Simply the BEST Over 500 attendees ! Biggest audience since the Tech bubble has burst”,

Simply the BEST !   Biggest audience since the Tech bubble has burst”, says Curt Cotner at IBM Dinner

Last week I spent the week atIDUG EMEA DB2 Tech Conference in Berlin with many people from the DB2 Community. Throughout the week there was excitement, passion and the feedback we received from customers was “thank-you” this is the “BEST IDUG Conference ever”!

Why? The main focus for IBM was to provide customer value, we worked hard with the IDUG planning committee to deliver a “top class” agenda with was content rich. Although budgets are tight in the current economic environment there was no compromise on quality and customer value. We worked with the IDUG committee to ensure our “top speakers” were available for the DB2 community.

DB2 for z/OS Book Signing Event

The IBM expo had nothing not the latest demonstrations and was a great place to meet and see IBM experts; Curt Cotner, John Campbell, Terry Purcell, Namik Hrle and many more were available around the IBM Expo. There were live product demos of our hardware and software working together.

Many of you will know IBM will be celebrating its 30^th anniversary in 2013 – so we took the opportunity at IDUG EMEA 2012  to launch our anniversary celebrations, we will continue our 30^th anniversary campaign until December 2013.  Our primary objective was simple – we wanted to say “thank-you“ to our customers, partners and extended community for their support and commitment over the past few decades, without you all we would not be here!

Here is a summary and some feedback we heard

Inspirational Keynote – The IBM keynote on Big Data by David Barnes was a real eye opener and made many people realized that we are all in one of the most exciting professions and I am sure many people will go back to the office and update the resume to include “Data Scientist”.

90% of the data in the world is unstructured data

David spoke about the business insights of “Big Data” and how it was “Good Enough” to give you idea. An important fact he quoted was that “90% of the world’s data is unstructured” .That includes all the “emails, tweets, blogs, texts etc” and it is interesting to think there are people out there analysing this “Big data” and making decisions on “Good Enough” data. However David also said that    90% of the world’s important data is structured therefore mission critical corporate data is still safer on a trusted database.

If you missed David’s Big Data demo – here is a chance to see it. It is also available on “The World of DB2 for z/OS”.  

Excellent sessions and workshops – A comment I heard from an attendee was “I have gained skills and knowledge in 1 hour that would take me months on the job – this was a great investment for my company”.

As usual some of the key speaker sessions were packed, I was in John Campbell’s “DB2 10 and Beyond” session and although it was in the “Paris” – one of the biggest rooms,  there was so much interest that people were still working in and happy to stand. Next year we will have to make sure we have a bigger room.

• Best place to network for DB2 community and meet IBM experts– the IBM booth was buzzing. “Great place to see and hear about latest technology”. There were lots of conversations and people were sharing feedback on their DB2 10 migration experiences and providing hints and tips to those clients that were just about to embark on the journey. The attendees loved the zEnterprise booth and were just fascinated…See for yourself.

• Recognition Dinner for DB2 Community members including customers, user groups and the IDUG EMEA Planning Committee .  At least once a year IBM likes to recognise and appreciate the DB2 community, this year we took the opportunity to recognise customers, user gorups and the IDUG EMEA Committee

•  Watch this space for more pictures.

IDUG EMEA 2012 Planning Committee

In 2013 we will continue our 30^th anniversary celebrations at local seminars, User Group events and conferences. 

