Centerfield Adds More Smarts to Database Performance Suite
by Alex Woodie

Getting the most performance out of your System i server should be easier when using the new release of Centerfield Technology's suite of SQL and DB2 optimization software. With HomeRun version 6.1, Centerfield has added more intelligence and flexibility to HomeRun's autonomic database maintenance component, called AutoDBA, which should result in faster implementation of database index optimization. The company has also taken steps to minimize the performance impact of the HomeRun suite itself. READ MORE >

Aura Equipments Pushes i5/OS-Excel Integration
by Alex Woodie

Aura Equipments, the French developer of i5/OS software utilities, has repackaged its i5/OS-Excel integration tool to make it more affordable. Launcher 400 Excel, as the product is called, allows Excel spreadsheets to be automatically updated with data from System i servers, providing a productivity boon to Excel junkies who would otherwise be rekeying data or playing with Query. Previously, the product was only available as part of a bigger, more expensive suite of products. READ MORE >

Innovatum Adds Biometric Authentication to Improve Compliance 'Auditability'
by Dan Burger

Regulations that affect the collection, storage, and retrieval of electronic data records have hit IT departments like a snow storm in Miami Beach. IT managers have been shivering ever since mandates such as Sarbanes Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, HIPAA, and the FDA's 21 CFR part 11, plus a blizzard of other industry-specific compliance rules have entered their domain. Early efforts to make the grade were manual labor intensive. To get out from under that heavy load, organizations looked to technology for automated solutions. Innovatum, with its data monitoring software, has been in the thick of it. READ MORE >

Surf's Up for Web-Based Organized Crime, IBM X-Force Says
by Alex Woodie

If you've noticed that attempts to steal your identity and your money on the Web have grown more sophisticated in recent months, you're not alone. In its analysis of thousands of attacks, IBM's X-Force security group confirmed that the underground criminal economy made a lot of headway last year in its quest to exploit software and human vulnerabilities in its pursuit of ill-gotten gains off the Net. READ MORE >