to get more attention paid to the need for technical training in the DB2 world.  I am forever amazed at the excessive funding that goes into marketing faster/cooler/ better technologies and how little goes into teaching the DBAs expected to use them.  The “solution” everyone seems to be waiting for is some sort of e-learning that eliminates the need to travel and the need to “waste” any potentially productive business time learning…as if learning weren’t the best use of time to make one’s organization more productive. 

I finally decided to spend some time getting myself set-up to access the only IBM Information Management courses available through the free Learner Portal.  Read More…

DB2 Connect for DBA’s

We had a great meeting yesterday with both z/OS and LUW users in attendance, as well as a group of IBM’ers and our board members.  LUW sessions were delivered by Frank Fillmore, Dave Beulke and Chris Eaton (who flew in from Toronto for the day to present - many thanks!) 

Frank’s presentation on DB2 Connect was well attended.  The group selected the topic as most everyone in the group uses DB2 Connect, and few people know it well (although some have some very strong feelings about it!).  As Frank recently delivered both the Intro to DB2 Connect and the Tuning and Troubleshooting courses for IBM, he had ideas and suggestions gathered from the students that attended his classes on their most common issues.  If you use DB2 Connect, please take a few minutes and go through Frank’s presentation and see if it doesn’t give you an idea or two to improve DB2 Connect performance in your organization.

The Fillmore Group received approval to add five new IBM courses to our schedule for 2010.  The new classes we will deliver in our Towson, Maryland classroom are listed below.  These classes will enable our team of expert DB2 consultants and instructors to continue to share their field experience with DBAs and to help increase DBA skills in the market.  Thanks IBM!

DX447,  Information Server Administration, starting January 11, 2010
CL461,  DB2 9 for LUW Advanced Database Administration for Experts, starting February 8, 2010
IM401,  IBM DB2 Content Manager V8 Implementation and Administration, starting April 12, 2010
CF242,  DB2 9 for LUW Multiple Partition DBA Workshop, starting April 19, 2010
CF413,  DB2 9 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows Performance Tuning and Monitoring Workshop, starting June 14, 2010

Just announced and (I think) just released!  Frank will deliver a webcast on the latest version of the Q Replication Dashboard.  He installed it last night at a customer site and is already deciding which new features he likes best.  Stay tuned - I am sure his prep for the webcast will fuel some blog entries.  Here’s the invitation to the webcast:

The Fillmore Group and leading experts from IBM will deliver a 45-minute webcast to introduce the Q Replication Dashboard and improvements included in the new, redesigned Dashboard scheduled for release this month (or maybe yesterday).

The Q Replication Dashboard is the free monitoring tool available from IBM that replaces the Java Q Replication Dashboard and the Data Studio Administrative Console (DSAC) with a thin-client, browser-based interface. The Dashboard provides real-time Q Replication monitoring. In the webcast presenter and DB2 Gold Consultant Frank C. Fillmore, Jr., will introduce and explain how the new redesigned Dashboard’s expanded features and better ability to customize will enhance your organization’s Q Replication monitoring capabilities. Frank will demonstrate and explain the new Dashboard’s:
•Improved performance for replication environments with large numbers of subscriptions and queues
•Greater customization and filtering capabilities
•Ability to access more data
•Better access to historical data
•Simplified security
•Improved visual appeal
•Smaller (512mb requirement) footprint for both the client and server

Two sessions of the webcast will be delivered on September 15th, one at 9:00am EDT and another at 7:00pm EDT.

To register: E-mail kim.may@thefillmoregroup.com and include your name, company name, telephone number and the session (9:00 am or 7:00 pm) you would like to attend. Read More…

BETTER than an attachment on Cobra new features…here’s the link to the Early Access program site for Cobra.

The Early Access Program is designed to encourage DB2 users to check out DB2 new features in a sandbox environment. Sign up for the Early Access Program at:

http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/technology-sandbox/