Having participated in many board meeting debates over the years about the best place to hold meetings of the Baltimore/Washington Db2 Users Group, it’s a bit sad to learn that the 2021 IDUG North America Conference is already being planned as a virtual event, with the possibility of an in-person component.  Let’s hope we can all get together sometime in 2021!

In the meantime, it’s certainly worth noting that with so many people working remotely, many conferences and users groups have actually been quite successful adopting a virtual format.  Some changes resulting from the transition from in-person to virtual events are welcome improvements.  One of these is the more flexible session scheduling IDUG is offering.  I think it’s great, as one-size-fits-all is difficult to accommodate with technical topics.

To the many people I’ve spoken to who have said they have a topic but aren’t sure they have enough (or maybe have too much) material, IDUG 2021 may be a great option as, new this year, IDUG is offering three different presentation timeslots—30, 60, and 120 minutes. You can choose what length works best for you. You can also opt out of the live session and instead pre-record your presentation. To help inspire you, here are some of the most popular session categories:

New Db2 releases: migrating and effective usage
Analytics & Business Intelligence
New technologies: mobile applications, cloud, XaaS, etc.
Application development and data modelling
Db2 and packaged applications (ERP, etc.)
Performance, availability, & security
User experiences and best practices: what did you achieve with Db2?
Db2 and non-standard data types (JSON, etc.)

This is your chance to share your technical expertise and connect with the global community of Db2 users. If you’ve never presented at an IDUG event, this is a great opportunity. First-time speakers are always welcome, as is material geared toward beginner, intermediate, or advanced users.

To submit an abstract, visit IDUG at:  https://www.idug.org/p/cm/ld/fid=2495

I hope to “see” you at IDUG 2021!

I want to thank everyone who helped make the inaugural Mid-Atlantic Db2 for z/OS Users Group virtual meeting such a great success:

• my colleague, Kim May, for pulling the meeting together and for filling a void of timely technical content for this topic and this region
• our presenters for crafting and delivering a comprehensive new way of considering IBM System z
  • Andrew Austin, Red Hat
  • Clark Hale, Red Hat
  • Elton (the Wizard) de Sousa, IBM

The recording of the meeting is here: https://youtu.be/Am279HW1DDY

Individual presentations are as follows:

Db2 VUG – OpenShift Introduction – Austin + Hale

Db2 VUG – OpenShift on IBM z – de Sousa

Db2 VUG – Mainframe Modernization Field Notes – Fillmore

Please share this content with your colleagues.

The proliferation of webinars and events transitioning to virtual meetings is getting hard to keep up with, and maybe some of the event fatigue is a result of an explosion of invitations.  Some events are, however, not to be missed, and one of these is the annual North America International Db2 Users Group (IDUG) conference, scheduled for next week.

Due to the change from an in person to virtual format, IDUG is offering a generous premium membership to everyone who registers for the virtual conference (which is only $199!!) and will allow attendees to view all session recordings and content.

Imagine attending a conference where you can attend ALL sessions, and not spend hours trying to figure out how minimize schedule conflicts and get from one end of the conference center to the other (and get something to drink and hit the restroom) in 10 minutes.  Pretty sweet!

If you haven’t registered yet, consider it.  The session information and keynotes are on the IDUG homepage (www.idug.org), along with the registration link.  Also, if you’ve read this far – I understand IBM still has some remaining vouchers available so customers can attend (as a guest of IBM)…call your IBM rep if you’re interested!

From the webpage:

The event will include 60+ dynamic sessions, live Q&A with industry experts and leaders, opportunities for engagement with your favorite vendors and each other, and most importantly, cutting-edge technical education streaming straight to your home or office. Your registration also includes a complimentary premium membership so you can access exclusive IDUG content all year long.

 

I can’t say I’m too disappointed to be taking a break from conference travel and post conference exhaustion, and it’s refreshing to see the creative changes facilitated by the mass transition to virtual events. Given that the primary goal of these events, whether in person or virtual, is to share technical announcements and updates, it seems either format can be successful.  And of course, each has its pros and cons.

When this is all over, however, I look forward to reconnecting – in person – with friends and colleagues to share technical updates.  Along with dinner and drinks!!

