September 2010
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WUG NEWS AND UPDATES
Welcome Greg Ackerman to the Leader Spotlight
Greg is being recognized for his outstanding contributions as a WebSphere User Group Leader. Greg has coordinated four user group meetings for his RTP WUG since May, covering such topics as Lombardi and Rational Team Concert. He has gone the extra mile to be involved with his local WUG community and continues to work diligently to ensure the success of the RTP WUG. Congratulations Greg, and thanks for all of your hard work! The GWC appreciates you.
Upcoming WUG Meetings for October 2010
Enabling Cloud Computing with WebSphere Monthly Focus
Our Monthly Focus for September was Enabling Cloud Computing with WebSphere, and it proved a very popular topic with the GWC. This 4-week series of events sponsored by the GWC and IBM’s Smart Work Program included webcasts and educational podcasts. If you missed the events, they are available on demand, so you can watch them at your convenience.
Webcasts
Podcasts — Hear our cloud experts talk about the following topics:
The Global WebSphere Community Job Board is Now Open for Business
The GWC is pleased to announce the availability of the Global WebSphere Community Job Board on our site. The Job Board is available to all non-IBM GWC members for posting worldwide WebSphere-related employment opportunities.
Job postings should contain a contact name and email address, job description, relevant information about the job and/or company, and instructions on how to apply including a URL link.
To post a job opening on the Job Board, start from the Home page of the GWC website and sign in if you are not already signed in. Select the Job Board icon under Explore the Community. Click on Add Listing and complete the information.
Take the GWC Survey for Extreme Transaction Processing and You Could be a Winner!
Ever say to yourself "no one ever asks me for my opinion or input"? Well here's your chance! With the accelerating trend toward faster, more efficient, consistent application response times, we are inviting you to participate in a survey that will help quantify the kinds of needs driving Extreme Transaction Processing (XTP) adoption and the kinds of capabilities vendors need to provide. Additionally, your survey participation will enter you in a GWC giveaway raffle! Find out more here.
Keep Your Software Subscription & Support Current and Get Access to the Latest WebSphere Enhancements
Software Subscription & Support helps our customers stay current with their Information Technology needs. Being a WebSphere customer, your interests are our priority, and we would like to ensure that all our features are well communicated to help you take an informed decision. Understand the latest upgrades in WebSphere and stay current by subscribing to Subscription & Support.
NEWS ON THE WEB
Explore How Cities and Industries Can Work Smarter with CityOne —
A Smarter Planet Game
CityOne is IBM's first city-simulation game with a Smarter Planet theme that shows how companies can work smarter with IBM industry and software solutions. The game will be available on October 4th and features banking, energy, retail, and water solutions in a city context. Players are given a series of challenges in which they compare alternative solutions and technologies and choose which they want to implement. In parallel, they see how business process management (BPM), collaborative technologies, cloud, and service-oriented architecture (SOA) can help make cities and businesses alike work smarter to achieve better results. Play CityOne to find out how IBM and WebSphere Software can help your organization accelerate change with optimized processes and decisions; strengthen relationships and integrate with customers, suppliers and partners; and control costs and add flexibility with virtualization and cloud.
New BPM Brochure: Achieve Agility and Profitable Growth
IBM's process automation and integration solutions help avert the high cost of hard-coding complex integrations between in-house, supplier or customer applications. It offers the flexibility and agility to combine IT assets and accommodate changes, and helps ensure consistent performance.
Innovations Within Reach: How an IBM Test Organization Uses WebSphere CloudBurst to Improve Efficiency and Agility
When considering a new solution, you’d probably be interested in hearing about how others have effectively leveraged the solution to bring value to their organizations. Well, if you are considering IBM® WebSphere® CloudBurst™, then continue reading. This article describes how the IBM WebSphere Application Server test team adopted and implemented WebSphere CloudBurst to increase agility and efficiency, while decreasing cost in their organization.
