In this column, I will deliver new value for System i shops with:
- A wide variety of Web-based solutions that integrate well with your System i
- Identification of new solutions that aren't always well covered in System i media
- Answers for your key issues and challenges delivering System i solutions
- Innovative ideas for creating, measuring and delivering System i solutions
You won't find RPG tips in this column because many others cover that topic very well (Bob Cozzi, Jon Paris and more). It is also unlikely that you will find details on software IBM heavily markets and promotes, such as Client Access for example.
You will find information on selected IBM software; usually topics that have real value but are sometimes not promoted by the IBM marketing team. You'll also find open source solutions and commercial software from other vendors as well.
Also, look for new ideas and concepts on IT services delivery and new solutions that will help you deliver quality IT services quickly and cost-effectively. Realistically, not all of the solutions covered here will be relevant or right for all situations. I'll provide enough information for you to make your own determination.
If anything, you should come away with some new ideas and new perspectives on your work and the value you deliver to your businesses.
And you can help make the column more valuable. Let me know what you like, what you don't, what works well for you and what doesn't. You can reach me at: jemason@ebt-now.com.
Traditional "build or buy" versus open source
The traditional software solution model for most System i customers has been "build or buy". That is, build a custom solution or buy a software package or application. With rare exception, buying software has focused on commercial software from a wide variety of vendors. While all of us have known about open source for a long time, very few open source solutions have been installed in System i shops.
The 2 big exceptions are the Apache HTTP server and the Apache Tomcat Web application server, which are running in many shops today. IBM's distributed and enhanced the open source HTTP and Tomcat servers and IBM's support for both are the two key reasons for their adoption in System i shops.
An option to buying commercial software is to use open source software for applications, tools, frameworks and servers. Open source software comes from many different sources: small companies, open source organizations (like Apache Software Foundation and Eclipse Foundation), individual developers and large companies. IBM, Oracle, Sun and other large software vendors have donated software to open source organizations as well as distribute it directly. On the System i, IBM has donated the Java Toolkit to the SourceForge organization for distribution as an open source solution called JTOpen.
Like commercial software with different software licenses, there are many different open source licenses in use today: GNU, Apache, CPL (Common Public License), GPL (General Public License), LGPL (Lesser General Public License) and more. Many of these open source licenses not only let you use the software in your own organization, they often let you build and distribute new solutions that contain the open source software with few restrictions. This often allows you to distribute solutions to your customers, partners and so on without paying high licensing fees like those associated with commercial software.
In some cases, companies have released their software under a dual licensing model. MySQL has released their database as a community edition and an enterprise edition. The community edition is open source and doesn't come with support. MySQL offers options on acquiring support for the community edition. The enterprise edition has different release schedules, a few feature differences and support and maintenance services. The BIRT report writing solution from Actuate also works the same way. It has an open source version and a commercial license version, which is based on the open source product code base.
WebSphere Community Edition: A game changer for System i
A while back, IBM introduced WebSphere Community Edition, an open source JEE (Java Enterprise Edition) server that runs on any server. The unusual software combined the open source JEE server code base in the Apache Geronimo project with additional code from IBM to improve ease of use and functionality. But the overall solution actually delivered a new business model to IBM, business partners and customers.
The Community Edition (WASCE) is an open source product from IBM that offers similar functionality to their strategic WebSphere server family. IBM put out a product that potentially competes with its own commercial server! In addition, IBM also offers options for full enterprise support and professional services so you can get 24x7 support for your production deployments! The services and support story was bigger than the software itself. It is a new way of doing business for the whole market.
Several observations on WASCE's impact standout:
- It's true standards-based open source software that still overlaps with commercial WebSphere servers.
- WebSphere servers will generally still have added function and scalability over WASCE for larger environments
- IBM helped create the concept of Enterprise Open source by delivering enterprise quality support and services that most customers will want
- For many environments, the low-cost WASCE server (without up-front licensing costs) is a great way to get started affordably with Web solutions on System i
- You have the option to upgrade to full WebSphere servers
Enterprise Open source solutions deliver everywhere
Since IBM released WebSphere Community Edition, I've focused on finding, testing and using other Enterprise Open source solutions on many projects. There are many Enterprise Open source solutions (EOS) that fit this model. In fact, customers have an additional software 'stack' option they can choose. EOS solutions cover almost every type of software you can use in your business. They cover software frameworks, tools, utilities, desktop, office, applications and servers (Web, database and more).
Although there are many open source servers available, most of the EOS I will focus on are Java-based. Not only can you run the solutions on any OS you choose (Windows, Linux, Unix, System i and so on) but you have the advantage of tighter integration with other Java runtime solutions from vendors like IBM and your own in-house code. Any Java EOS can access the entire System i environment using IBM's Java toolkit for System i (running RPG programs, accessing data, message queues, output queues, CL commands, libraries and so on).
Where does Enterprise Open source make sense for your business?
Most companies today are all trying to get 80% of the benefits of a solution at 20% of the costs. With EOS, your front-end costs are considerably lower and better match the flow of benefits received. At the same time, you have the advantages of Enterprise services and support to ensure quality service in critical production environments. While a few customers may not go back to the vendor to purchase services and support for their production deployments, the vast majority of us need that support in our production environments. Effectively there is a cost to running an EOS solution well, but that is often 20% of the cost of a similar commercial solution.
In future columns, I'll provide guidance on finding solutions, selecting and applying them to meet your needs. I'll review how to choose the right solution, where it might apply and tips on improving the value delivered, lowering the costs and risks for implementation. If you're using Enterprise Open source solutions in your business today, email me (jemason@ebt-now.com) and let me know what works well for you and what doesn't.
About the author: Jim Mason is VP of Technical Services at the System i Web specialist shop www.ebt-now.com. Jim also hosts two free Web user groups for System i: www.quickwebsupport.com , a free user group to learn rapid Web development and www.wasce.org, a free user group to learn about open source WebSphere solutions. You can reach Jim at: jemason@ebt-now.com.