With a virtual “Cheers!” to everyone, here is a list of current and upcoming Db2 events:

1. Going on NOW – Enterprise Data & AI on IBM Z Virtual Symposium, May 19, 20, 21
This complimentary virtual event will explain how to use IBM Z data for modern engagement, analytics and AI applications to become truly insights-driven. Please note: you must register to access copies of all replays.

Register here: http://ibm.biz/BdqvcX

2. July – IDUG Virtual Db2 Tech Conference, July 20, 21, and 23
This three-day event will be followed by three additional weeks of IDUG conference content, making this the perfect way to access the cutting-edge sessions of an IDUG event directly from your home or office.

Conference registration also comes with complimentary, year-long premium membership to IDUG, enabling full access to IDUG exclusive articles, blogs, presentations, and forums.

Cost: $199
Register here: https://www.idug.org/e/in/eid=109

3. August – SHARE Boston, dates TBD
In an effort to continue to provide education, networking and influence, SHARE Boston will now be a virtual event. SHARE is looking to deliver opportunities to learn and network with peers in this new format. Stay tuned to the SHARE website for updates.

More information: https://event.share.org/

4. Db2 LUW Virtual Users Group – July, date TBD
IBM’s Db2 LUW coordinator extraordinaire Kay Groski is working to schedule speakers and topics so the groups she started in 2018 (including the Mid-Atlantic group I attend) can extend their reach by going virtual – at least for a while. As details are confirmed I will share more here.

With 2020 off to a positive start for Db2 12 there are two current events I hope are on your radar.

First, IDUG is supporting an effort to create a new Db2 12 certification, led by IBM Gold Consultant and Champion Dan Luksetich, who also manages the Db2-L listserv.  A survey was created to gather responses to the specific technical issues the community considers important.  If you have time to complete the survey and contribute, it is much appreciated by the IBM community.  Take the survey here.  And of course, if you aren’t already monitoring (or better yet, contributing to!) Db2-L, sign-up.  It’s easy and free – Db2-L.

Second, IBM is offering a week-long Db2 Master Class for advanced Db2 for z/OS system and database administrators clients, led by Distinguished Engineer, John Campbell.  John will be joined by Adrian Burke and Michael Dewert. The US-based session will be held at IBM Silicon Valley Laboratory (SVL), Monday, September 28 (8 am) to Friday, October 2, 2020 (2:30 pm), in San Jose, California.  The complete outline is attached.

Participants will meet the Db2 for z/OS development team – visit the incredible people whose work is known worldwide!

If you are interested in attending this class, fill in and submit the application form.  Class is a client-only course, participation is BY INVITATION only, and seating is very limited.  Applications will be reviewed and acceptance notices will be emailed.  Apply HERE.

A registration link with payment instructions will be included in the invitation. If you have any questions, please contact Dorothy Lin (dclin@us.ibm.com)

There are pre-requisites, and attendees must have at least 1 of the following certifications (or the equivalent experience level):
– IBM Certified System Administrator – Db2 for z/OS
– IBM Certified Database Administrator – Db2 for z/OS

Cost
$2,500 USD per client participant
Client participants are responsible for their own travel, lodging, and meal expenses
A registration link with payment instructions will be included in the invitation.

Db2 for z 2020 Master Class Summary and Outline

This month the International Db2 Users Group (IDUG) hosted their annual European conference in Rotterdam, and this week IBM is hosting the Data and AI Forum in Miami.  With so many conference options it can be difficult to decide where to invest your organization’s conference funding – if you are lucky enough to have it available.

One way to reduce attendance cost is to be a speaker, as conference presenters typically receive a free conference pass.  You are still responsible for your travel expenses, but the overall cost will be greatly reduced.  And of course end user conference presentations are always welcome and appreciated.

One way to decide between IDUG North America (Dallas) and Think (San Francisco), is to submit presentation abstracts to both and see if you are selected.  But hurry!  The call for speakers is open for both; details are below.

Think 2020, San Francisco, May 4 – 7.  Registration cost $1995-$2495.  Call for speakers deadline November 12, 2019.

IDUG North America, Dallas, June 8 – 11.  Registration cost $1865 – $2295.  Call for speakers deadline November 12, 2019.

Coincidence???

Details on submitting presentation abstracts for IDUG are here.  Details on submitting abstracts for Think are in the attachment below.

