COMMON POWERUp 2025: Full Schedule

Unlock the Power of IBM i at POWERUp 2025!

Join us in Disneyland, California, for POWERUp 2025, the premier conference for IBM i professionals. Whether you’re an experienced expert or just starting your IBM i journey, this event offers unparalleled education, hands-on workshops, and valuable networking opportunities. Stay ahead of the curve with insights from industry leaders, explore the latest innovations, and connect with a thriving community that shares your passion for IBM i. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your knowledge, grow your skills, and power up your career!

10:00am PDT

Adoption, Care & Feeding of Open Source Packages

Monday May 19, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am PDT

Amazon

As more and more development teams embrace Open Source technologies on the IBM i, it will be important that Systems Administrators know the basics of managing these packages on the IBM i. This session will predominantly look at the Open Source Package Management capabilities included with IBM i Access Client Solutions as the go to environment for those who are not themselves using the Open Source packages, but will also cover the Shell YUM commands that can also be used by more advanced users to manage packages. We will also discuss approaches to managing this environment in various secured network environments, and general recommendations on updating individual packages.

Learning Objectives:
As a Systems Administrator, or other responsible party, become familiar and proficient with Open Source Package Management on IBM i.

Speakers

Wayne Bowers

Software Engineer, IBM

Wayne Bowers has been with IBM since 1997, where he works with the IBM i Global Support Center in Rochester MN. He is an Advisory Software Engineer specializing in the support of the IBM i Access (aka Client Access) products, Console, the TCP Telnet communications server, and the... Read More →

Monday May 19, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Systems Management

11:15am PDT

IBM i Networking Overview

Monday May 19, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT

Amazon

The IBM i OS network communications has changed a lot since the AS/400 primarily communicated to workstations and printers using Twinax and to other computer systems using specialized communications lines. In some ways things are more complex because our IBM i OS systems communicate to a lot of other devices in many different ways, but in other ways things are simpler today because nearly all network communications are built on top of the foundation of Ethernet and TCP/IP.

This session will take a look at these foundation Ethernet and TCP/IP and how they are built up within the IBM i OS. We will look at your communications adapters, Line Descriptions, and IP addresses, subnets, routes and more including the commands and interfaces used to manage these.

As time allows we may also look at some of the most commonly used networking servers Telnet and FTP and cover their basics of configuration, management and even troubleshooting.

Speakers

Wayne Bowers

Software Engineer, IBM

Monday May 19, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Networking

3:15pm PDT

Technical Debt: On the Clock

Monday May 19, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT

Amazon

We've all heard of the National Debt and what a threat it is to our country. What you may not have heard of is the Technical Debt that may lurk in your information systems and is just as big a threat to your business. Join us as address the often sensitive subject and explore five of the worst (best?) examples of Technical Debt - how they manifest, the damage they can cause and how to begin to turn the tide in the right direction. We'll also put it into terms that both management and technical staff can understand.

Speakers

Christopher Burns

Sr. Consultant, Tri-Delta Resources

Most of my peers know me as the brains behind Inuendo, an open source database model and API layer. But I'm just an IBM i geek like everyone else. In recent years, I've tackled the sensitive topic of Technical Debt, and how to eliminate it. Check out my open source projects on GitHub... Read More →

Monday May 19, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

IT Strategy

4:30pm PDT

VS Code Tech Talk

Monday May 19, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT

Amazon

By now, everyone knows the benefits of using VS Code (and if you don’t you should!). In this “tech session” see how to use VS Code in real-world scenarios. Leveraging client cases, see how our team used VS code, why we chose to use VS code in these situations and how you can do the same. We will discuss VS Code and the IFS, VS and SEU, using VS code for converting files from DDS to DDL, the DB2 for i extension, etc.

Speakers

Phil Tolbert

Senior IBM i Developer, Briteskies

Monday May 19, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programmer Tools

5:05pm PDT

Keep your source code close and your artifacts closer

Monday May 19, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT

Amazon

So you moved your IBM i source code to git but what about your artifacts? It seems like they should be hosted somewhere...into an artifact repository perhaps? If you agree with this statement, then this short session may be of interest to you. Through the use of Jenkins and an artifact repository like Sonatype Nexus or JFrog Artifactory, discover why it may be a good idea to build once, store the result and deploy it many times, to ensure deployment consistency and traceability.

