Menten Goes for the i-effect

by Alex Woodie

German software developer Menten is selling a suite of OS/400 tools called i-effect that's designed to help users manage their iSeries data. Available in the U.S. as well as Europe, the 13-part i-effect suite is made up of products the company previously sold under different names, and which address many aspects of day-to-day iSeries operations, such as converting spool files to more popular formats or freeing up disk space by compressing archives.

Menten EDV-Beratung GmbH has been developing OS/400 data from its headquarters in Bergisch Gladbach, near Cologne, since 1989. Last May, the company decided to merge its respective ascon, edicon, and gzip400 product lines into a single integrated, yet modular, suite called i-effect.

Users are free to purchase whichever i-effect components they need to get the job done. Some of the components are dependent on one another. For example, the encryption module requires the compression module, and the fax component requires the spool file and e-mail components. But no matter which product users buy, they will only be charged one price, and will be free to run it on any size machine they like.

Here's a rundown on the i-effect:

• The BASE component forms the foundation of the i-effect product set and is required for most other modules. It costs 1,900 euros (about US$2,515 at current exchange rates).
  
  
• The SPOOL component, which costs 900 euros (US$1,190), converts iSeries spool files into PDF, HTML, XLS, CSV, TIFF, TXT, and RTF formats.
  
  
• The ZIP component, which costs 400 euros (US$530), is based on the open-source GNU zip, or gzip, compression algorithm. Menten says ZIP can be used to compress OS/400 archives by up to 90 percent, and even translates between ASCII and EBCDIC.
  
  
• The CRYPTAES component, which costs 250 euros (US$330), is an OS/400 implementation of the new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption algorithm, and requires ZIP.
  
  
• The DBEXPORT component, which costs 400 euros (US$530), allows you to convert DB2/400 data to other data formats, such as XLS and HTML.
  
  
• The EMAIL component, which costs 600 euros (US$795), allows users to send and receive IFS files, spool files converted into PDF with SPOOL, or ZIP archives. It works with any standard SMTP e-mail server.
  
  
• The FAX component, which costs 500 euros (US$660), allows users to send spool files via the Internet and a fax service provider. Menten says FAX also supports Short Message Service (SMS). It requires SPOOL and EMAIL.
  
  
• The FTP component, which costs 2,150 euros (US$2,850), sends OS/400 data via FTP.
  
  
• The EDIFACT component, which costs 3,950 euros (US$5,230), translates OS/400 data into the EDIFACT standard and requires either TELEBOX, FTP, or FTP components to send and receive EDI documents.
  
  
• The SERVER component, which costs 1,100 euros (US$1,460), provides automation. It can be set up to automatically e-mail a compressed file, for example, based on an even or according to a set schedule.
  
  
• The TELEBOX component, which costs 3,950 euros (US$5,230), moves OS/400 data via the BusinessMailX.400-service of German Telekom.
  
  
• The OFTP component, which costs 4,150 euros (US$5,550), provides an implementation of the Odette File Transfer Protocol (OFTP), which is more widely used in European industry than in the United States.
  
  
• Menten also lists a product component called FLATFILE, for which it charges 3,950 euros (US$5,230). (Contact the company for information on this product.)

In the past, Menten sold its products in the United States through partners. The company still provides English language support but does not currently have a partner in the United States. For more information, go to www.menten.com or www.i-effect.com.