IBM Buys HA and Data Replication Software Maker DataMirror
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Private equity firm Thoma Cressey Bravo has been driving a wave of consolidation in the market for high availability and data replication software in the i5/OS and OS/400 server market since last fall, having acquired three of the four biggest players and merging them under Vision Solutions. In a surprising move yesterday, IBM, which has always been a strong partner with the makers of HA software for its proprietary server line, acquired the fourth big player in this market, DataMirror, for $161 million. READ MORE >

NGS Takes Deconstructive Approach to Business Intelligence
by Alex Woodie

While it may sound trite, there's an element of truth to the expression "You don't know what you don't know," and it may hold more significance when it comes to business intelligence roll-outs at smaller businesses. To get customers through the knowledge gap, New Generation Software has created a series of solutions, called Decision Assist, that deploy quickly and, perhaps more importantly, allows customers to disassemble and figure out how they work so that additional BI capabilities can be developed. READ MORE >

Kisco Cranks Up Security Tool's Horsepower with V8
by Alex Woodie

Kisco Information Systems put the peddle to the metal with the latest release of SafeNet/400, its security tools for OS/400 and i5/OS servers. With version 8, the company entirely rewrote the product's kernel, providing a performance kick of as much as 2,000 percent on certain workloads, Kisco says. A text-based security report was also introduced. READ MORE >

ACOM Supports Firefox with Content Manager
by Alex Woodie

System i shops that prefer Mozilla's Firefox to Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser will rejoice at the latest news from ACOM Solutions, which recently started shipping a new release of EZContent Manager that supports Firefox. Version 3.1.1 also includes improvements in the area of encryption, document retention, and electronic shredding. READ MORE >