Good luck!!

Think 2020 Speaker Guidelines

The Time is NOW!
Upgrade to Db2 12 for z/OS!

Date:           Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Time:          11:00am EDT
Register:     HERE

You are invited to join a live webcast hosted by IBM Gold Consultants to learn why this is the right time to upgrade to Db2 12.

Gold Consultants are an independent voice, delivering Db2 consulting and support to  customers worldwide. Learn more about the Golds and how they can help your organization by visiting the IBM Gold Consultant webpage.

During this webcast expert Golds will discuss:

• The benefits of upgrading to Db2 12
• Continuous availability and potential cost savings
• In-memory Features
• Pre-planning tasks and their importance
• Costs and risks associated with failing to migrate by September 30, 2020

The session will close with a live Q&A session with several of the Golds who contributed recommendations and content to the presentation.

The session was developed and will be delivered by the following IBM Gold Consultants.  Bio’s for each presenter are below.

Julian Stuhler
Triton Consulting

Julian has over 30 years of Db2 experience in application programming, database administration, technical architecture, performance tuning and systems programming, working within the insurance, telecommunications, banking, financial services and manufacturing sectors. He is an IBM Redbook and White Paper author and IDUG Best Speaker, and has lectured widely on DB2 subjects in the UK, Europe and US. In 1999 Julian was invited to join the IBM Gold Consultants program, and in May 2008, Julian was recognized as one of IBM’s inaugural Data Champions. Julian served on the IDUG Board of directors from 2003 to 2010, and is an IDUG Past President.

Frank Fillmore, Jr.
The Fillmore Group, Inc.

Frank is the Founder and President of The Fillmore Group, Inc., a Premier IBM Business Partner.  Frank is an IBM Gold Consultant and IBM Champion for both Analytics and System z.  The Fillmore Group’s areas of expertise include data interoperability, replication and high availability, InfoSphere, Db2 Server for VSE&VM, competitive migrations and technical Project Management. Frank oversees a staff of talented employees and contractors, and manages projects ranging from new database implementations to health checks.  In addition to consulting Frank and his team deliver IBM Authorized Training and are IBM software resellers.

Isaac Yassin
DBX-Consulting

Isaac is an IBM Gold Consultant and Champion with over 40 years of experience consulting on IT and security at cross-industry customers covering areas of global system tuning including Sysplex and Parallel Sysplex, Security (RACF, Top-Secret, Guardium) and large-scale projects involving Data Warehouse / Big Data and Machine Learning as well as data analysis in heterogeneous environments.

Isaac has vast knowledge in DB2 (both Z & LUW), IMS and other major DBMSs and has installed and migrated every release of Db2 starting with V1.2 and up to V12, including “skip & jump” migrations and worked on a variety of migrations to and from other vendor databases.  Isaac’s Db2 technical work includes wide-scale problem analysis, performance, troubleshooting, education/training, security problems and audits and BCP/DRP scenarios.  Isaac is an active IDUG contributor and frequent presenter.

Gerald Hodge
HLS Technologies

Gerry began working with Db2 V2 in 1985 while a First Vice President at Security Pacific National Bank. While there he headed the Capacity Planning and Performance Planning for 11 of the bank’s data centers. In 1990 he moved to BMC Software’s International Sales as their SME for their Db2 products, and was the primary on sight support for sales and Db2 Products in both Europe and Asia.

In 1995 Mr. Hodge started HLS Technologies, Inc. His company developed the following DB2 products: Avoid Bind, DBRM Check, Path Check, and Express Hints. He was invited to join IBM’s Gold Consultants the year the program was formed. He has been an active member every year since.  HLS Technologies has provided detailed planning and support for Db2 migrations since V5 and is currently supporting a large V12 migration project.

Dan Luksetich
DanL Database Consulting

Dan is a Db2 DBA consultant, an IBM Gold Consultant and IBM Analytics Champion. He works as a DBA, application architect, presenter, author, and teacher. Dan has been in IT for over 34 years, and has worked with Db2 for over 29 years. He has been an application programmer, Db2 system programmer, Db2 DBA, and DB2 application architect. His experience includes major implementations on z/OS, AIX, i Series, Windows, and Linux environments. His industry experience includes retail, banking, fraud detection, analytics, government, and utility. He specializes in highly available, high-volume transaction processing against very large database systems.