Convert a JPA-Based Java EE Web Application to OSGi with Blueprint Object Injection in WebSphere Application Server V7
The OSGi framework is a dynamic component model that is growing in popularity within enterprise architectures. The IBM® WebSphere® Application Server V7 Feature Pack for OSGi Applications and Java™ Persistence API (JPA) 2.0 was delivered for use with WebSphere Application Server V7.0 with Fix Pack 9 and above. This article describes the steps involved in converting a Java EE Web application that uses JPA 1.0 to an OSGi application that uses features in JPA 2.0 plus Blueprint injection of objects. Sample code for a simple WebSphere Application Server application is included for illustrative purposes.
IBM WebSphere DataPower XC10 Appliance Session Management
The IBM WebSphere DataPower XC10 Appliance offers an innovative, pragmatic approach to harness the power of distributed caching as a complete, purpose-built, easy-to-use solution. It allows you to leverage the value of your existing infrastructure investments. The DataPower XC10 appliance lets you bring higher performance, fault tolerance, and scalability to common distributed caching scenarios. Get an introduction to the new IBM WebSphere DataPower XC10 Appliance and see how easy it is to configure for session management.
How Awesome is This! New on Facebook: People for a Smarter Planet!
Become a fan of the "People for a Smarter Planet" Facebook page, which offers a dynamic and intelligent network of activities, conversations, and discussions you can participate in to help build a sustainable and smarter world. Or, if you just want to hang around and listen, that's okay too.
WEBSPHERE NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Get Ready for the Business Agility Launch!
The October Business Agility launch will move beyond defining and validating the need for business agility to providing a prescriptive approach and a proven roadmap on "how to" implement technologies to achieve business agility.
Leverage BPM, SOA, and Cloud to Improve Your Ability to Respond to a Rapidly Changing Market. Learn how WebSphere capabilities in BPM, SOA and Cloud can improve your ability to respond to rapid changes in the market. You can learn how to take advantage of WebSphere capabilities by:
The Launch product announcements showcase the benefits of the market-leading IBM WebSphere solutions that will help you to optimize processes on an efficient infrastructure in order to conduct business quickly and effectively across a dynamic business network.
Forrester Ranks IBM BPM Portfolio a Leader
The Forrester Wave(TM): Business Process Management Suites, Q3 2010 report names WebSphere BPM one of the strongest sets of BPM capabilities in the market today, offering industry-leading development environments and improved tools for business stakeholders. IBM's market-dominating BPM portfolio and the fit-for-purpose capabilities are unparalleled in the market today. Read the report.
IBM Announces Its Intent to Acquire Unica Corporation
IBM announced its intent to acquire Unica Corporation, a leading provider of software solutions that enable marketing professionals to better understand their customers, communicate relevant messages and coordinate online and offline marketing campaigns and operations – all in an integrated end-to-end suite. Read more.
EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION
Intermediate Level Certifications Available
Business Process Analyst - WebSphere Business Modeler Advanced Edition V7.0
Integration Developer - WebSphere Process Server V7.0
Change in certification dates for WebSphere Commerce V7.0 courses
The target general availability dates for the following two tests have shifted from Sept./Dec. to Nov./Feb., respectively:
Test 000-723, WebSphere Commerce V7.0, Application Development
Test 000-724, WebSphere Commerce V7.0, Administration
See New Tests in 2010/2011.
WebSphere/SOA/XML Certification Train and Certify Promotion
Distinguish yourself in this highly skilled marketplace by joining our elite group of IBM Certified Professionals.
With every qualifying course you attend, you will receive a certification promotional code that will enable you take the aligning eligible certification exam free of charge. Each exam is valued at $200 USD in developed countries and $100 in emerging market countries. This offer is available worldwide, per the effective date specified.
Certification Testing at the IBM European WebSphere Technical Conference, October 11-15, 2010: Dusseldorf, Germany
Pending seat availability, you can take one or all Software and selected Hardware certification tests on a first come, first served basis .
Just Four Weeks Left to Get the Training You Need and a Netbook You'll Love
Here's a deal that's too good to miss! Get a complimentary Lenovo netbook after completing an eligible IBM software training class. Choose from over 100 U.S. classes in Cognos, Data Management, Enterprise Content Management, IBM InfoSphere and IBM WebSphere. Hurry! You must enroll in a class by October 29 and complete the class by December 17 to get the complimentary netbook. Get the details.