Speakers

Sebastien Julliand

Tech Lead, ARCAD Software

Hi, I'm Seb! I am a Tech Lead & IBM i Advocate at ARCAD Software and an active contributors to IBM i open source projects.Let's talk about anything related to software development, on IBM i or not, it doesn't mater to me. RPGLE, Java, TypeScript...I love them all equally 😁I'm actively... Read More →

Monday May 19, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

DevOps

8:00am PDT

Why and How to read a Job log

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT

Amazon

When a job runs on IBM i it generates various status messages. When things go 'bump' the job issues additional messages. Where do those messages appear? Most of them appear in the job log, making the job log the 'go to' for identifying issues or determining status of the job.

In this session we will review how to control the job log detail and disposition. We'll show you ways to read the job log. We'll also discuss the differences between active and completed jobs and give some thinking about dealing with a large number of job logs.

Speakers

Larry Bolhuis

Cloud and Datacenter Engineer, IBM Champion, Service Express Inc.

Larry has grown up with computers since his father became a CE in 1967. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Calvin College in 1982 and soon after began working on IBM midrange equipment with the S/34 and S/36. Larry began working on the As/400 at its introduction In 1988.After spending many years as a developer Larry began working on communications, networking, and systems management tasks. Years of... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Systems Management

9:15am PDT

IBM i - A Strategic Preview for 2025 and Beyond

Tuesday May 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT

Amazon

With the extreme pace at which technology is changing, it's nice to have a platform that is built for change. In this session, Steve Will, IBM i CTO & Chief Architect, will talk about the current technology drivers in the industry, and how the IBM i strategy and roadmap are adapting. Come hear about the new things in 2025, and the direction of the platform in the future.

Speakers

Steve Will

IBM i CTO & Chief Architect, IBM

Steve is the CTO and Chief Architect for the IBM i Operating System. Spending the past fourteen years of his IBM career in this position, he has become an award-winning speaker, author of the influential blog "You and i," (https://bit.ly/You-and-i-blog) and is one of the most sought-after voices at customer briefings and events. Steve has worked on IBM i and its predecessors since before the creation of the AS/400, and is currently responsible for setting the strategy of the IBM i operating system, as well as deciding which enhancements will be implemented. In his role, he talks to clients and pa... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

IT Strategy

10:45am PDT

Technical Debt: The Clock is Your Friend

Tuesday May 20, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT

Amazon

Acknowledging that you have amassed Technical Debt is easy. The hard part is paying it off. Join us as we explore one of the most prevalent types of debt, Hard Coding. Admit it, we've all done it. We'll discuss two methods of attacking this problem - The Standard Cross Reference and the Truth Matrix, both of which can be easily implemented and gradually introduced into your legacy and new development to replace most instances of hard coding in your ILE/RPG and CL programs.

Speakers

Christopher Burns

Sr. Consultant, Tri-Delta Resources

Tuesday May 20, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programmer Tools

3:15pm PDT

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND SOFTWARE TESTING FUNDAMENTALS

Tuesday May 20, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT

Amazon

This session reviews all the guiding principles of software testing along with practical experience from the IBM I specific applications and infrastructure. Topics covered include the fundamentals of testing, testing through the development lifecycle, static techniques, test design, management, and tool support.
Understand how quality assurance integrates into an environment.
Determine what types of testing there are and when to apply which.
Learn about layering the complexity of test concepts.

Speakers

Yvonne Enselman

Owner, Yvonne Enselman Professional Services

Tuesday May 20, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Program Testing

4:30pm PDT

VS Code Features You Didn’t Know Existed

Tuesday May 20, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT

Amazon

Visual Studio Code has quickly become one of the most popular development environments, praised for its lightweight design and flexibility. In this session, I will be sharing several powerful and lesser-known features that you might not have known existed, helping you unlock even more potential in your development workflow.

Speakers

Sanjula Ganepola

Software Developer - IBM i App Dev & AI Toolchain, IBM

Sanjula Ganepola is a Software Developer at IBM working on IBM i application development tools. As an open-source advocate, he is an active contributor and maintainer of several Visual Studio Code extensions including IBM i Project Explorer, Code for IBM i, IBM i Testing, Source Orbit... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Programmer Tools

5:05pm PDT

When Job Tables Attack!

Tuesday May 20, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT

Amazon

There are very few issues that can threaten the stability of an IBM i LPAR, but one of them is filling of the system job tables. Circumstances can make this happen quickly even though you may not see it very often if at all! Even if you have seen the dreaded job table message, it may have been so long ago you don't recall what to do. Time may be of the essence when taking corrective action, so knowing what is happening and how to fix it can be critical.
Protect your system and be able to thwart this threat before it becomes truly dangerous.

