|
In This Issue
|
|
We Bring It All Together So You Don't Have To.
Sponsored By
 ALDON COMPUTER GROUP
|
|
Free White Papers!
Want to know more about Source Control Management and why it's important to every development shop? Want to know how to integrate WebSphere and Java Development in a multi-platform environment? We have the answers.
See how IBM and Aldon have partnered to provide a comprehensive SCM solution for complex development.
Find out more at www.aldon.com
|
|
|
|
Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web
(The Four Hundred) Before its iSeries announcements in January, IBM produced an interesting chart for business partners that compared the iSeries with an unnamed Unix server family running DB2. This week, The Four Hundred has reproduced IBM's chart and created a second one that provides a more detailed analysis, as well as some information that IBM left out. Why are these comparisons important? Because they provide ammunition for bringing down the cost of a new iSeries server, if you can convince IBM that you might buy a competitive Unix server instead.
(iSeries Network) Tony Madden, vice president of sales for IBM's largest worldwide distributor, Avnet Hall-Mark, says Avnet had a hugely successful fourth quarter in iSeries sales, with double-digit growth and strong sales carrying over into January and February. We haven't heard this much unbridled optimism in the middle of a recession since the Reagan administration. And we like it.
(MC Press Online) IBM has identified around 80,000 AS/400 and iSeries customers in the Americas region that it intends to contact this quarter, according to company executives. Big Blue's sales pitch will offer customers a free evaluation known as assessment on demand, a report that identifies how workloads running on other servers could be consolidated to the iSeries.
(The 400 Group) According to some reports, confusion is keeping customers from taking full advantage of IBM's new WebSphere Application Server Express product. Here's a short breakdown of what the product is, what you get, what you don't get, and a simple upgrade example. It may not answer all the questions, but it's a start.
(The Four Hundred) Looking past the war in Iraq, the recession, global unrest, and yet another Adam Sandler movie, Gartner analysts are forecasting a general upturn for the technology sector later this year and into 2004. Can you guess which vendor Gartner thinks is best positioned to take advantage of a pending turnaround?
(The Four Hundred) It's still a buyer's market out there in server land, according to the most recent statistics from researchers at IDC and Gartner. Recent numbers from both firms show further contraction in server sales worldwide in 2002.
(iSeries Network) Divine, creator of many J2EE-based applications that run under WebSphere on several different platforms, including the iSeries, has swallowed software companies like they were Omaha Steaks during the last year and a half, but now the company has hit the rocks. Divine filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, and was delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange shortly thereafter. The company is now selling its assets, and IBM might buy its Content Server product.
(MC Press Online) The most critical personnel issue that organizations faced in 2000 was attracting good IT talent in a heated job environment. According to a new META Group study, today's issue is IT burnout. META is worried because burnout could mean longer-range turnover and lower productivity, which could impact entire organizations and possibly the fate of the entire free world. (Okay, maybe not the fate of the free world, but the impact could be significant.)
(CNET News.com) The SCO Group warned that its billion-dollar lawsuit alleging that IBM misappropriated Unix trade secrets would be costly and could alienate others in the computing industry. The company issued the warning last week in a regulatory filing that permits two major shareholders to sell all their stock. This story reports that SCO has major problems on the horizon related to a disruptive lawsuit that's occurring just as two big stockholders are divesting their shares.
|
Sponsored By
BCD INT'L
|
|
SAVE $20K to $200K!
Unlike many IBM iSeries WebSphere sites, 95+% of WebSmart users do not have to upgrade hardware saving $20K to $200K! WebSmart compiled ILE/CGI web based apps run 100% in the batch subsystem, DO NOT consume interactive resources, and run faster than Java apps. Use existing skills & run on single or multi platforms.
Extend BPCS, MAPICS, JDE or any other app with BCD's Award Winning WebSmart -- Quickly and Affordably.
To try WebSmart on a FREE Download or for more details Click and Visit www.bcdsoftware.com
|
|
|
|
Vendor Announcements, Promotions, And Deals
(CNET News.com) BEA Systems released the first components of its new WebLogic Platform 8.1 upgrade on Monday. It also lowered the price of its entry-level WebLogic Express product from $694 per processor to $495 per processor. WebLogic Express competes with IBM's WebSphere Application Server Express.
(eWEEK) BMC Software will next week outline its plans to weave technologies obtained through its acquisitions of Remedy Corp. and IT Masters International S.A. into the next evolution of its product line, dubbed Business Service Management.
(Guild Companies) ClientSoft recently announced ServiceBuilder, a new legacy integration product that lets you convert OS/400, Unix, or mainframe programs and transactions into ready-to-use Java, Microsoft .NET, or Web services components.