Get the Skills You Need to Integrate Business Goals with IT Strategies
Learn how to better align strategic goals, business activities and supporting technologies with our Rational Enterprise Architecture course series. These courses also explore how Enterprise Architecture (EA) provides context for best practices with SOA, ITIL, COBIT, OO and Cloud Computing. The EA series consists of three courses or an accelerated 10-day boot camp. Get the details.
UPCOMING WEBCASTS, SEMINARS, AND EVENTS
Impact 2010 Goes Virtual
Did you miss Impact 2010? Listen to the top-rated keynote presentations or download your favorite breakout session by attending the Impact 2010 virtual event.
Register here.
Regional IMPACT Comes to YOU
Attend a local 'Impact Comes To You' event to learn more about Business Process Management. These day-long seminars are designed to give you a brief overview of the latest in IBM offerings including an “Introduction to Lombardi BPM”. Attend to learn how process improvement can transform your key business process pains.
Impact Comes To You Dates and Locations
Oct. 5: King of Prussia, PA
Oct. 7: New Jersey
Oct. 14: Charlotte, NC
GWC Members Receive 10% Discount at the IBM European WebSphere Technical Conference, October 11-15, 2010: Dusseldorf, Germany!
GWC Members will benefit from a 10% discount on the Enrolment Fee for the IBM European WebSphere Technical Conference - simply complete the enrollment form mentioning the promotion code GWC10, and your discount will be included.
The conference begins with a keynote session focusing on how IBM can help your organization keep pace with change and drive better business outcomes through greater agility and improved Exceptional Web Experiences. This is followed by feature sessions focusing on WebSphere Portal, CICS, Messaging and Connectivity, and the WebSphere Platform, including Application Infrastructure, development and BPM. For the remainder of the conference, you may choose from over 200 unique sessions and 20 hands-on labs focusing on key themes in today's technology trends.
REGISTER NOW
WebSphere Batch to the Future Summit
How to build Java Batch solutions with WebSphere.
IBM® offers a comprehensive enterprise-class Java-enabled batch processing solution that compliments existing enterprise batch standards, accommodates all types of workloads, and builds upon the rock solid transactional integrity of WebSphere® Application Server. To learn more, join Forrester Research, IBM WebSphere lead architects, and IBM customers in New York City on October 14 for an exclusive briefing on the IBM Java batch strategy.
For more information or to register, please click here.
Don't Miss the IBM WebSphere Application Infrastructure Summit Near You
Get the latest on the IBM WebSphere Application Infrastructure portfolio of solutions straight from the top -- the product Chief Architects.
The WebSphere chief architects are coming to cities across North America for an exclusive briefing on how the IBM WebSphere Application Infrastructure portfolio of solutions can help you deploy and manage applications and SOA services to increase agility and reduce IT costs. Don't miss this opportunity to discuss with our chief architects your business needs and how IBM WebSphere's Application Infrastructure can help deliver on these needs.
Register now! Space is limited.
For the Latest in Application Infrastructure and SOA Connectivity, Ask the Pros.
Current business environments require organizations to work smarter so they can remain competitive and respond to changing customer demands. The IBM portfolio of application infrastructure and connectivity solutions can help you build, deploy, and manage applications and SOA services to increase agility, reduce IT costs, and improve time-to-value for your business initiatives.
You are cordially invited to join the IBM WebSphere Chief Architects and Software Development Laboratory experts from Hursley, England and North America for an exclusive briefing on how Application Infrastructure and SOA Connectivity solutions can help solve a variety of business and IT challenges.
Phoenix - October 21
Heard Museum
Registration is open
Webinar: Automate Your Application Deployments to WebSphere Middleware
Deploying Java aplications to a middleware environments is a very complicated task.
Did you know:
- an average software engineer spends around 250 hours per year on (re) deploying his Java applications to his WebSphere environments?
- 28% of all server downtime is caused by configuration changes, updates or deployments?
