RealDolmen System z e-zine 21 : Anniversary edition #mainframe50

The 21st issue of our RealDolmen System z Newsletter was sent out yesterday. You can download it over here. Just like the last time, there's just one English version. No more Dutch or French versions. Do go and take a look at it. There's some contect that hasn't been on the blog. perhaps I'll put my contribution on OpenStack here as well in the coming days.

The content : here's the introduction that was sent along :

Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the mainframe. IBM announced the S/360 mainframe on this very day emerging from a 5 billion dollar investment initiated by its former president Thomas Watson Jr. And just like with any anniversary you can do two things. On the one hand you can reminisce about the past, celebrate important achievements and tell heroic stories. On the other hand it’s always the perfect moment to look towards the future and determine future strategies in order to hold your place in a competitive world. Of course today we will do a bit of both since one can learn a lot from the past and we need to keep an open mind towards the future. You can read all details in this newsletter.

We’ll give you an overview of some sites, happenings and social media which are giving a lot of attention to this anniversary. But we will also point out a couple of solutions and trends that are definitely positioning the mainframe in the future. One of those items we already mentioned a couple of times in our blog is OpenStack. This is also becoming a very relevant platform for our mainframe. Next to that we’ll also introduce IBM Wave for z/VM to you. These solutions point towards some future accents like ease of use, bridging the knowledge gap and open standards with software defined environments.

Finally, we still have our usual entries with recent announcements, interesting blog entries, EOS dates, hints and tips and our agenda.

Enjoy the reading !

#Mainframe50 : Happy Anniversary

#mainframe50 : Benelux Event April 10 in Zwijndrecht, Netherlands

Yesterday I told you about a #mainframe50 event in the Benelux. Well, here it is. Just click on one of the pictures below to register.

I hope lots of you will be able to join us.

Livestream : Making the extraordinary possible - IBM #Mainframe50

Information about the 50th anniversary of the mainframe is really pouring in now. So here's the information about a livestream that you will be able to follow on April 8, 2014. Here's the announcement :

On April 8, 2014, IBM will be broadcasting via Livestream a landmark event that will take place in New York City and make a series of announcements to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Mainframe. The event will highlight breakthroughs in business, industry and society driven by the Mainframe, and the strategic role it will continue to play in the future.

Join this great lineup of speakers as they share new announcements, research projects, best practices and breakthrough business innovation enabled by the IBM Mainframe.

Speakers include:

• IBM Senior Vice Presidents Steve Mills, Colleen Arnold, Tom Rosamilia, and John Kelly, and IBM General Manager for System z Pat Toole
• Client speakers from Visa, CitiBank and Business Connexion
• Researchers from Yale University
• Students, the future generation of IT

The event will highlight the strategic role of the mainframe and its evolution in enabling:

• Industry-changing missions that make the extraordinary possible
• Reinvention to transform your business
• Secure data and the exponential growth of data and transactions

The time is from 2.00 p.m. until 4.30 p.m. ET. This should correspond with 8.00 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. in Brussels (CET).

You can find some more information and RSVP to receive an e-mail notification at the event site.

And there's other news for the Benelux that I just received from Hans Deketele (IBM Mainframe Platform Leader Benelux) : there will be a celebration event on April 10, 2014 in Zwijndrecht (NL) for the Benelux. I'll keep you posted as soon as I have more news about this.

#mainframe50 and BMC

I'm following the twitter account of BMC (@BMCMainframe) and they're handing out a commemorative coin at SHARE in Anaheim for the mainframe's 50th anniversary . Well, it's such a beauty that I was feeling a little pity for myself that I couldn't attend the event.

But lo and behold, the BMC Mainframe blog 'Mainframe Revolution' has the following topic : 'BMC Mainframe 50 Commemorative Coin Available Online'. And you can actually request your own coin online . . . "as long as supplies last". So I'm not going to give you the link here. Just pay a visit to the blog and while you're there, have a look around, there's lots of interesting contect over there.
Take a look e.g. at this post : '14 Reasons To Celebrate Mainframe 50 with BMC Software at Share'. If you're attending SHARE you'll surely find some interesting sessions to follow. Or what about this tweet : "BMC Cost Analyzer for zEnterprise... Find out how to save up to 20% of your MLC costs! #SHAREorg booth 511". Isn't that triggering your attention ?

As I always say, just check it out.
But be quick, or you might not have the chance to see this message :