Dan’s experience includes, but is not limited to:

· Application design and architecture
· Business analytics
· SQL consulting and education
· SQL coding and application programming
· Database administration
· Complex SQL
· SQL tuning
· DB2 performance audits
· Replication
· Disaster recovery
· Stored procedures, user-defined functions, and triggers

The buildup and push for the Think Conference was manic. The “EXCITEMENT!!” seemed to come from a small group of IBM marketing folks and the focus on attendance numbers (tough to confirm or deny) was odd.

Customers and Business Partners focused on the data management component of the Analytics portfolio, and with a limited budget to attend conferences, seem to have shifted from the IOD/Insight/Think Conference to the International Db2 Users Group (IDUG) conferences. IDUG North America is held in the Spring, this year in Charlotte, South Carolina, from June 2 – 6. The conference focus is education for IBM database technologies solutions.  Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning aren’t the dominating topics, and session selections and content are managed by IDUG volunteers.  IDUG NA 2019 costs $2165 to attend, with a $300 early bird discount available until April 22nd.

Having IDUG to counterbalance Think makes sense to me.  Also, the IDUG community is very user friendly.  There are several discount options to make attendance affordable, and as has been the case at most technical conferences, presenters receive a free pass.

Now – the wild card.  IBM, through their marketing collaboration with IDG, has scheduled another conference, this one called IBM Data and AI Forum, for Miami, Florida, from October 21 – 24.   This event is the former IBM Analytics University, which I believe evolved from the Db2 Technical Conference.

It seems to be IBM’s attempt to cross pollinate Db2 users with AI, not necessarily a logical partnership in my opinion, as the potential benefits of AI and Machine Learning seem to be in the conceptual sales stage, being pitched to senior management, while the technical teams running data centers aren’t setting the analytics vision.  The conference pass cost is far lower than IDUG or Think, at $1295 for a full price pass and $1095 with the early bird discount through July 31.

The call for speakers is open and I understand selected speakers will be compensated for presenting.

It will be interesting to see how the community responds to all these conference offerings.  Hmmm…

The Baltimore/Washington Db2 Users Group will be holding our annual education session on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the BWI Hilton.  Please note the date is the third Wednesday in March, not the second, when meetings are typically held, as several members will be attending SHARE.

As a very special 2019 offer, the group will have two session tracks and two terrific presenters.  You are invited to sign up for one of the two tracks.  The cost per attendee is $100 and includes session materials and a sit down lunch with the entire group. 

Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Time: 9:00am – 4:00pm (Registration and continental breakfast at 8:30am)

Location: BWI Hilton, 1739 W Nursery Rd, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090

Register: HERE

For DBA’s IBM’s Robert Catterall will present, and for developers, Tony Andrews from Themis.  Abstracts for their day-long sessions are below.  

Track 1:

Db2 Database Administration Db2 for z/OS DBA’s: News You Can Use This day-long session for DBAs delivers updates on four topics pertinent to database administration. Each unique segment will provide up-to-date information on:

1. Leveraging large z/OS LPAR memory resources for improved Db2 application performance.
2. Key metrics for Db2 subsystem and application performance monitoring and tuning.
3. DDF application architecture and workload management.
4. Modern Db2 for z/OS physical database design.

Presenter: Robert Catterall

Robert Catterall is an IBM Senior Consulting Db2 for z/OS specialist. He started his IT career with IBM in 1982, and worked throughout the 1990s as a member of the Company’s Db2 for z/OS National Technical Support team. From 2000 to 2007, Robert worked as a database technology strategist for CheckFree (now part of Fiserv). After working for three years as an independent Db2 consultant, he rejoined IBM in 2010.

Robert is a past President of the International Db2 Users Group (IDUG), and a member of IDUG’s Speakers Hall of Fame. He presents frequently at conferences and user group meetings, and blogs about Db2 for z/OS at http://robertsdb2blog.blogspot.com/.

Track 2:

Db2 Developers New Application Features for Db2 12

Are you still coding and designing SQL from the 90’s? The last several releases of Db2 have brought quality new features that can be used to improve both functionality and performance for today’s complex applications. This event will help catch you up!