- on average, companies invest over $850,000 per year on creating & maintaining deployment scripts alone?
Automating your application deployments is a significant step forward in reducing or even eliminating these problems. In fact, it is the last step needed to fully optimize the IT workflow from coding software until monitoring running applications in your production environments.
Join us in our webinar on Deployment Automation for WebSphere and learn more on the following:
- How can I deploy or upgrade a software package to WAS 5/6/7?
- How can I automatically validate the contents of my deployment package?
- How can I discover, synchronize & compare my servers, clusters and nodes?
- How can I keep deployment logs for audit and optimization purposes?
- How can I use maven to integrate automated deployment into my test and build cycles?
This webinar will take 45 minutes and includes both a presentation and a live product demonstration of Deployit. There will be ample time for Q & A. Please register here.
Webcast Date/Time: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 5.30pm CET/11.30am EST
Register now to reserve your seat!
Curious and want to read more?
Deployit, as delivered by XebiaLabs, is the market leading Deployment Automation solution that helps companies like Air France KLM, Karavel, Nuon and SNCF with their deployment challenges. If you’re interested, click here to read the IBM case study on Deployit for more details.
Don’t miss these upcoming BPM events!
Forrester Business Process Forum
Oct. 7-8: National Harbor, MD
Gartner ITxpo Japan
Oct. 25-27: Tokyo, Japan
Brainstorm NYC
Nov. 2-3: New York City,
Gartner ITxpo France
Nov. 8-11: Cannes, France
On-Demand Webcast: Truths & Myths About Integrated Process & Rules Management
Many companies agree that Business Process Management along with Business Rules Management are a powerful combination for process improvement within an organization. But some approaches to integrating process and rules management are more effective than others. This presentation takes a quick look at truths – and myths – about integrated process and rules management. We will recommend and demonstrate one particular approach that maximizes flexibility and ease-of-management as your process improvement program scales across the enterprise.
Featured speakers: Marc Smith, Technical Marketing Leader – Lombardi BPM, IBM and Gordon Siegfriedt, Technical Sales Engineer – Lombardi BPM, IBM
On-Demand Webinar: Transforming Healthcare Member Enrollment for Greater Efficiency
HealthNow and Leveraging Technology, Inc. will be on hand to discuss how technologies such as BPM and Business Rule Management Systems (BRMS) can help transform the member enrollment process into a source of competitive advantage and operational efficiency. Payers are using BPM and BRMS to achieve speed-to-market gains of over 50%, productivity gains of 30%, and reductions in cost and turnaround time for new-member enrollment.
Highlights
- John Walsh, Chief Enterprise Architect at HealthNow, will describe how it streamlined member enrollment with BPM and BRMS
- Overcoming process silos for greater speed, agility and auditability
Time/Date: Tuesday, September 28 -- 2 p.m. Eastern / 1 p.m. Central / 11 a.m. Pacific
Listen on demand
Additional resources:
On-Demand Webinar: How CenterPoint Energy is Building Its AMS/Intelligent Grid with a Business Process Management Approach
Join James Laven – AMS / AIS Operations Manager & Sr. Project Manager at CenterPoint Energy – as he highlights how BPM assists CenterPoint Energy to effectively monitor and gain visibility into its meter population, planned at over 2 million at full deployment. Effective BPM is an important component of this AMS system. BPM assists in the support of grid components like remote meter monitoring, faults, system alerts, and consumption tracking and assists with outage recognition.
To register, please click here.
On-Demand Webinar: When “Free” Isn't Always Affordable: Comparing Proprietary Business Rule Software with Open-Source Alternatives
Jason Armstrong of Summa Technologies will be on hand to discuss Summa's recent comparative study between the WebSphere ILOG JRules business rule management system (BRMS) and JBoss Drools, an open-source business rule management product. This study demonstrates how what initially seems like a more affordable, cost-effective solution can actually turn out to be more expensive.
Highlights
- Value proposition and key business objectives of a BRMS
- How each offering meets BRMS key objectives
- How the study determined total cost of ownership for each offering
Time/Date: Wednesday, September 29 -- 2 p.m. Eastern/1 pm Central/11 am Pacific
Click here to register.
