3 Costly Errors of Manually Converting IBM i Reports to Excel Files

Manually converting an IBM i report into an Excel spreadsheet is messy. The process is time consuming, a waste of technical & financial resources and can produce unreliable data. In my opinion, it’s reckless and financially dangerous to manually convert existing IBM i reports into Excel XLSX files for analysis, especially when there are good […]

5 Key Benefits of Archiving IBM i Forms and Reports

A good IBM i paperless processing solution can archive distributed electronic forms and spooled file reports in universal file formats; PDF files, excel spreadsheets, and HTML files. Archived files can be stored on an external file server or on the IBM i Integrated File System (IFS). A paperless digital archive is the treasure trove of information […]

6 Reasons Why You Should Care About Report Automation

You don’t need a PhD in Computer Science or any additional programming modifications to your IBM i system to realize the countless benefits you can receive by implimenting IBM i report automation solutions (paperless reporting). For example, you can convert spooled file documents to digital formats (i.e. Excel and PDF) or digitize and archive spooled files for […]

Going Native with IBM i TCP/IP Servers

For CIOs who may not be familiar with the IBM i environment, it helps to understand how you can leverage an IBM i system in a Microsoft Windows network.

Get Your IBM i Programmers Out of the Forms Design Business

Here’s a question to consider when evaluating IBM i electronic forms design software: “Would you let your Marketing department create program code?”

Translating IBM i for the Windows World

Through acquisitions, job changes or reorganizations, Windows-based managers who aren’t familiar with the IBM i may suddenly find themselves in charge of several IBM i partitions. It can be like travelling to a foreign country, where the natives speak a different language and the customs are different. If you’re in this position, don’t panic. While […]

How to Empower Users to Write & Distribute IBM i Reports, Part 2

In our previous blog, I started talking about empowering your IBM i users to create and distribute reports based on your databases. I listed the following eight ways users can get started with producing their own reports:

How to Empower Users to Write & Distribute IBM i Reports, Part 1

<pro/p> My personal philosophy has always been: if you need a programmer to set it up and use it, it’s an outdated software model. That’s especially true in the IBM i query tool and report writing world. IBM Power servers are rich databases of business information but too often, it requires a programmer to extract […]

5 Ways to Secure Sensitive Data when Distributing IBM i Reports

While it’s easy to set up IBM i report conversion and distribution to automatically email or post spooled file information, there will always be data that needs to be secured or restricted, including:

3 Steps to Setting Up Better IBM i Report Automation

There’s more to IBM i report automation than emailing reports to users. IBM i spooled files (reports) contain compiled information on an organization’s health, operations, and opportunities. These reports are secondary databases that with the right software, can be accessed, reformatted, and delivered to anyone, anywhere, anytime.