Morning Segment: • Global Variables: Creation, Usage, Rules, V12 Enhancements • Transparent Archiving: Automatic Archiving of Data, Data Retrieval Options, Global Variables for Archiving • Sequence Objects: Creation, Usage, Sequence vs Identity • Advanced Groupings: Group By / Having Review , Grouping Sets, Rollup, Cube • OLAP Ranking Functions Upgrades: o Rank, Dense_Rank, Row_Number Review o Ranking Moving Sums and Avgs o Rows Between o Range Between o Partition By • SQL Set Operations: Union/Union All Review, Intersect/Intersect All, Except/Except All, Union Select Into

Afternoon Session: • SQL Merge: Overview, V12 Enhancements • SQL : Select From Update, Select From Insert • SQL Piece-Wise Delete: V12 Enhancement • SQL Pagination: V12 enhancement • SQL QUERYNO: Review • SQL Procedural Language: Piece Wise Delete, Autonomous Processing, SQL PL support for Triggers • Performance Enhancements: o New Stage 1 Predicates o V10, V11 New Performance Review o V12 Performance Enhancements o Sparse Indexing o V12 Runtime Adaptive Indexing o V12 Fast Traverse Indexing

Presenter: Tony Andrews

Tony Andrews has more than 25 years’ experience in the development of relational database applications. Most of this time, he has provided development and consulting services to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Tony has written literally thousands of queries and programs during his development years, and has also served as a database analyst. For the last 10 years, Tony has been splitting his time between performance and tuning consulting engagements along with training. His main focus is to teach today’s developers the ways of RDBMS application design, development and SQL programming — always with a special emphasis on improving performance.

He is a current IBM Champion, and regular speaker at many regional user groups, IDUG NA, and IDUG EMEA. He is also the author of a book for developers titled ‘DB2 SQL Tuning Tips for z/OS Developers’. *the Baltimore/Washington Db2 Users Group is a non-profit organization funding a portion of this meeting. If registration levels exceed our funds the per attendee cost will need to be raised to offset expenses.

December User Group Meetings

Coming up in December are two (yes 2, TWO!!) Db2 Users Group events in the Baltimore-Washington-NoVA area:  first, the Mid-Atlantic Db2 LUW group is scheduled to meet December 6th in Bethesda.  This meeting is sponsored by IBM, there is no fee to attend, and features two sessions on Data Server Manager with DSM Offering Manager Peter Kohlmann, and a session on the future of Db2 by Dr. Jon Lind, the Db2 Product Offering Manager.  This meeting is being held in conjunction with Washington Area Informix Users Group, and we are looking forward to sharing lunch and networking with their session attendees.  Registration is required; register HERE.

Details on the Mid-Atlantic Db2 sessions and the registration link (registration is required) are below; information on the Washington Informix sessions is HERE.

The following week, the Baltimore/Washington Db2 Users Group will host our quarterly meeting Wednesday, December 12th at the BWI Hilton.  The day’s sessions include presentations by IBM’s Master Inventor Terry Purcell, along with 3 (yes, 3!) user presentations, from Steve Cricchi, and NFCU’s Joe Huang and Joe Watson.  Details on the sessions and agenda are below, and attached.  Registration is required; register HERE.

If you are in the area, please join us.  And if you are going to join us, bring a friend!

Mid-Atlantic Db2 User Group Meeting
Sponsored by IBM

Date:                 December 6, 2018
Time:                10:00am – 3:00pm (registration opens at 9:30am)
Location:           IBM, 6710 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Cost:                 There is no cost but attendees must pre-register HERE

Agenda:

9:30am – 10:00am  Registration and Continental Breakfast
10:00am – 11:15am  Data Server Manager, Part 1. Peter Kohlmann, presenter
11:15am – 11:30am  Break
11:30am – 12:45pm  Data Server Manager, Part 2. Peter Kohlmann, presenter
12:45pm – 1:45pm  Lunch, sponsored by IBM
1:45pm – 3:00pm  What’s New in Db2?   Jon Lind, presenter

Session Abstracts
Data Server Manager, Part 1
Learn about the latest trends, directions and updates to the full line of Data Management Consoles for the Db2 family of offerings from ground to cloud. Where are we today, what is our vision and how are we getting there.

