COMMON POWERUp 2026: Full Schedule

Unlock the Power of IBM i at POWERUp 2026!

Join us in New Orleans, Louisiana for POWERUp 2026, the premier conference for IBM i professionals. Whether you’re an experienced expert or just starting your IBM i journey, this event offers unparalleled education, hands-on workshops, and valuable networking opportunities. Stay ahead of the curve with insights from industry leaders, explore the latest innovations, and connect with a thriving community that shares your passion for IBM i. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your knowledge, grow your skills, and power up your career!

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8:00am CDT

IBM FlashSystem Deep Dive

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT

Galerie 5

Evaluation Survey

This session will cover the latest announcements on IBM Storage FlashSystem products including advancements in Storage Insights, FlashSystems Grid, Ransomware Threat Detection, and Power Cyber Vault.

Speakers

Yves Santos

STSM IBM Storage Development, IBM

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Galerie 5

Systems Management

8:00am CDT

IBM i Migrate While Active: Deep Dive into Migration Methods

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT

Galerie 4

Evaluation Survey

Join this session for an in-depth look at IBM i Migrate While Active. We’ll explore its core capabilities and highlight recently delivered enhancements designed to simplify migrations and minimize downtime.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Describe the core features and concepts behind Migrate While Active and how it can minimize downtime during partition migrations.
Differentiate between the supported migration methods and understand when each method is most appropriate.
Explain the end to end migration flow for each migration method.
Recognize common migration scenarios and use cases where Migrate While Active provides clear advantages.

Speakers

Shauna Rollings

Senior Software Engineer - IBM i Performance Tools & High Availability Development, IBM

Shauna joined the IBM i development team in 2008. She has developed and supported IBM i performance data collector tools throughout her entire IBM career. From the very beginning of the Db2 Mirror for i project, she has also been the technical team lead for the Db2 Mirror Configuration... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Galerie 4

Systems Management

8:00am CDT

iSee with Scott and Tim

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT

Balcony M-N

Evaluation Survey

iSee is all about helping our IBM i user community learn and use SQL to solve everyday life problems. This session is no exception, Scott and Tim will show via live demo some fun new way to solve problems with SQL. This iSee session will explore some of the brand new features recently delivered via 7.6 and the past Technology Refreshes.

Learning Objectives:

Learn how to put SQL to use in solving every day problems.

Speakers

Scott Forstie

Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.
Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

Tim Rowe

STSM - IBM i Business Architect, IBM USA

Tim Rowe is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Architect for Application Development and Systems Management. He has been working on the IBM i operating system since 1989. Tim is a frequent author, industry speaker and... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Balcony M-N

Systems Management, Database, Programming: General, Security, Systems Management

Track Student

8:00am CDT

It's 2AM, Do You Know Where Your Console Is?

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT

Balcony L

Evaluation Survey

The IBM i restricted state (DSP01) Console environment is an oft neglected part of System Administration/Management. Many things allow systems to run months or even years without needing to connect this system Console. Then, when it is absolutely necessary to have this level of access for a system upgrade, hardware replacement, etc and the environment isn't correctly configured or is completely unknown significant delays are likely increasing a system outage. In this session we will go over the configuration and usage best practices for both the HMC and LAN Console environments.

Learning Objectives:

`- Understanding HMC based Console environment and best practice approaches - Understanding non-HMC managed System LAN Console environment and best practice approaches

Speakers

Wayne Bowers

IBM i Global Support, IBM

Wayne Bowers has been with IBM since 1997, where he works with the IBM i Global Support Center in Rochester MN. He is an Advisory Software Engineer specializing in the support of the IBM i Access (aka Client Access) products, Console, the TCP Telnet communications server, and the... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Balcony L

Systems Management

8:00am CDT

Planning a Smooth Move of your IBM i to the Cloud

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT

Galerie 2

Evaluation Survey

Utilizing the cloud is can be a great option for IBM i customers. It sounds simple, and at it core it is! However, there are many items to consider for your organization to help determine if it's the right thing for you. There are, however, options on how to plan, execute, and validate the migration and these should be analyzed to find the best fit. In this session you'll gain a great overview of the reasons and the process for moving to a cloud.

