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COMMON POWERUp 2026

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!

10:00am CDT

What's New and Exciting in RPG

Monday April 27, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am CDT

Evaluation Survey

With each new release of the IBM i operating system and with Technology Refreshes, IBM has given us some new features in RPG. This session tells you about the new and exciting features of RPG and how you might like to use each feature in your own applications.

Learning Objectives:

1. Overview of what is new in RPG 2. Quick examples of each new feature 3. Discussion of the PTFs and OS levels needed to use the features.

Speakers

Scott Klement

Managing Partner, ORC LLC

Monday April 27, 2026 10:00am - 11:00am CDT
Galerie 2

RPG, Programming: RPG

Track Student

3:15pm CDT

The basics of moving from fixed format RPG to complete free form RPG.

Monday April 27, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

Fixed format is still a heavily used code base and many developers need to be able to at least read it. But, what if you were able to read it and translate that into complete free form RPG? we will look at how to read fixed form RPG and give you the skills to actually translate into a more modern RPG.

Learning Objectives:

Understanding the difference between the syntax between complete free form and fixed form RPG. We will look at file declarations, variables, the use of constants and include files, data structures and meaningful names.

Speakers

Marina Schwenk

Senior Programmer/Analyst IBM i Admin, Innovative Software Solutions

Monday April 27, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
Balcony K

RPG

5:05pm CDT

What the Heck is Binder Source and Why Do I Care?

Monday April 27, 2026 5:05pm - 5:25pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

Discover what binder source is, what it's used for, and why you definitely want to use it with your service programs. We'll talk about binding, signatures and signature violations, and how to change service programs without having to recompile all your programs.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn about binding 2. Learn about signatures and signature violations 3. How to change service programs without recompiles

Speakers

Patrick Behr

Senior Consultant & Instructor, Seiden Group & imPower Technologies

Monday April 27, 2026 5:05pm - 5:25pm CDT
Galerie 2

RPG

8:00am CDT

RPG Excellence: Writing for Readability and Maintainability on the IBM i - The Code Style and Quality Standards Every Modern RPG Developer Needs.

Tuesday April 28, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT

Evaluation Survey

Stop coding like it's 1985. Your legacy RPG habits are a financial drain and a massive headache for the next generation of developers. Kill the Clutter! Permanently eliminate fixed-format and arcane shorthand. This session is your urgent intervention.

Learning Objectives:

• Master Fully Free-Format RPG to write code that looks and behaves like a modern language. • Name Names: Adopt Descriptive Naming standards that remove all ambiguity. If you can't read it quickly, it's garbage. • Build Defenses: Don’t rely on the *PSSR subroutine. Implement Rock-Solid Error Handling using MONITOR/ON-ERROR to manage failure, log results, and stop programs from crashing like amateurs. • Enforce the Rules: Understand and apply consistent layout, indentation, and ILE modularization to create code that is instantly scannable and maintainable—or you'll be fixing it at 2 AM. This isn't about nice-to-haves; it's about reducing catastrophic failures and cutting your maintenance costs. You will leave this session knowing how to write RPG that future-proofs your career and the system.

Speakers

Doug Artis

Manager, Managed Services, Fresche Solutions

Tuesday April 28, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Studio 9-10

RPG

9:15am CDT

Handling JSON with DATA-INTO and DATA-GEN in ILE RPG

Tuesday April 28, 2026 9:15am - 10:15am CDT

Evaluation Survey

Two of the most significant features added to ILE RPG recently are the DATA-INTO and DATA-GEN opcodes. The most common use case is to read and/or create JSON files. Since JSON has become crucial to IBM i businesses, these are must-know features!

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn the basics of the JSON format. 2. Learn about DATA-INTO and how to use it. 3. Learn about DATA-GEN and how to use it.

Speakers

Scott Klement

Managing Partner, ORC LLC

Tuesday April 28, 2026 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Galerie 4

RPG, Programming: RPG

10:45am CDT

Let's Build an RPG Service Program

Tuesday April 28, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT

Evaluation Survey

Service programs have been around for quite some time. Perhaps you’ve even bumped into one in your professional travels. You will certainly find them on the road to application modernization. This session focuses on what they are, how to implement them and making them a regularly used asset during your application development. In this session we will discuss service programs, program signatures and using binder language.

