TD Waterhouse Outsources OS/400 High Availability Setup to Digica

TD Waterhouse, a large English stock broker, has decided to outsource its iSeries high availability environment, it was announced last week. Under a five-year deal TD Waterhouse signed with Digica, Digica will house TD Waterhouse's backup iSeries server at its data center in Leeds, and will provide 24/7 technical support for both the backup and the primary iSeries servers. "By outsourcing and locating a high availability server offsite, we can reduce risk and provide an assured level of business continuity," says Simon Reynolds, head of infrastructure at TD Waterhouse. "We selected Digica primarily because of its excellent, proven skills in hosting and managing AS/400s." The iSeries application involved in the outsourcing runs the stock broking system, which handles share trades. TD Waterhouse serves more than 300,000 clients in the United Kingdom, and had used DataMirror's OS/400 High Availability Suite, but it was unclear if DataMirror's solution is to be used by Digica. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

DataMirror's High Availability and Replication Software Ready for i5/OS V5R3

DataMirror reported last week that its data replication software runs and has been certified on the newest release of OS/400, i5/OS V5R3. In addition to Transformation Server, which moves data among DB2, SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Teradata, and XML database management system, DataMirror's iCluster and LiveAudit software has also been proven to run on i5/OS, the Markham, Ontario, company says. New features in i5/OS, including database reorganization capabilities, enhanced journaling and communication capabilities, and simplified setup, complement DataMirror's replication and high-availability offerings, the company says. "IBM's i5/OS V5R3 operating system and its new-generation IBM eServer i5 POWER5 servers offer a reliable, comprehensive, and secure platform for our Transformation Server software," says Herman Wallenburg, DataMirror's chief scientist.

PeopleSoft Licenses Intellisync for Mobile Data Access to EnterpriseOne

PeopleSoft Enterprise and EnterpriseOne customers will be able to provide remote or traveling employees with access to ERP applications as a result of a new partnership PeopleSoft has formed with Intellisync. As part of the deal, announced last week, PeopleSoft will license the Intellisync Mobile Suite to provide ERP users with access to business data and applications from laptops and tablet PCs. Central to Intellisync's solution is the Data Sync engine, which the company says extends custom data residing on PeopleSoft applications to mobile workers using either wired or wireless connections. In addition to providing access to applications, Intellisync provides desktop-based and server-to-server synchronization of contacts, calendars, and tasks between PeopleSoft's enterprise applications and Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino groupware, the San Jose, California, software company says.

Group 1's New Data Quality Software Works with DB2/400 Data

Group 1 Software launched new software last week that should help customers maintain a single, accurate view of their customers. Advanced Matcher Transform allows users to find fields in databases that match specific variables, such as part numbers, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, names, or postal addresses. The software is able to compare records simultaneously across multiple heterogeneous data sources (including DB2/400) using several algorithms, and ships with pre-packaged templates to help get users productive with the software. Advanced Matcher Transform is a module of Data Flow, Group 1's data integration and analysis technology, which runs on Unix and Windows servers. However, an official with Group 1, a subsidiary of Pitney Bowes, says that Advanced Matcher Transform can support data from OS/400 systems as well as it can other heterogeneous systems.

Historic Florida Hotel to Streamline Operations with MMS from Agilysys

The Breakers Palm Beach hotel, located on southeast Florida's Atlantic coast, has licensed Agilysys' OS/400-based Materials Management System to streamline its operations, it was announced last week. The 108-year-old, 560-room ocean-front luxury resort selected Materials Management System after searching for a solution that could grow with its business, increase data integrity, and reduce manual processes, according to Barb Gerth, the hotel's internal audit director. In addition to automating the hotel's procurement and inventory processes, Materials Management System works well with its financial software and point-of-sale systems, says Rick Hawkins, the hotel's director of materials management. Materials Management System was developed by Inter-American Data, which was acquired by Cleveland, Ohio, based iSeries distributor Agilysys last year. Agilysys now markets Inter-American Data's software through its Hospitality Solutions Group.