Speakers

Jeffrey Carey

Sr. System Administrator, Ensono

Jeff Carey is an IBM i professional with over 25 years of experience on the platform, specializing in system administration. He currently is a Senior System Administrator for Ensono, a company providing managed services for Mainframe, IBM i, Cloud, and hybrid IT, headquartered in... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Systems Management

8:00am PDT

Hidden Gems

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT

Amazon

Every few months the IBM i development team delivers new updates and features across the operating system. Keeping track and actually using these changes can be a difficult task at best. This session is the favorite new enhancements from a team of IBM i developers. You get to hear each of our favorite updates to the OS that have been delivered over the past bit. This session is new every time, often lots of fun and for sure there is something for everyone.

Speakers

Tim Rowe

STSM - IBM i Business Architect, IBM

Tim Rowe is the Business Architect responsible for Application Development and Systems Management for the IBM i operating system. His responsibilities include helping to make sure that the IBM i has what is needed to be successful both today and into the future. He sends much of his... Read More →

Liam Allan

Software Advocate, IBM

I am a developer and open-source advocate. Ask me about Node.js, VS Code, app deployment and CICD :)

Ann Wilkerson

Software Developer, IBM

Ann Wilkerson is a lead user interface developer in IBM i. She joined the Rochester lab in 2021 and has since worked on Navigator, IBM i Services, and IBM i Migrate While Active. Her focus areas include security, networking, and the IFS.

Sanjula Ganepola

Software Developer - IBM i App Dev & AI Toolchain, IBM

Jonathan Zak

Staff Software Developer | IBM i app tools, IBM

Working on IBM i application tools, notably Manzan, Mapepire, and Tyrico.

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Systems Management

9:15am PDT

Run Away Queries Got You Down

Wednesday May 21, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT

Amazon

Having negative performance impacts from query tools like Query/400, QMF, Showcase, Tableau and others because of the "query from heck" eating up system resources? Is your system open to security exposures from wide-open ODBC type connections? This session will cover options including using the new-ish Db2 Query Supervisor to control and/or audit long-running queries.

Speakers

John Westcott

Db2 for i Consultant and Team Lead, IBM

John Westcott is the Db2 for i Team Lead in IBM Technology Expert Labs. John is highyly skilled in SQL, RPG, Data Analytics, Rest API, and both database and application modernization. John has over 35 years of experience on IBM i and it's past family of names. John has a storied career... Read More →

Wednesday May 21, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Database

10:45am PDT

API Enable Your Database

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT

Amazon

How important is delivering business data to your users and customers? I’d bet it’s among the top concerns of any development effort. How do you deliver data in the modern world? Rest API are one of the most common methods. We’ll explore, though live demos, how to expose data in a safe and secure manner using Integrated Web Services (IWS). Our focus will be on directly leveraging the DATBASE with SQL, not using RPG or Service program.

Speakers

John Westcott

Db2 for i Consultant and Team Lead, IBM

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Database

3:45pm PDT

Stepping through SQL Performance

Wednesday May 21, 2025 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT

Amazon

Every SQL statement has a predefined steps that it must go through before it can complete you data base requests. Each step taken can positively or negatively impact SQL performance - especially on transactional applications that are running the same set of SQL statements over and over again. This session will explain each step needed to run an SQL statement and the structures that Db2 creates that can impact performance. In addition, this session will review application design and settings that can impact the performance of the required steps.

Speakers

Kent Milligan

Senior Db2 for i Consultant, IBM

Kent Milligan is a Senior Db2 for i Consultant in IBM Technology Expert Labs. Kent has over 25 years of experience as a Db2 for IBM i consultant and developer working out of the IBM Rochester lab. Prior to re-joining the Db2 for i Expert Labs practice in 2020, Kent spent 5 years... Read More →

Wednesday May 21, 2025 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Database

5:00pm PDT

Administrating the new MFA support on IBM i

Wednesday May 21, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT

Amazon

The latest support for IBM i 7.6 includes support for Multi Factor Authentication (MFA). This session will review the steps for configuring, and the administration of the MFA support. With MFA, everyone has a part to play, administrators and users. We will outline the steps each are required to take. Of course, lots of live demos showing you how easy it is to configure and manage using the latest support will drive the discussion.

Speakers

Tim Rowe

STSM - IBM i Business Architect, IBM

Wednesday May 21, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Systems Management

8:00am PDT

Improving Software Quality via Development and Testing

Thursday May 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT

Amazon

Do you know all of the things you should be considering when writing and testing your software? In this session, testing expert Yvonne Enselman teams up with programming expert Scott Klement to discuss all of the things you should be considering when testing your software if you want to achieve the highest quality result.

