IBM i Is Here to Stay: Are Your Developers Ready?
One way our industry evaluates the IBM i platform is by the annual Marketplace Survey conducted by HelpSystems. As the 2021 survey is currently being conducted, we re-reviewed the 2020 survey with Tom Huntington, Executive Vice President at HelpSystems, to see how IBM i is being used in the business world and get a general idea of IBM i users across the board.
We still have businesses running 51 to 100 percent of their core business applications on IBM i, so it continues to be the most important platform for new developers to know. And as advocates for IBM i know, it’s completely scalable and far from outdated with user-friendly modular programming. Though there’s been discussion about companies leaving the platform, we find these efforts are often fruitless and cost companies unnecessary money and time.
DOES IT WORK WELL FOR YOUR BUSINESS? MAYBE THE ANSWER IS EDUCATION.
We see many companies resolving to leave IBM i because they can’t find someone who knows IBM i well enough or they have hopes to “modernize” away from the green screen, as 85 percent of businesses still use it. Both of these situations are easily fixed with the right training and education.
NEW AND EXPERIENCED PROGRAMMERS CAN EASILY LEARN IBM I, RPG PROGRAMMING AND RDI
With 73 percent of businesses using homegrown applications, it can be hard when a programmer retires or leaves a company, especially since most companies have only one administrator and a few programmers on staff. Get a new programmer proficient with your system by sending them through our course. Your seasoned programmer can teach your new programmer internal business processes and applications. With training completed, your new programmer will hit the ground running with your IBM i business applications.
One of our graduates, Rebecca Barker with Manhattan Life, had a background in COBOL programming in college and worked in COBOL programming after college for several years. She came to imPower Technologies to learn RPG as her new company needed an RPG programmer. Here is what she had to say about our course, “This class was a great introduction to the RPG language, RDi, and the IBMi in general. […] By the end of the class, I felt comfortable coding in RPG and even viewing existing programs at my company and following the code. This class is detailed enough for a brand new programmer to learn not only the language but basic programming concepts, while also being fast-paced enough that an experienced programmer would not be bored learning the language. I highly recommend this class for anyone needing to learn RPG and the IBMi.”
We train new and experienced programmers on the IBM i platform, RPG programming, and RDi. Save your company hundreds of thousands of dollars instead of moving to a new platform that may not work well for your current business processes.
MODERNIZE WITH RDI
Over half of the businesses surveyed are seeking to modernize the user interface to increase productivity on the front end. By implementing RDi and modular programming businesses can “modernize” their IBM i system to create a more user-friendly interface without leaving the platform.
Though RDi can modernize IBM i systems, the marketplace survey showed that many businesses still aren’t using it. Because many developers did not know how to use it, imPower Technologies created a course on RDi and Modular Programming to train developers on how to use RDi to increase productivity and appeal to a more modern interface.
With efforts to modernize and 65 percent of IBM i users planning to stay on the platform, we certainly don’t see IBM i going away any time soon. imPower Technologies will continue to offer outstanding education to anyone needing to learn IBM i concepts, RPG, and RDi and Modular programming.
Want to see what the IBM i community is projecting for 2021? For 2021’s survey, submissions were accepted during September 2020 and results will be announced in January 2021. Stay tuned for the results!