Additional resource:
"Smarter Decisions, Faster" landing page
On-Demand Webinar: Recover Revenue Lost to Regulatory Reform by Increasing Cross-Sell Acceptance
Forrester analyst Brad Strothkamp will be on hand to discuss how smart banks are recovering revenue through cross-selling. Effective cross-selling empowers front-line staff to suggest relevant offers at the point of contact, based on data like purchase history and propensity to buy. Higher customer-acceptance rates can represent a significant source of untapped revenue.
Highlights
- Financial regulatory reform and expected impact on bank revenue
- Insights from customer relationships with their financial services provider
- Ways to deepen the customer relationship and increase customer wallet share
- Next-generation campaign management systems using business rules
- Industry case studies
- Five ways to fast ROI with BRMS
Time/Date: Thursday, September 30 -- 2 p.m. Eastern / 1 p.m. Central / 11 a.m. Pacific
Click here to register
Additional resources:
On-Demand Webinar: How First Citizens is Using Business Process Management to Work Smarter
Whether it's paper-based loan approvals or inefficient branch communications, banks are finding old, manual ways of doing things don't cut it in today's tough environment. There's an ever-stronger need to keep costs down and respond to customers' expectations of faster service and new delivery channels.
The answer to this challenge lies in technology that can help streamline operations, improve efficiency, better manage risk, and elevate customers’ banking experiences.
Explore how First Citizens Bank moved to fact-based proactive decision-making and reduced reporting times with Jon Meyer, VP Electronic Channels & Payments. Bring yourself up to speed with the latest research and thought leadership on the evolution of banking technology, presented by Nancy Pearson, IBM's VP BPM, SOA, & WebSphere Marketing. And finally hear about nine different ways banks can increase business agility, create a collaborative environment and integrate risk management with James Wallis, IBM's VP for the Global Payments Industry.
Attending this webcast you will walk away with:
- The real-life experience of how First Citizens Bank achieved a unified view of their customers and accelerated reporting capabilities
- A deeper understanding of banking industry challenges and three avenues to success
- Nine proven areas where bottom-line benefits can be achieved quickly and efficiently
For more information or to register, please click here.
On-Demand Webinar: Capitalizing on Supply Chain Complexity and Your ERP Investment in the Consumer Products Industry
In this IBM series on Building Smarter Consumer Products Supply Chains, we will explore the ways in which people are capitalizing on supply chain complexity and ERP investments. We will discuss top executive and supply chain challenges in the consumer products industry, including customer case studies focusing on the following issues:
- High speed of M&A activity
- Globalization of the food supply
- Focused consumer markets requesting niche products, pressuring the complexity of the supply chain
- Increased retailer collaboration and price pressures
For more information or to register, please click here.
Tune in to Hear Firsthand How Lincoln Trust Pursued This Goal and Tailored Technology Investments Accordingly.
The result is a BPM environment that has reduced development time for simple workflow processes by 90%.
This session presents five key practices for incorporating data architecture into your BPM program. They are:
- Recognize corporate process traits
- BPM roadmap tracks corporate strategy
- Integrate tools strategically
- Normalize process data patterns
- Leverage data-driven designs
Join us October 6 at 2 PM, EDT. For more information or to register, please click here.
Rational Innovate Conferences October 2010: Global WebSphere Community, Be Our Honored Guests!
We would like to cordially invite you to our upcoming Innovate Conferences happening in October 2010. Innovate conferences will highlight new Rational solutions that accelerate software design, development, and delivery for WebSphere. Rational helps realize business processes alignment to SOA through its software design solutions, develop innovative applications for WebSphere Application Server Feature Packs through market-leading development and analysis tools, and manage and automate the delivery of software to your WebSphere environments. Come learn how Rational can supercharge your WebSphere investments by efficiently delivering innovative software. Mark your calendars and register for your event today!
Rome Innovate: October 12
Amsterdam Innovate: October 13
Brussels Innovate: October 14
Paris Innovate: October 19