Keep in touch with us on The World of DB2 for z/OS and join our 30th anniversary recognition and celebrations  throughout 2013 as we add more venues and cities near you.  We have started sharing the dates and venues via our virtual  communities

The World of DB2 for z/OS  – On Line Community

Facebook Fan Page – World of DB2 for z/OS

International DB2 Users Group shares DB2 10 Upgrade Experiences from Users – 13th November

Live Webcast  Register now: http://bit.ly/13thNovDB2Webcast  – With IBM announcing DB2 11 Early Support

Program on Oct 3rd it’s time to plan your DB2 10 upgrade strategy to avoid getting left behind and more importantly

to ensure you can exploit the new, exciting cost saving features and Business Analytic Enhancements coming out in

DB2 11

                              

Host: Surekha Parekh, Worldwide Strategist & Market Program Director, DB2 for z/OS, IBM Software Group
Speakers:

Julian Stuhler, IBM Gold Consultant, Triton Consulting 

Kurt Struyf, DB2 Consultant, Suadasoft

Broadcast date: November 13, 2012, 11:00 a.m. EST, 4:00 p.m. GMT / UTC

Highlights
Topics
• DB2 10 cost savings right out of the box
• Reducing CPU and improving performance
• Reducing business risk and overhead by staying current

Host: Surekha Parekh, Worldwide Strategist & Market Program Director, DB2 for z/OS, IBM Software Group
Speakers: Julian Stuhler, IBM Gold Consultant, Triton Consulting and Kurt Struyf, DB2 Consultant, Suadasoft
Broadcast date: November 13, 2012, 11:00 a.m. EST, 4:00 p.m. GMT / UTC
Developed for: IT and enterprise architects; database administrators and managers; and, information architects
Technical level: Intermediate

Since IBM® DB2® Version 8 was withdrawn from marketing in April 2012, many DB2 users began to look at migration to DB2 10 — if they can do more with less, that is, reduce costs and improve performance. IT shops want CPU savings that can impact the bottom line.

Join us for a complimentary webcast presented by the International DB2 Users Group (IDUG). Our speakers will highlight and share customer experiences with DB2 10, best practices and lessons learned by early adopters of IBM DB2 10 from members of the IDUG community. IDUG is an independent user group for IBM DB2 family of products and it supports the DB2 community. The group is perceived as a thought leader in the data management marketplace. This webcast will be presented by two well-known independent DB2 consultants who have a wealth of experience working with DB2 customers and users.

Join us after the webcast for a live question-and-answer session. The webcast will also be available for replay after the event.

Join “The World of DB2 for z/OS” and Stay Connected”

With over 2000 communities members “The World of DBB2 for z/OS” is the premier social media community to stay connected with like minded individuals and find out about global and local events, conferences and seminars.

Join “The World of DB2 for z/OS” today and stay connected

New Book To be Launched at IBM Information On Demand: IBM DB2: The Past, Present and Future

Thinking of attending IBM Information On Demand 2012 Global Conference in Las Vegas ?  There are many reasons why you can’t afford to miss this Global Conference if you are in the Information Management business.  Here are some of the reasons you may attend:-

• Participate in the PREMIER discussion on the future of Information Management
• Over 80 DB2 for z/OS sessions including Business Analytics and Data Warehousing
• Hands On Labs
• Learn best practices in your industry
• Complimentary IBM certification testing
• Extensive opportunities for networking with both your peers and industry expertsTo add to the list of reasons IBM will be launching  their NEW DB2 for z/OS book in recognition of our 30th Anniversary.  Not only have we managed to get top IBM technical experts like John Campbell & Terry Purcell contribute to this book (anyone that knows John Campbell will know how difficult it is to find time on John’s busy calendar), we also managed to have Don Haderle – “The FATHER of DB2″ contribute to our book.  This book is not only full of RICH, TECHNICAL content but is will also be a “keepsake” for DB2 fans for years.  This is a limited edition book and limited copies will be printed so don’t miss the book signing event on Monday 12:30 – 1:30 at bookstore.
  

  New Book launched at IBM Information On Demand Global Conference

  IBM DB2: The Past, Present and Future

  The launch of DB2 on June 7, 1983, marked the birth of relational database as a cornerstone for the enterprise; 30 years later DB2 for z/OS is still the undisputed leader in the RDBMS market and the envy of its competitors when it comes to total system availability, scalability, security, reliability and cost effectiveness. A majority of Fortune 500 companies, including the world’s top banks, retailers and insurance providers, store mission critical operational data in IBM® System z® and DB2® for z/OS®.

