IBM's plans for WebSphere and iSeries

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NEWS FEATURE
IBM's plans for WebSphere and iSeries
By Steve Niles

In an IBM Corporation Series Nation Teleconference, John Quarantello of IBM eServer Solutions Marketing outlined the latest news for WebSphere and iSeries. On the day's agenda were discussions of their new no-cost distance learning for WAS (WebSphere Application Server)-Express and WebFacing, WebSphere Application Server for i & pSeries Linux, and news of HATS (Host Access Transformation Server) and HATS Limited Edition. Quarantello also introduced the iSeries Roadmap to J2EE.

No-cost distance learning
Before discussing the no-cost distance learning for WAS, Quarantello provided some background on the technology.

WebSphere Application Server is a high performance, scalable transaction engine designed for dynamic e-business applications. The WebSphere Development Studio client for iSeries (WDSc) includes an IBM WebFacing Tool that can be used to reface and modernize iSeries 5250 applications. It supports 5250 and browser interfaces and can convert RPG/5250 applications to GUI (Graphical User Interface). The new 2003 iSeries hardware does not require 5250 OLTP workload.

WebSphere Application Server-Express for iSeries was considered to be the most important WebSphere announcement ever for iSeries. WAS-Express V5 for iSeries includes the following:

Web application server--WAS-Express V5;

Application development tool--WebSphere Development Studio Client (WDSc);

IBM Telephone Directory

WAS-Express V5 features OS/400 support--V5R2 & V5R1 and Intel support (Windows 2000 & Linux).

The no-cost iSeries WebSphere Express and WebFacing education is designed to educate iSeries sales channels, application ISVs (Independent Software Vendors), consultants, and customers on the value and workings of the WebSphere Express and WebFacing Technologies. The "No Charge Offering" includes 16 total hours of lectures and labs, broken down as follows:

WebSphere Express Lecture (3 Hours): What is WAS Express? Why is it of interest? How is it installed and used?
WebSphere Express Lab (4 Hours);
WebFacing Lecture (3 Hours): What is WebFacing? Why is it useful? How does one develop and deploy?
WebFacing Lab (6 Hours).

In the labs, students prepare and use their own Workstation and Server environments, and their workstation prerequisites are identified (e.g. WDSC 5.0, ...), their iSeries Server prerequisites are identified (e.g. OS/400 V5R2, WAS 5.0 Express, Apache ...), and their workstation to/from iSeries Server Connectivity prerequisites are identified (e.g. TCP/IP ...). A WebFacing sample application is made available via FTP download, and technical questions and answers are supported via iTCeBiz email and limited phone support. For more information, you can visit http://www.ibmweblectureservices.ihost.com/ibm/iseries_plus.