Oracle Declares a 'Renaissance' for J.D. Edwards World
by Alex Woodie

For years, J.D. Edwards World was the best-selling ERP system for the AS/400, the gold standard of the platform IBM built specifically to run business applications. Then Y2K hit, IT spending tanked, and J.D. Edwards landed in the hands of competitor Oracle, leading people to wonder if the end of World was near. While it won't likely regain its seat at the head of the class, Oracle took steps this week with the delivery of World A9.1 to infuse new life into the aging application and reward loyal users with much-needed new capabilities. READ MORE >

Shield Launches 'DR for the Masses'
by Alex Woodie

Shield Advanced Solutions last week unveiled a new disaster recovery (DR) solution for the i5/OS server, called Receiver Apply Program/400 (RAP/400). The new product is based on the remote journaling technology IBM developed years ago, primarily for ensuring high availability (HA) of AS/400s. But instead of high availability, Shield is using remote journaling as a way to bring high-speed data replication and next-generation DR to the i5/OS masses. READ MORE >

IBM Addresses Object-Level Security with New Tool
by Alex Woodie

You have choices in how you implement security on your i5/OS server. Data-centric security implemented at the folder or object level is the most rigorous type of security you can implement, but it is also the toughest to deploy and maintain. To address this challenge, IBM last week unveiled Secure Perspective for System i, a new tool that uses natural language processing to make it easier to secure i5/OS machines at the object or folder level. READ MORE >

More Details Emerge on Query/400's Java-Based Replacement
by Alex Woodie

As part of the latest round of System i announcements last week, IBM provided more details on the new Web-based query tool that it's developing with OEM partner Information Builders as a replacement to Query/400. The new product will be called DB2 Web Query for System i, and it should ship later this year, IBM says. READ MORE >