Learning Objectives:

In this sessions you will learn: - Why to move your IBM i to the Cloud - What services are commonly offered by Cloud vendors - Items to consider for the Cloud migration - Connections options for the Cloud - Ways to move your data to the Cloud - Validating options the Cloud implementation

Speakers

Larry Bolhuis

Principal IBM Power Systems Architect, Service Express

Larry has grown up with computers since his father became a CE in 1967. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Calvin College in 1982.After 2 years working with early PCs and servers her began working on IBM midrange equipment with the S/34 and S/36 He moved to AS/400 at its introduction In 1988. Early in his career he was a developer, then migrated to networking, system design, upgrades and general systems... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Galerie 2

Systems Management, Client Connectivity, IT Strategy, Networking, Systems Management

9:15am CDT

Navigator as seen by Scott (& Tim)

Thursday April 30, 2026 9:15am - 10:15am CDT

Balcony M-N

Evaluation Survey

In a first-of-its-kind session, Tim Rowe and Scott Forstie will team up and tear apart IBM i Navigator.

Behind the scenes, Navigator uses all kinds of SQL. Scott will point out some of the limitations you might encounter, from an SQL perspective, and how you can "go beyond" Navigator, when needed.

Tim will explain the best and brightest features to be found in Navigator.

Come to this session to hear their fave features and more.

Speakers

Scott Forstie

Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM

Tim Rowe

STSM - IBM i Business Architect, IBM USA

Thursday April 30, 2026 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Balcony M-N

Systems Management

Level Suitable for All

9:15am CDT

SQL for System and Storage Management

Thursday April 30, 2026 9:15am - 10:15am CDT

Studio 9-10

Evaluation Survey

The role of a system administrator spans far and wide on IBM i, and getting an understanding of what's happening on your systems can be difficult without the right tools in place. Many system management tasks can be made easier and faster with today's modern set of SQL services available on IBM i. In this presentation you will learn how to use SQL to manage your system more effectively, including topics related to PTF currency, storage (and temporary storage) consumption, high resource usage and runaway jobs, security, and much more.

Learning Objectives:

`- Learn how to use SQL to automate system management tasks, including the building of automated reports - Learn how SQL makes retrieving, filtering, and grouping data a breeze - Become familiar with existing Db2 for i educational resources to learn how to create and use your own SQL tools, and to stay up to date with existing tools

Speakers

Ryan Moeller

Software Engineer, IBM

Ryan Moeller is a software engineer working on Db2 for i, specifically on the SQL Query Engine (SQE) team. He joined the team in the Rochester, MN development lab in 2020. Ryan specializes in SQL, database development, and query performance analysis.

Thursday April 30, 2026 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Studio 9-10

Systems Management, Database

10:45am CDT

Navigator for i - An Administrator's View

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT

Balcony L

Evaluation Survey

IBM Navigator for i is the modern, web-based interface for accessing, managing, and monitoring your IBM i system. This session will guide you through getting started with Navigator and demonstrate how it can be used to manage everything from individual user profiles to system-wide administration. We’ll focus on key administrative features that support large-scale rollouts, including how to configure TLS for secure connections—a critical step for IBM i 7.6—and how to control user access to specific areas of the interface to maintain security and compliance.

Learning Objectives:

`- Learn how to set up and configure IBM Navigator for i for individual and company-wide use - Understand how to implement TLS and manage user access within Navigator for i

Speakers

Ann Wilkerson

Software Developer, IBM

Ann Wilkerson is a lead user interface developer in IBM i. She joined the Rochester lab in 2021 and has since worked on Navigator, IBM i Services, and IBM i Migrate While Active. Her focus areas include security, networking, and the IFS.

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT
Balcony L

Systems Management

10:45am CDT

The IBM Power Clean Room

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT

Balcony K

Evaluation Survey

This session describes how to design and configure a 'Clean Room' Lpar for an IBM Power systems environment. This introduces users to the theory and considerations required to implement an 'IBM Power Cyber Vault' solution. It empowers users with the knowledge of the IBM FlashSystem storage and IBM Power operational resilience features that can be used to create a safe place to validate and recover safeguarded copy backups and prepare for recovery in case of a Cyber event or data corruption. I will explain the Power VM technology that makes a 'Clean Room' Lpar easy and lightweight to create and manage whilst still ensuring a logical air-gap from production data. I will also encourage a discussion around the benefits of planning Cyber resilience and recovery procedures and provide a high level of the IBM and ISV 'Power Cyber Vault' offerings.

