In many cases, keeping your software up-to-date and current is important if you want it to perform well. There is, however strong feelings in the computer industry, in particular the IBM i platform, that suggests…. “Why change, what isn’t broken”! The IBM i is well known for its’ stable environment. If the level you are using presents no issues, it is easy to leave the status quo as it is!
Shield Advanced Solutions‘ customers are no different. Let’s look at one or our solutions – JT4i our Job Tracking solution for IBM i. This unique software is still one-of-a-kind capturing the content of IBM i job queues as submitted jobs run through their life cycle.This is a highly effective solution for identifying multi-stream batch jobs which need to be restarted for a true recovery position. JT4i runs alongside Shield’s HA4i, and other High Availability solutions available in the market to provide the required recovery data. JT4i was originally launched in 2002 when it was known as JobQGenie and some customers are still running JQG4i which was an update to the original product. We are now seeing several planning to upgrade. Just to be clear an upgrade is completely FREE for those with a maintenance agreement.
Why should you upgrade, when all is working well?There are always advantages to be gained when you upgrade to the newest version, fixes and fresh code etc. In instance the benefits are far greater – in 2016 Shield undertook a complete re-write and re-design of JT4i bringing considerable advantages:
– It scales for better than JQG4i
– Improved code design
– Faster and more efficient
– Improved data capture and data integrity
– Provides real time monitoring of jobs
– Automated recovery tools which provide faster system availability
Moving to the latest release always brings improvements. It is understandable to wait until a few early runners have tested the waters, but once it is stable, take the time to schedule the upgrade. You might be surprised.
We are hearing great responses from Shield customers have moved to the latest level of JT4i…. “amazed at it’s capability”, “pleased with the improvements”, “glad they made the transition”. One customer who processes millions of jobs a day simply said “WOW!”
If you have a down-level Shield product, schedule your upgrade today!
