IMS (IBM’s Information Management System) is in use at an estimated 95% of Fortune 1000 organizations, and IBM has recently announced Version 10 of the software (see http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/ims/v10/). Yet there are very few Web-based resources available for IMS professionals. iTech-Ed is therefore pleased to announce the launch of Virtual IMS Connection at www.virtualims.com to help fill in this gap. Virtual IMS Connection is an independently-operated vendor-neutral site run by and for the IMS user community.

“Virtual IMS Connection is designed to act as a meeting place for IMS professionals, where they can share information and ideas and find resources”, said iTech-Ed’s Trevor Eddolls. There is a forum area where IMS experts can share their experiences and useful hints and tips, and ask their peers questions about any aspect of IMS. There is also a job bank, where people looking for jobs and people needing staff can post their information.

Virtual IMS Connection also has pages with links to IMS-related news, articles, events, and other resources. The Virtual IMS Connection user group will provide a way for individuals using IBM’s IMS hierarchical database and transaction processing systems to exchange information, learn new techniques, and advance their skills with the product.

“There will be periodic Webinars on IMS-related topics”, said Eddolls, “and we are planning to launch an e-newsletter for people who sign up”. People need to register at the Virtual IMS Connection Web site (which is free) and they can take part in the Webinars and make suggestions about what they want to see on the Virtual IMS Connection Web site in future.

The Virtual IMS Connection Web site launches on November 5. Anyone with an interest in IMS is welcome to join Virtual IMS Connection and share in the knowledge exchange. It is completely free to join and use.

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iTech-Ed Ltd (www.itech-ed.com) is a mainframe consultancy company.

Trevor Eddolls is the CEO (contact

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The Virtual IMS Connection user group Web site is located at www.virtualims.com.