Learning Objectives:

How to use Power VM virtualization techniques to create a 'Clean Room' Lpar. How to plan for and configure IBM Safeguarded Copy for IBM Flash System and DS storage. How to take an immutable backup and validate or recovery data into the Clean Room Lpar.

Speakers

Ed Yeates

Professional Services Manager, Celerity

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT
Balcony K

Systems Management, Security, Storage Technologies, Systems Management, Technologies Integrated with IBM i, Virtualization

10:45am CDT

Understand Your IBM i Performance Signature

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT

Studio 3-4

Evaluation Survey

IBM i often runs well with little or no focus on the performance of the system. But what if something unexpected occurs? If you understand the performance signature of your system when it is running well, it becomes much easier to identify and resolve problems if something goes wrong. This session will show you how to use the Performance Data Investigator with Collection Services data to understand your day-to-day performance signature. This session will review many key charts that can be found in the Investigate Data task, as well as how to understand what those charts mean in the context of IBM i performance.

Learning Objectives:

Learn how to use the Performance Data Investigator. Understand various charts in the Investigate Data task.

Speakers

Dawn May

Owner, Dawn May Consulting, LLC

Dawn has been involved with COMMON for over 20 years and has been a consistent volunteer since 2008. She's been a member of the strategic education team, a subject matter expert, and a speaker. As Immediate Past President of COMMON, she's focused on leading COMMON as the industry... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT
Studio 3-4

Systems Management, Systems Management

10:45am CDT

Why are customers using the cloud, and are there really IBM i shops moving to the cloud ?

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT

Studio 7-8

Evaluation Survey

There is a lot of talk about cloud, but what are the use cases for going to the cloud, and are there really IBM i shops moving to the cloud ? In this session we discus the use case why customer are going to the cloud, Business Resiliency, Modernization, Datacenter move out,.... and we will give real examples of customers who have move to the cloud, why they did this and what they gained from this.

Learning Objectives:

uses cases for the cloud see what your peers are doing

Speakers

Dan Sundt

IBM i Product Manager, IBM

Dan Sundt is an IBM i product manager. He has the responsibility for the IBM i business, including defining and guiding future directions and strategies. He works with the IBM i sales, marketing, and development teams as well as customers and partners to ensure that the IBM i operating... Read More →

Tonny Bastiaans

Product Manager IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS), IBM Netherlands

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT
Studio 7-8

Systems Management, High Availability Resilience, IT Leadership & Management, IT Strategy, Systems Management

1:00pm CDT

IBM i Mythbusting

Thursday April 30, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT

Studio 1-2

Evaluation Survey

You can’t do that on IBM i! Or so they may say. We’ll explore some common misconceptions, urban legends, and outright lies about our favorite platform, and of course we’ll also try to take down a running system for fun. The floor’s open for suggestions, stories, and a bit of fun while we try everything that you’re too afraid to try on your own system.

Learning Objectives:

n/a

Speakers

Nathan Williams

Senior Systems Engineer, CloudFirst Global

As a Senior Systems Engineer on the Service Delivery team at CloudFirst, Nathan provides support and advice on new hardware installations, system migrations, OS upgrades, SAN and VIOS implementations, and more. He has been in an IT support role of one form or another since the mid-1990s... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT
Studio 1-2

Systems Management

1:00pm CDT

Why and How to read a Job Log

Thursday April 30, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT

Galerie 5

Evaluation Survey

When a job runs on IBM i it generates various status messages. When things go 'bump' the job issues additional messages. Where do those messages appear? Most of them appear in the job log, making the job log the 'go to' for identifying issues or determining status of the job. In this session we will review how to control the job log detail and disposition. We'll show you ways to read the job log. We'll also discuss the differences between active and completed jobs and give some thinking about dealing with a large number of job logs.

Learning Objectives:
Learn how to control joblogs, when they are produced and how much detail is provided. Learn how to read the joblog and get the most detail. Learn how to identify who or what answered an error message and when that was done.