Data Server Manager, Part 2
Go on a deep dive of how to monitor the overall performance of your Db2 family database. Learn how to dive deeply into the three levels of statement monitoring and choose which to use for your specific challenge. And learn how to use Db2 Workloads to surgically decompose your database performance by application and by user to see exactly who is doing what.

What’s New in Db2?
In this session attendees will gain an understanding of IBM’s Db2 product roadmap.  IBM’s current strategy and plans for Db2 include increased functionality and support for a variety of deployment options – on premise, cloud, and several “mix and match” offerings.

Presented by IBM Db2 Product Offering Manager Dr. Jon Lind, you will gain an understanding of IBM’s plans for the future of Db2.  Whether your organization has been running Db2 for LUW for years or weeks, or if you are just beginning to consider Db2, this session will provide an excellent summary of what’s available today and what IBM’s investment in Db2 will deliver in the future.

Presenters

Peter Kohlmann
Peter Kohlmann has been a member of the IBM database and Analytics development and product management teams since Version 2 of Db2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows. He is currently an IBM Offering Manager with a focus on tools for database and data services and IBM Data Server Manager used for the Db2 family. He was one of the original developers and designers of the Db2 Control Center and also created the Technology Explorer for IBM Db2 open source project. As the Db2 Release Manager he oversaw the delivery of Db2 for LUW 10.1 and 10.5 and he also directed the new technology adoption program for Db2 pureScale Version 9.8.

Jon Lind
Jon Lind is the Db2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows Product Manager, supporting one of the largest software products at IBM.  Dr. Lind’s responsibilities include managing, positioning, marketing, and deploying Db2.  He works with customers, internal product teams and key partners to drive product enhancements as well as the IBM marketing, sales and channel teams to determine the various routes to market for successful product launch and go-to-market campaigns.

Prior to this role he held various technical positions in the IBM Toronto Lab and IBM Beaverton Lab, from technical development, project management, technical support, to management. With his solid technical background and broad experience in many areas of enterprise software business, Dr. Lind has assisted customers across all geographic areas at all levels – from development to C-level executives.

Washington Area Informix Users Group (WAIUG) Meeting
Sponsored by IBM

Date:       Thursday, December 6, 2018
Time:       9:30am – 2:30pm (registration opens at 9:30am)
Location: IBM, 6710 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Cost:       There is no cost but attendees must pre-register HERE

Session Abstracts

Docker & Informix – What can Docker do for you? 
Presenter:   Darin Tracy
Understand what Docker is, how it works.   How to create an Informix Docker image and best practices. Docker containerization is the first step into using Kubernetes as a fault tolerant clustering service.

Darin began working for Informix in 1994 and continues to work for IBM now. He has worked in the openlink support group, and the Down Systems Group and has been with the APD (RT) group. Darin has presented at many IIUG events as well as many internal classes to IBM support.

Informix roadmap – Where do we go from here?
Presenter:  Karen Qualley
What might we expect from Informix in 5 years? Join IBM to learn about the Informix roadmap and what the team is working on.

Informix HCL Licensing
Presenter:  Karen Qualley
Information about changes and plans for the Informix licensing model from HCL.

Baltimore/Washington Db2 Users Group – sponsored by IBM

Date:          Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Time:         9:00am – 3:30pm (registration at 8:30am)
Location:    Hilton BWI Airport, 1739 W Nursery Rd, Linthicum Heights, MD  21090
Fees:           $30 Pre-registered and $40 At-the-door
Register:     HERE

Agenda:
9:00am – 10:15am Optimize Db2 for z/OS with Machine Learning using IBM Db2 AI for z/OS
Presenter:  Terry Purcell, IBM
10:15am – 10:30am  Break
10:30am – 11:45am Db2 12 and Continuous Delivery – What’s New from the Optimizer?
Presenter:  Terry Purcell, IBM
11:45am – 12:45pm Lunch Sponsored by IBM
12:45pm – 2:00pm Automating Accelerator Batch Loads in Single Instance Environments
Presenter:  Steve Cricchi
2:00pm – 2:15pm Break
2:15pm – 2:45pm  Using and Implementing the Db2 Profiles
Presenter:  Joe Huang, NFCU
2:45pm – 3:30pm NFCU Db2 12 Migration Experience
Presenter:  Joe Watson, NFCU