Learning Objectives:

We will go step by step to the creation of an RPG service program.

Speakers

Charles Guarino

CEO & IBM Champion, Central Park Data Systems

Charles Guarino believes in the “power” of IBM Power Systems. His career reflects his dedication and interest in bringing the platform and its solutions to others and as a result has been recognized as an IBM Champion.

He is a member of COMMON’s Speaker Excellence Hall of Fame and a proud recipient of the Al Barsa Memorial Scholarship Award. Additionally, he participates on COMMON’s Strategic Education Team. Other professional endeavors have included the roles of President and monthly Q&A host... Read More →

Tuesday April 28, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT
Studio 1-2

RPG, Programming: General

3:15pm CDT

Breaking Up a Monolith

Tuesday April 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

Every RPG shop has them. Most developers avoid them like the plague. Large monolithic programs are a significant source of technical debt in all RPG shops. They limit your agility which in turn is detrimental to your business. So, once you are ready to deal with the issue, where do you start? There is no one answer, but there are steps you can take to begin dismantling and repurposing the code within these behemoths.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss steps to refactoring monolithic RPG programs 2. Learn common pitfalls to avoid 3. Learn how to organize extracted procedures for ease of use

Speakers

Brian May

Principal Technology Evangelist, Profound Logic

Professional IT Leader, Speaker and WriterSpecialties:Team Building, Development and RetentionTechnical SalesSolutions ArchitectureSoftware DevelopmentEnterprise Systems Manufacturing ProcessesApparel IndustryAccounting Principles

Tuesday April 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
Studio 1-2

RPG, Programming: RPG

Track Student

3:15pm CDT

Transforming your Team with Procedure Driven RPG

Tuesday April 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

RPG has always been about getting the job done, but shifting to a procedure-driven approach can completely change how you and your team build applications. In this session, we’ll start with the fundamentals of procedures and quickly move into real-world examples that highlight the benefits: improved readability, easier maintenance, and greater reusability. You’ll see how these advantages translate directly into a more efficient, more effective development team. To wrap things up, we’ll explore how today’s AI code assistants thrive in a procedure-driven environment, giving you a powerful edge in modern RPG development.

Learning Objectives:

Learn how Procedure Driven RPG will reduce technical debt, increase developer moral and allow you and your team to develop faster.

Speakers

Gregory Simmons

Software Engineer, PC Richard & Son

Gregory Simmons is a Software Engineer at P.C. Richard & Son. He is a COMMON certified Application Developer – ILE RPG on IBM I on Power. He is also a registered instructor with IBM’s Academic Initiative and an RPG and IBM i instructor at Scott Regional Technology Center, where... Read More →

Tuesday April 28, 2026 3:15pm - 4:15pm CDT
Galerie 2

RPG, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Programming: General, Programming: RPG

4:30pm CDT

How to Write Code That Doesn't Suck

Tuesday April 28, 2026 4:30pm - 4:50pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

Great code doesn't just "work" - it survives change, catches mistakes early, and makes your future self say "thank you" instead of "who wrote this mess?". This session will dig into the habits that separate quick hacks from quality software. You'll learn why testing matters, how Test-Driven Development (TDD) can guide better design, and how to put it into practice with RPGUnit for the IBM i. Expect practical demos, a few war stories, and clear takeaways for building code that's clean, reliable, and - most importantly - doesn't suck.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand Test Driven Development 2. Look at RPGUnit 3. Investigate tools built into VS Code for IBM i that can help

Speakers

Patrick Behr

Senior Consultant & Instructor, Seiden Group & imPower Technologies

Tuesday April 28, 2026 4:30pm - 4:50pm CDT
Balcony K

RPG

4:30pm CDT

The 2040 Date Issue: Preparing IBM i Applications for the Next Pivot Year

Tuesday April 28, 2026 4:30pm - 4:50pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

The year 2040 may seem far off, but for IBM i professionals, it’s closer than you think. Many applications that use six-digit dates still rely on the “1940” pivot year rule — and that assumption will soon start causing real problems. In this session, Simon Hutchinson will explain why this issue matters, what systems and code are most at risk, and how to begin identifying potential trouble spots in your applications. He’ll also demonstrate IBM-provided tools and techniques that can help you prepare now, before the 2040 date challenge becomes an urgent crisis.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to: - Understand that the IBM i “1940” date rule will remain in effect and what that means for existing applications. - See why testing with a “1970” rule does not impact RPG date operations. - Implement practical methods to identify potential six-digit date fields that may cause issues as 2040 approaches. - Review examples of RPG remediation techniques to future-proof applications. - Gain insight into IBM’s tools and recommendations for managing date transitions safely and efficiently.