Although examples are provided in RPG, the concepts discussed in this session apply to software development in all environments.

Speakers

Scott Klement

Managing Partner, ORC LLC

Thursday May 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Program Testing

9:15am PDT

IBM Navigator for i – As seen by Scott

Thursday May 22, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT

Amazon

In this new session, Scott will explore IBM Navigator for i features and demonstrate how this feature rich GUI is built upon the shoulders of SQL. We’ll spend time exploring new Navigator features, as well as the well-established. Finally, Scott will show how users can start with Navigator, but finish with VSCode4i or ACS, for those situations not handled by Navigator.
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-navigator-i

Speakers

Scott Forstie

STSM, Db2 for i Architect, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Systems Management

11:15am PDT

DevOps Overview

Thursday May 22, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT

Amazon

DevOps is not just about tooling, but rather it is a changed mindset that encompasses Development, Operations, and users/stakeholders as well. This session aims to not only answer many of the high-level questions you might have about DevOps, but also to provide concrete examples of implementing DevOps in IBM i organizations.
Learn about some of the common roadblocks that many organizations have when trying to move to DevOps, and some of the steps that can be taken to overcome those obstacles. Most importantly, this presentation should help to convince you that DevOps is not a passing fad that is going to take resources away from your "real" projects, but rather it is a fundamental shift that will make development faster, more efficient, more responsive, and (most importantly, to many) less costly with minimal investment.

Speakers

Pavan Thute

Senior Software Engineer, Rocket Software, Rocket Software

Pavan is a Senior Software Engineer with 15 years of experience in IBM i technology, has worked as an AS400 developer, team lead, and corporate trainer.He has contributed to companies like IBM, ANZ, Mphasis, CETAS Shipping and conducted IBM i training for organizations such as UST... Read More →

Kuldip Vikram

Principal Architect, Rocket Software

Kuldip is a Principal Architect at Rocket Software responsible for modernizing IBMi applications/workloads and their development through a combination of pure/hybrid Cloud deployments and Generative AI.He has a rich and diverse experience architecting, designing, developing, and deploying... Read More →

Andrew Clark

Andrew Clark has been working on the IBM i platform for more than 30 years, beginning with the "secret Mankato Project" on a pre-release version of os/400, and an internship at IBM Rochester working on the Query team. He has development expertise in more than a dozen languages on... Read More →

John Joiner

Thursday May 22, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

DevOps

1:30pm PDT

How Refactoring Helps Bulletproof Your Application

Thursday May 22, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT

Amazon

Old program code creates technical debt and makes it difficult to maintain robust applications. In this session, we will discuss what refactoring is and how it is important to creating applications that are robust and "bulletproof." We will show an example of rewriting an old monolithic program in a new modular style, and explain the different aspects of it and how it allows for better testing and quality assurance.

This is a joint session between programming expert Scott Klement and software testing expert Yvonne Enselman, allowing you to see refactoring from both a tester and programmer perspective.

Although some RPG examples are provided, the concepts apply to any software coded in any environment.

Speakers

Yvonne Enselman

Owner, Yvonne Enselman Professional Services

Scott Klement

Managing Partner, ORC LLC

Thursday May 22, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Program Testing

3:30pm PDT

ListAgg and Split – Grouping, Aggregating and Dividing again

Thursday May 22, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT

Amazon

Almost everybody working with SQL knows the GROUP BY specification for accumulating identical information. Those queries are quite often combined with aggregate functions such as SUM() or AVG().
With the multi-dimensional grouping it is possible to also add all kinds of sub-totals as well as a grand total to the queries.
In composition with CASE clauses it is possible to accumulate information and return the data in different columns, for example monthly or quarterly sales per customer. Pivot tables can be easily created … as long as the number of output columns is fixed.
Sometimes, however, we have to accumulate information that is located in multiple rows in a single row, for example all items in an order. Unfortunately, the number of output columns (i.e. Items) may differ. However, with the LISTAGG aggregate function a string containing the different information separated by a comma (or any individual separation string) can be built.
As far as good … but how to split a string with multiple information separated by a comma or any other individual separation string? No problem with the SPLIT service! … in composition with other services even *.csv files located in the IFS can be decomposed

Speakers

Birgitta Hauser

Database and Software Architect, IBM Champion, Birgitta Hauser - Modernization - Education - Consulting

Birgitta Hauser worked on the IBM i and its predecessors since 1992. She graduated with a business economics diploma, and started programming on the AS/400 in 1992. She worked and works as traditional RPG Programmer but also as Database and Software Engineer, focusing on IBM i application... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Amazon 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Database