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Join us at COMMON 2015!

• Strategy and Discovery services for planning and starting your modernization effort
• Innovative products that provide a 360-degree view of your environment and automate UI, application and database modernization
• Modernization services to help you carry out your modernization project and achieve your business goals
• Application Support Services focused on helping you improve productivity, enhance business process and optimize your application environment Support Center.

EIGHT Fresche sessions!

This year, we’ll be presenting eight different sessions to keep you up to date with the latest IBM i developments. Join us for new and innovative sessions with our experts. Click below for the session abstracts.

• Lower costs by knowing, understanding and reusing business rules with Richard Thomas
• OPEN LAB: Free yourself from 5250 with RPG Open Access using openlook with Pascal Polverini
• RPG Gone Mobile with Nick Hampson
• iPhone, iPad, Android & Blackberry Mobile Integration with IBM i by Nick Hampson
• Easily create video to help users learn your applications  with Nick Hampson
• How to onboard new employees onto IBM i  with Trevor Perry
• What You Need to Know About AngularJS  with Nick Hampson 
• Preparing Your Apps For Modernization  with Ray Everhart

Lower costs by knowing, understanding and reusing business rules
with Richard Thomas

Sunday 26th April   ||  2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Location: Monorail C (Disneyland Hotel)

In this session, you will learn about how the re-use of business rules represents a significant opportunity to save money and speed development. To not reuse and recycle time-tested, proven business logic is to waste the huge investment the organization has made in getting the existing system to meet business needs over the years. A “typical” RPG application consists of around a million lines of code (though some are much, much larger) and contains around 30,000 business rules. A clear understanding of these rules is instrumental in rewriting and reengineering projects, package replacement, audits and modernization and maintenance.

Learning Objectives:                                                                                       

• Learn about and view business rules in RPG programs
• Learn about some of the tools used to manage business rules
• Learn how business rules are re-used in a wide variety of projects

OPEN LAB: Free yourself from 5250 with RPG Open Access using openlook
with Pascal Polverini

Sunday 26th April   ||  2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Location: Mark Twain (Disneyland Hotel)

The open lab will guide you through developing modern user interfaces (UIs) with RPG Open Access. You will learn how to control and design modern interfaces with RPG, and about the key points essential to achieving a good design. You will also learn about the advantages of a multi-tier architecture that is enabled by Open Access.

RPG Gone Mobile 
with Nick Hampson

Monday 27th April   ||  3:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Location: Disneyland Grand Ballroom South B (Disneyland Hotel)

Mobile Development Mobile computing is an integral part of business and helps keep users connected. This session shows you how to leverage  IBM i applications for real-time  access to mobile devices. You will learn how to leverage your RPG, Synon, 5250 and RPG OA applications for rapid mobile enablement using the looksoftware suite and AngularJS.  In addition, we will discuss how to use the same technologies to develop new rich mobile applications that focus on enhancing the user experience.              

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how smartphones and tablets can be used to access IBM i applications
• Learn how to quickly mobile enable your RPG, Synon, 5250 and RPG OA applications
• Learn about developing enhanced interfaces for mobile devices
• Learn how to deploy mobile applications quickly, easily and securely
• Understand mobile integration possibilities

iPhone, iPad, Android & Blackberry Mobile Integration with IBM i 
with Nick Hampson

Tuesday 28th April   ||   9:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Location: Magic Kingdom Ballroom 2 (Disneyland Hotel)

Smartphones and tablets are becoming more and more in demand as business tools to help users stay connected. This session will explore what it takes to leverage IBM i applications for real-time access to mobile devices. Learn the fundamentals of how a typical 5250 based application can be optimized for the small form factor and how to leverage touch-based devices for a rich user experience. Learn how to support multiple smartphone device types such as Apple’s iPhone, Android and Blackberry, and also how to take advantage of the larger form factor of tablets such as the iPad. We will also cover how to ensure your IBM i stays secure whilst providing anytime, anywhere access.

Learning Objectives: 

• Understand how smartphones and tablets can be used to access IBM I applications
• Learn how to develop optimized interfaces for mobile devices
• Learn how to deploy mobile applications quickly, easily and securely

Easily create video to help users learn your applications 
with Nick Hampson

Tuesday 28th April   ||   2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Location: Magic Kingdom Ballroom 4 (Disneyland Hotel) 

Description: This session will demonstrate how effective video is in helping end users and customers learn your products. Video-based help and tutorials are very effective learning tools and are greatly under-used by developers, who often consider them too time-consuming and difficult to create. Learn the tools, tips and techniques for video creation, and benefit from 15 years of practical experience using video with IBM i systems, developers and customers.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about video creation tools
• Learn about video for tutorials and for help
• Understand how and where to integrate video into the user experience
• Learn time- and field-tested techniques for employing video to maximum learning advantage

How to onboard new employees onto the IBM i 
with Trevor Perry

Tuesday 28th April   ||   3:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Location: Grand Ballroom South B (Disneyland Hotel)

This session addresses the growing problem faced by many IBM i shops - how  do you onboard new employees? End users and even developers often have little experience with older technology. A green screen can seem foreign to end users be slow for developers used to more modern design environments. Learn about a variety of methods for more rapid onboarding of new employees.                                                                                                     

Learning Objectives:

• Training techniques for new employees to improve adoption
• Options for UI improvements to help with the learning curve

What You Need to Know About AngularJS 
with Nick Hampson

Tuesday 28th April   ||   3:30 PM - 4:45 PM
Location: Nile (Disneyland Hotel)

AngularJS is the newest emerging standard of all JS MV* frameworks. Managed by Google,  it is an ideal product to develop rich client business Web applications. AngularJS is built around best design principles and supports scalability, maintainability and modularization. In this session, Nick Hampson will discuss AngularJS and provide a practical working experience by taking you through a working implementation of the framework.

Learning Objectives:  

• Learn what AngularJS is and why it’s so important
• Learn why it’s becoming so popular, and why you might consider it instead of other options
• Understand the general structure of AngularJS and see how directives and the code work
• See the core principles in action with a working example and learn how to get started

Preparing your apps for modernization 
with Ray Everhart

Wednesday 29th April   ||   8:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Location: Nile (Disneyland Hotel)

Before an application modernization project begins, you will want to perform a code clean-up exercise. Cleaning the codebase can greatly reduce the scope and complexity of the project, reducing time, cost and risk. This session will show you some of the key areas that need to be addressed before a modernization project begins.

Learning Objectives:

Learn about the methodology used to perform a codebase cleanup:

• Physical vs Logical De-Scoping
• Mass vs Finite De-Scoping
• Identifying which objects should be De-Scoped
• Identifying object dependencies
• Using business rules to identify dead code branches
• Testing strategies for De-Scoped objects