Speakers

Larry Bolhuis

Principal IBM Power Systems Architect, Service Express

Thursday April 30, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm CDT
Galerie 5

Systems Management

Track Student

3:00pm CDT

Fix Management

Thursday April 30, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT

Studio 1-2

Evaluation Survey

Keeping your system up to date and secure requires knowledge of IBM Fixes. Here will will discuss what the Fixess are, how to get them, and how to apply them. We will also discuss the different types of Fixes and how to develop a Fix strategy for your organization.

Learning Objectives:

1. What is a Fix and the different types of Fixes 2. Build a Fix strategy that works for your company 3. How to acquire and apply the Fixes and Fix groups. 4. Using virtual image catalogs to save time on Fix application

Speakers

Sarah Jacob

VP of Customer Experience, Agile Technology Architects

Sarah Jacob is the Vice President of Customer Experience at Agile Technology Architects. She is a Subject Matter Expert in Power Systems Administration and a volunteer for COMMON. Sarah specializes in Backup and Recovery planning and recovery testing. Additionally, she acts as primary... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Studio 1-2

Systems Management

3:00pm CDT

Keep Your System up to Date with Image Catalogs - How they Changed My Life!

Thursday April 30, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT

Balcony M-N

Evaluation Survey

Perform OS upgrades and PTF installs the modern way with Image Catalogs! This has become the standard way to install on IBM i, but what are you really doing? What can image catalogs be used for and how best to handle them? If you are not used to image catalogs come and see how they can change your life!

Learning Objectives:

What are Image Catalogs and how do you create them? What can they do? How can they change YOUR life?

Speakers

Jeff Carey

Midrange Engineer III - IBM i, Lightedge

Jeff Carey is an IBM i professional with over 30 years of experience on the platform, specializing in system administration. He currently is a Midrange Engineer for Lightedge, a company providing managed services for IBM i, VMware, Nutanix, AIX, AWS and Azure. He is on the Board of... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Balcony M-N

Systems Management, Systems Management

3:00pm CDT

Keeping Your IBM i System Clean with SQL

Thursday April 30, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT

Studio 7-8

Evaluation Survey

Maintaining a clean IBM i environment is essential for performance, compliance, and long-term system reliability. While traditional CL commands can handle many housekeeping tasks, SQL offers a faster, more flexible way to identify and manage unused objects, audit logs, journal receivers, and other system clutter. In this session, attendees will learn practical SQL techniques to streamline system maintenance, uncover inefficiencies, and automate cleanup tasks. Real-world examples will demonstrate how a few well-crafted queries can make a significant impact on system health, freeing up space and reducing administrative effort.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to: - Identify and remove unused or redundant objects using SQL. - Locate and safely delete detached journal receivers and old audit data. - Clean up job logs, message queues, and spool files efficiently. - Automate routine system maintenance tasks with SQL scripts for ongoing efficiency.

Speakers

Simon Hutchinson

Founder & author, RPGPGM.COM

Simon Hutchinson has worked with IBM midrange servers and the RPG programming language since 1988—starting in the U.K. and continuing in the U.S. for over 35 years. He is best known for his long-running blog, RPGPGM.COM, where for more than 12 years he has shared practical insi... Read More →

Thursday April 30, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm CDT
Studio 7-8

Systems Management, Database, Integrated File System (IFS), Systems Management

4:15pm CDT

Navigator for i from a Developer's Perspective

Thursday April 30, 2026 4:15pm - 5:15pm CDT

Galerie 4

Evaluation Survey

Think IBM Navigator for i is just for system administrators? Think again! Navigator for i is a versatile, web-based interface that offers powerful tools for all IBM i users—including developers. In this session, you'll get an overview of how Navigator works and discover specific features that can simplify and enhance your development workflow. From accessing system information to managing objects and reviewing job details, Navigator provides developers with a modern and efficient way to interact with IBM i.

Learning Objectives:

`- Gain a foundational understanding of IBM Navigator for i and its relevance to developers - Learn how to use Navigator’s features to streamline development tasks and improve productivity

Speakers

Ann Wilkerson

Software Developer, IBM

Thursday April 30, 2026 4:15pm - 5:15pm CDT
Galerie 4

Systems Management, Programmer Tools

8:00am CDT

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8:00am CDT

9:15am CDT

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10:45am CDT

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10:45am CDT

1:00pm CDT

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3:00pm CDT

3:00pm CDT

3:00pm CDT

4:15pm CDT

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