At the start of a new year I am always excited about what it will bring, and grateful what the old year brought.

The past few years have been a really exciting time to be involved with the IBM i world. In my opinion the twice yearly Technical Refreshes has allowed IBM to bring us new things without us having to go the through upgrading to a new release. My favorites of last year's, 2017, introductions were additions to Db2 for i:

What were your favorites of the 2017 introductions?

If you need a reminder check these links:

My proudest moment of 2017 was my interview with Paul Tuohy for his iTalk with Tuohy, for IBM Systems magazine. Paul's request for an interview was a complete surprise and I feel grateful for the opportunity to do it. You will find the interview here.

Now looking forward what will this year bring us?

End of support for IBM i 7.1 on April 30. If your system is still running 7.1 you need to look into what it will take to upgrade to 7.2 or 7.3 as soon as possible.

This year is the 30th anniversary for the launch of the AS400. It makes me feel a bit old that I was working with IBM midrange when this happened. Coming from an IBM System/36 background I felt that the AS400 was a massive leap forward. I am sure there will be a lot of stories about this anniversary the closer we get to June 21. Some of my first posts on this blog were about the 25th anniversary.

For those of you who still think that IBM i is still an AS400 you have to watch this video by Steve Will, chief architect of IBM i, explaining how much has changed over time.

I am sure we will have two new Technical Refreshes released this year, in the Spring and Fall to coincide with COMMON conferences.

What would you like to happen in the IBM i this year?

This year has the following IBM i related anniversaries:

Let's all raise a glass of our favorite beverage and make a toast to give thanks for IBM i and all good things that happened last year. Then raise a second glass in anticipation of what this year will bring.