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 →

Tuesday April 28, 2026 4:30pm - 4:50pm CDT
Galerie 2

RPG, Programming: RPG

5:05pm CDT

Why Procedures Are Better Than Subroutines

Tuesday April 28, 2026 5:05pm - 5:25pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

Discover the super powers that procedures have(and subroutines don't) and how they can help you create more reliable and more easily maintained programs. We'll talk about the benefits of input parameters: local variables, and return values, error handling with on-exit, and increased functionality with recursion.

Learning Objectives:

1. The benefits of using procedures 2. How to create a procedure 3. How to get the most benefit out of procedures

Speakers

Patrick Behr

Senior Consultant & Instructor, Seiden Group & imPower Technologies

Tuesday April 28, 2026 5:05pm - 5:25pm CDT
Galerie 3

Track Student

8:00am CDT

SYSTOOLS Services

Wednesday April 29, 2026 8:00am - 10:15am CDT

Evaluation Survey

With the last releases and technology refreshes IBM provided a bunch of new IBM i and Db2 Services. A lot of these Services provide functionalities that are not directly available in RPG or can only be implemented in RPG by calling complex System APIs and/or by using pointer handling for accessing the data. However, IBM provides new SQL services mostly located in the SYSTOOLS schema that can write data into the IFS, delete old spool files and even transform a spool file into a PDF document. With other services the SQL queries can be executed and the result saved as Excel-Sheets or *.csv files. Even eMails can be easily sent with the aid of an IBM i service. And the best, we can put all together This session will show a sub-set of SQL and IBM Services which can easily be embedded in any programming language that supports SQL and, in this way, can make live much easier.

Learning Objectives:

In this session you’ll learn how specific SQL Services can be implemented with embedded SQL in RPG or Cobol and how the formerly complex source code can be reduced.

Speakers

Birgitta Hauser

ModEdCon

Wednesday April 29, 2026 8:00am - 10:15am CDT
Balcony I-J

RPG, Database, Programming: RPG

3:45pm CDT

Processing JSON with DB2 and RPG

Wednesday April 29, 2026 3:45pm - 4:45pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

Tricks” to make your life easier when you start working with JSON data. After a short discussion of the HTTP functions that have been added to QSYS2 and how they can be used with the JSON_TABLE Function, Jim shows the attendee how to work with the QSYS2.HTTP_GET and JSON_TABLE Functions to consume an API returning a JSON object. If you have tried using these functions many have problems writing the correct SQL/JSON path expressions to extract the data and represent it in a relational table. Jim will help the attendee understand this process with solid examples.

Learning Objectives:

Developers looking for clear examples of SQL/JSON path expressions with DB2. Improve developers’ understanding of SQL/JSON path expressions with DB2 and JSON. Improve developers’ understanding of how to use HTTP functions in QSYS2. Improve developers’ understanding of how to use JSON_TABLE functions.

Speakers

Jim Buck

CEO & Head Instructor, imPower Technologies

Jim Buck’s career in IT has spanned more than 35+ years, primarily in college education, manufacturing, and healthcare industries. Past president (13 years) of the Wisconsin Midrange Computer Professional Association (www.wmcpa.org) and has served on several teams developing IBM... Read More →

Wednesday April 29, 2026 3:45pm - 4:45pm CDT
Studio 1-2

RPG, Programmer Tools, Programming: RPG

5:00pm CDT

Supercharging SQL in RPG

Wednesday April 29, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm CDT

Evaluation Survey

SQL has become an essential tool in the modern RPG developer's toolkit—but are you getting the most out of it? Join Simon as he shares practical, real-world examples to help you supercharge your SQL within RPG programs and procedures. You'll learn how to optimize performance, quickly diagnose feedback from Db2, and leverage Views for even greater efficiency. Simon will also cover high-performance SQL I/O techniques for faster data retrieval and smarter error-handling strategies, so you'll know exactly what happened with your SQL statements—and how to fix it.

