You know it, and I know it. The greatest challenge facing every AS/400 shop is change management. IBM has evolved everything about the AS/400 computing platform: hardware, operating system, communications protocol, file system.... Seems like when
anything starts to get predictable, IBM changes it. How do we know? Because we at Midrange Computing have been there every step of the way, investigating the enhancements, reporting the trends, and showing you how to take advantage of this amazing AS/400 technological (r)evolution.

Midrange Computing magazine’s evolution has mirrored the AS/400’s. At first, we were just a publication for RPG programmers, but we soon learned that advancements in OS/400 security required special consideration. Later, as the AS/400 architecture embraced client/server and PC connectivity, our focus on AS/400-to-PC interaction became unparalleled in the industry. The same was true as the IBM Rochester team relaxed the barriers of computer-to-computer communications. Today, our articles about AS/400 networking are regular MC features. In fact, just as TCP/IP opened up the AS/400 to the possibilities of the Internet, Midrange Computing opened the topics of SMTP, Web serving, Java, and object-oriented programming.

Somewhere along this evolutionary path of the AS/400, we started to see a new computing future. IBM wanted to share this future with us, to let us know where it was leading the technology. Consequently, we began to share that vision with you. We not only told you how to take advantage of AS/400, we told you why. Still, you kept asking us, “What should we look for? What do these trends mean? How do we take advantage of these changes to further our careers? Why is change important to our companies?” As a result, Midrange Computing is much more than a monthly magazine of programmer tips and techniques. We’re an entire organization devoted to getting you the information you need to get your job done.

For IBM, the process of change in the AS/400—the change that today allows it to perform such a vast array of computing tasks—took Rochester engineers a full decade of

planning and development. And we discovered that an information tool, such as MC, that once allowed you to become an ace RPG programmer had to become even more flexible to build for the future. One change fosters another. When IBM asks, “What will tomorrow bring to the AS/400?” we ask, “What will the real tasks of AS/400 professionals be?” Will Midrange Computing be flexible and resilient enough for your AS/400 team of tomorrow? To manage that kind of change requires more than tips and techniques; it requires constant planning and questioning.

The lesson has been learned: What started as a small publishing venture for RPG programmers had to grow up. Consequently, Midrange Computing magazine is not just for programmers anymore because you and your team are doing so many more things with the AS/400: systems operations, client/server application development, networking, Java programming, Web serving, Domino implementation. In other words, MC is not just for programmers. It’s for you! It’s for you and your entire IS organization.

Now, it’s time for Midrange Computing magazine to change again. This magazine needs to continue its evolution to reflect the entire professional and technological revolution that you—our readers—are experiencing. We’re so convinced of this need that we are transforming the actual look and feel of the magazine itself. Next month’s Midrange Computing will appear to you as a new magazine, containing exciting new information about using the AS/400 architecture. We’ll harness the power of our technical editors to give you a better grasp of the cutting edge technologies of Java, e-commerce, RPG application development, application modernization, and groupware, as well as the latest techniques in Y2K and systems administration and operations. We’ll also offer timely analysis of IBM’s key strategies and expand the number of decision support articles to give you a better understanding of important trends. Finally, we’ll have new ways to show you the latest products—not only traditional AS/400 products, but also Lotus Domino and AS/400 Netfinity Server card products. Our team is generating these new features to create the premier decision support tool you need to successfully run your organization’s AS/400 facility. Of course, the things you’ve grown to appreciate in MC—the tips and techniques, the hands-on tutorials, the invaluable utilities—will still be there. The voices you’ve grown to trust—Don Denoncourt, Ted Holt, D. Ellis Green, Shannon O’Donnell, Brad Stone, Joe Hertvik, Doug Pence, Ron Hawkins, Tim Prickett Morgan, Wayne Evans, and many others—will still be leading the way.

Growing up with the AS/400 has not been easy, and managing change in this industry is still an enormous task. But the time for change is now. And we believe that in the coming months you’ll rediscover the flexibility and resilience of the AS/400 by using the newest, strongest, and most resilient information tool of all: Midrange Computing magazine. Look for us, write to us, read us, and learn.

Thomas M. Stockwell is an independent IT analyst and writer. He is the former Editor in Chief of MC Press Online and Midrange Computing magazine and has over 20 years of experience as a programmer, systems engineer, IT director, industry analyst, author, speaker, consultant, and editor.  

 

Tom works from his home in the Napa Valley in California. He can be reached at ITincendiary.com.