Session Abstracts

Optimize Db2 for z/OS with Machine Learning using IBM Db2 AI for z/OS   Terry Purcell, presenter
Machine learning is now prevalent in our day to day activities as it helps us make better data driven decisions. Therefore, it makes sense to extend that same technology to help tune performance for Db2 for z/OS. Db2 AI for z/OS applies machine learning insights from your workload characteristics to empower the Db2 optimizer and find better access paths for SQL queries. This offering enables clients to see out-of-the-box CPU and elapsed time savings. Db2AI for z/OS embeds machine learning and IBM domain expertise to provide customized recommendations for performance tuning. Learn how Db2AI for z/OS applies IBM Machine Learning for z/OS to better optimize Db2 for z/OS performance.

Db2 12 and Continuous Delivery – What’s New from the Optimizer?  Terry Purcell, presenter
DB2 12 for z/OS has been announced and DB2 has embarked on Continuous Delivery for ongoing features. So what’s coming from the optimizer team regarding further performance enhancements? DB2 12 for z/OS had already delivered outstanding performance and scalability improvements from UNION ALL and outer join performance improvements, sort optimizations, improved predicate indexability and tighter integration of the Optimizer and RUNSTATS. This presentation will outline what was delivered and how future optimizer enhancements apply to continuous delivery.

Automating Accelerator Batch Loads in Single Instance Environments    Steve Cricchi, presenter
When concurrency is not needed for warehouse applications it is possible to use standard z/OS tools to load a Db2 Analytics Accelerator without sample programs or 3rd party tools.  See the mechanics of how to do this for a cycle-driven process with a high degree of usability and easy job output management.

Using and Implementing the Db2 Profiles     Joe Huang, presenter
How to implement the Db2 Profiles at your shop with real life use cases. The presentation will show you how to configure and activate a Db2 Profile. The components of PROFILE tables and the relationship between PROFILE and ATTRIBUTE table. The presentation will also introduce the Navy Federal Credit Union use cases such as: to control number of active DBAT threads, to control IDLE THREAD TIMEOUT, bind DISTRIBUTED packages using multiple COLLID and Simulate PROD environment in TEST to trick optimizer.

NFCU Db2 12 Migration Experience   Joe Watson, presenter
Navy Federal Credit Union recently migrated DB2 to V12 from V11.  The migration occurred ‘online’ where production workflow continued to process without interruption.  This was a major achievement for increased system availability / less system downtime, and the first major software implementation of this type for NFC.  This implementation also ranks among a very few number of organizations that have done online migration. This presentation will outline the basic concepts pertinent to the NFC DB2 system configuration that enabled online migration to be pursued, along with challenges that existed and the approaches to resolve them.

Presenter Bio’s

Terry Purcell is a Senior Technical Staff Member with the IBM Silicon Valley Lab, where he is lead designer for the Db2 for z/OS Optimizer. Terry has 25 years of experience with Db2 in SQL Performance and optimization as a customer, consultant and Db2 developer. Terry is an IBM Master Inventor with more than 25 U.S. patents for database search Technology.

Steve Cricchi has over 25 years of Db2 DBA experience starting with V1.3. He currently supports Db2 applications on V11 for a major financial organization.

Joe Huang is a Certified Db2 DBA with 30 years of IT experience. During his career, Joe has held several job roles in Application Programming, Db2 z/OS system administration, IBM Mainframe System Architecture and Db2 z/OS Database Administration. Joe is an IBM Certified Db2 V11 Database Administrator and an IBM Certified Db2 V11 System Administrator. Joe plays Classic Guitar and he performs at a local 5 star rated restaurant in Northern Virginia.

Joseph Watson is a Senior DB2 database administrator with Navy Federal Credit Union, with experience as database and system administration since version 1.3. Joe earned Master of Computer Science degree from Howard University; Certificate In Information Systems from George Washington University. Previous duties include DB2 administration, IMS programming, CICS programming, application consulting/training for EDS, Verizon, and consulting/training for IBM including government top secret security assignments. In a past life Joe was a science and math teacher for the MD Montgomery County school district.

Db2 and Informix Users Groups 12.6.18 Agenda

Baltimore Washington Db2 Users Group 12.6.18 Agenda