  Why? It seems everyone offers a marketing bundle “just like the mainframe,” and while some of these solutions have some basic capabilities, DB2 for z/OS and System z continue to lead the way with fresh capabilities to handle rapidly changing, diverse and unpredictable workloads while maximizing resource utilization and investment.

  During 2013 IBM will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of DB2 with customers, business partners, users, employees and DB2 fans all around the world. This book is packed with rich information to help you manage your business systems. Don Haderle the father of DB2 shares with us the history and growth of DB2; this is followed by detailed overview on the planning stage of migrating to IBM DB2 10 and technical overview of DB2 Optimiser.

  We hope you enjoy this new book. Find out why DB2 is still growing after 30 year and how it is helping our customers to reduce costs and grow.

  Surekha Parekh

  WW DB2 for z/OS Marketing Program Director

Advance your career and stay up to date with all of the latest developments in DB2 by attending IDUG DB2 Tech Conferences!

Whereever you are in the world IDUG the foremost independent, DB2 user-driven community provides high quality education at affordable price.  Check out upcoming conferences

Sydney, Australia, 12-14 September, 2012: Offering 40 hours of technical presentations in addition to full day and half day Education Seminars from some of the leading speakers in the DB2 community, this is a can’t-miss event! Check out the online agenda, featuring the latest in DB2 and register today!

Berlin, Germany, 4-9 November 2012: Register to attend the IDUG DB2 Tech Conference in Berlin, Germany. Take advantage of FREE IBM Pre-Certification courses and exams and a range of complimentary Workshops from IBM on Sunday including DB2 10 for z/OS Pre-Certification Workshop, DB2 10 for LUW Pre-Certification Workshop, DB2 10 for z/OS New Functions and Migration Planning Workshop and Data Warehousing with DB2 for z/OS: IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator Deep Dive Workshop. Learn more and register today.

Orlando, Florida, April 28 – May 3, 2013: Share your DB2 expertise and submit a presentation abstract to be a speaker! Find out more and submit your presentation by September 21.

Great speakers and Good Food at New England User Group Event – 20th September 2012

September 20, 2012 – Meeting Notice
   
The next meeting of the New England DB2 User’s group will occur on Thursday, September 20, 2012 in Page Hall at the Publick House in Sturbridge Mass.

Key Note Speaker Curt Cotner Vice President & Chief Technology Officer for Database Servers

Start Time 9:00 am
End Time 4:30 pm.
Please send an email to nedb2ug@gmail.com to preregister. All we need is your name and company.
The REGISTRATION for this meeting IS FREE.  Lunch Is Included.
Agenda:
Keynote – DB2 10 Update & the IDAA Warehouse Accelerator  – Curt Cotner (IBM)
DB2 Performance & Tuning with iStrobe –  Mike Wingfield (Compuware)
Choices For Smoothing Your Migration to DB2 10  – Reggie Culpepper (Rocket)
Stored Procedures in DB2 for z/OS – Frank Rhodes (BMC)
CA Technologies Innovations in Mainframe Computing  – Bill Arledge (CA)
One Step Closer to Making Data Breaches a Thing of the – Past – Ernie Mancill (IBM)
What Should You Exploit First in DB2 10?  - Sheryl Larsen

See you there.
Edward Long

Curt Cotner presents Key Note session at New England User Group

Curt Cotner Vice President & Chief Technology Officer for Database Servers
Bio:
Curt Cotner is an IBM Fellow, and a member of the IBM Academy of Technology. Curt is the chief technology
officer for the DB2 family and Informix IDS database servers, and has both management and technology oversight
responsibility for all the client software offerings used with DB2 and IDS. This includes the client runtime APIs
(JDBC, .NET, CLI, pureQuery, etc.) and the application development and administration tools offerings (IBM Data
Studio). Prior to taking his current assignment, Curt was the chief architect for the DB2 for z/OS development team.