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 →

Wednesday April 29, 2026 5:00pm - 6:00pm CDT
Galerie 6

RPG, Database

8:00am CDT

Case Study: Improving performance in RPG programs with SQL

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

Evaluation Survey

SQL has become an essential tool for modern RPG development, but knowing how to apply it effectively can be a game-changer. In this session, drawn directly from real-world experience, I’ll walk you through how I introduced SQL into my RPG applications, from the thought process behind the changes, to the incremental steps, and finally the results that transformed performance and maintainability. Along the way, you’ll see working examples and take home simple code you can use immediately to compare, test, and fine-tune your own embedded SQL.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the practical steps for introducing SQL into RPG applications. Learn how incremental changes can simplify the adoption of SQL in existing codebases. Discover the performance and maintainability benefits of SQL-driven RPG. Gain access to sample code you can use to experiment with and optimize your own embedded SQL.

Speakers

Gregory Simmons

Software Engineer, PC Richard & Son

Gregory Simmons is a Software Engineer at P.C. Richard & Son. He is a COMMON certified Application Developer – ILE RPG on IBM I on Power. He is also a registered instructor with IBM’s Academic Initiative and an RPG and IBM i instructor at Scott Regional Technology Center, where... Read More →

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

RPG, Database, Programming: RPG

8:00am CDT

Modern RPG what does that mean?

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

Evaluation Survey

You hear modern RPG but, what does that actually mean? we will look at converting from monolithic programs to modular programming including the use of service program and converting RLA(Record level access) to sql.

Learning Objectives:

Understanding what modern RPG means Understanding of what needs to be done to implement modern RPG.

Speakers

Marina Schwenk

Senior Programmer/Analyst IBM i Admin, Innovative Software Solutions

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
Studio 1-2

Track Student

9:15am CDT

Modern RPG Arrays: Best Practices and Real-World Applications

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

Evaluation Survey

Arrays are a powerful but often underutilized feature in modern RPG. This session explores how free-format RPG makes declaring, initializing, and manipulating arrays easier, more efficient, and more readable than ever before. Attendees will see practical examples of dynamic arrays, built-in functions, and real-world scenarios where arrays improve program performance and clarity. From batch calculations to temporary data storage, this session provides actionable techniques RPG developers can apply immediately to modernize existing applications and write cleaner, more efficient code.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, attendees will be able to: - Understand modern RPG array syntax and features. - Declare, initialize, and manipulate both static and dynamic arrays. - Apply arrays effectively in real-world RPG programs for improved performance. - Use built-in array functions like %LOOKUP, %SUBARR, and %SORT.

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 9:15am - 10:15am CDT
Balcony I-J

RPG, Programming: RPG

10:45am CDT

Options for Consuming REST APIs from RPG

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

Evaluation Survey

REST APIs have become a major part of business programming. We live in a world where virtually everything is connected to the Internet, and REST APIs are how they communicate with each other. In this session, you will learn how to call (or "consume") REST APIs from good ol' RPG. In addition to showing you the basics of how APIs work, this session explains how to use several free tools to consume them. The tools will be compared so that you can determine which one would work best for you.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the free tools available to consume APIs. 2. Understand how to process JSON documents in RPG. 3. Compare the free methods for consuming APIs

Speakers

Scott Klement

Managing Partner, ORC LLC

Thursday April 30, 2026 10:45am - 11:45am CDT
Galerie 5

RPG, Programming: Frameworks, Programming: RPG, Technologies Integrated with IBM i

3:00pm CDT

RPG and the IFS

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

Evaluation Survey

How to get started using the Integrated File System from your RPG programs. The IFS is typically used for reading and writing "PC-style" (stream) files on the IBM i, and is an important tool for integrating with open source software, other platforms and and business partners. In today's world, it is indispensible.

Learning Objectives:

1. How to open stream files in your RPG program 2. How to read/write data to stream files with and without CCSID translation 3. How to process directory entries

Speakers

Scott Klement

Managing Partner, ORC LLC

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

RPG, Integrated File System (IFS), Programming: RPG, Technologies Integrated with IBM i