(Guild Companies) Electronic Storage Corp. is shipping new releases of Image EveryWhere, a Web-based imaging software, and Content Express, a report distribution system. The new Content Express release can distribute documents via fax, as well as by e-mail, printer, and the Web, while the new Image EveryWhere release contains barcoding capabilities, which, the company claims, simplifies things like scanning, indexing, and retrieving OS/400-based documents.
(Guild Companies) HiT Software recently announced Ritmo for DB2, a new SQL middleware product that supports iSeries, mainframe, Windows, and Unix DB2 servers. HiT also says the product provides faster .NET to DB2 data access than the OLE and ODBC data bridge methods sanctioned by Microsoft, and Ritmo for DB2 also supports the Common Language Runtime environment.
(eWeek) At its Developer Works conference next week, IBM will keep up the Tivoli integration drumbeat with a series of enhancements and a handful of new offerings aimed at advancing IBM's on-demand computing initiative.
(Guild Companies) Red Oak Software has announced a new business-process-modeling program called Legacy Navigator, a pragmatic integration tool that creates composite graphical applications that can link together several legacy-based screens.
(Guild Companies) SSA Global Technologies recently issued BPCS Version 8.2, which offers a new component called e-Signatures that will help companies regulated by the Food and Drug Administration come into compliance with regulations, commonly referred to as 21 CFR Part 11, which bring new auditing requirements for electronic records.
(Guild Companies) Silas Technologies has introduced Reveille 2.1, the latest upgrade to the application monitoring system the company introduced in 2001. New features include enhanced ease of deployment, "more seamless" testing and monitoring, and increased reporting and analysis capabilities.
(eWEEK) Startup Vembu Technologies has unveiled an SQL conversion tool called SwisSQL that's designed to parse any relational database dialect and automatically convert SQL queries into other SQL dialects.
|
Sponsored By
 COMPUTER KEYES
|
|
Fast & Efficient E-mail for the iSeries
KeyesMail is a complete automated e-mail solution for your iSeries applications, 5250 terminals, and PC mail clients. Spooled files can be sent as e-mail messages or converted into various kinds of attachments like PDF, TIF, TXT, or RTF documents with overlays. KeyesMail has direct, dial-up, or network connection capability to any mail server, including Domino or Exchange.
Get your FREE TRIAL
at www.computerkeyes.com or
call (800) 356-0203.
|
|
|
|
New Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources
(IBM) IBM's eServer iSeries Support Web site has links for hardware support, deciphering SRC codes, searching through IBM's technical databases, Internet PTF downloads, problem reporting, and more.
(IBM) The iSeries PartnerWorld for Developers Web site provides resources for developers building solutions on iSeries or AS/400 hardware. It covers a number of technologies and services, including Domino, Java, Linux, WebSphere.
(IBM) Draft Redbook -- WebSphere Application Server V5 for iSeries: Installation, Configuration, and Administration lives up to its title, with lots of good information on how to install and administer the newest WebSphere version on your iSeries.
(IBM) Redbook -- Coexistence of Multiple Lotus Domino Releases in an LPAR Environment on the IBM eServer iSeries Server discusses the concepts and benefits of deploying multiple Domino releases in different iSeries logical partitions. It also covers planning, LPAR design, installation, setup, and offers tips and techniques.
(IBM) Redbook -- Managing OS/400 with Operations Navigator V5R1 Volume 5: Performance Management covers Management Central's performance management capabilities, including system and job monitors, graph history, collection services, and Management Central Pervasive.
|
Sponsored By
CLIENT SERVER DEVELOPMENT
|
|
LEARN SQL BY EXAMPLE!
Buy your copy of iSeries and AS/400 SQL at Work direct from the author, Howard F. Arner, Jr. This is THE BOOK to teach you SQL on the iSeries.
Howard takes you through SQL by example. The book comes with a CD that has all of the sample data and queries used in the book and a FREE copy of SQLThing that you can use to work through the examples.
Learn by doing! Order your copy at SQLThing.com today!
|
|
|
|
Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings
March-July -- Aldon Computer Group will present its user group tour at various user group meetings throughout the United States. On April 8, Aldon will discuss the latest in IS management tools and techniques, focusing primarily on software development, testing, and support solutions for the iSeries and for multiplatform technologies at the Tri-State User Group meeting in New York. Go to www.aldon.com/events/user_tour.html for a list of meetings that Aldon will attend.
April-May -- iSeries professionals in the greater Washington, D.C., area can take advantage of a continuing series of technical seminars organized through the cooperative efforts of two local user groups: Washington Area Midrange and Mid Atlantic Midrange. WebSphere and WebFacing (April 14, 15, and 17) and Web development (May 19, 20, and 22) are next on the list. Go to www.wash-midrange.org/seminars.html for details and a list of upcoming seminars and locations.
April-May -- Information Availability Institute will host a number of free workshops focused on the management and interrelationship of networks, applications, security, databases, servers, and storage. Venues include San Francisco (April 15), Los Angeles (April 17), Salt Lake City (April 22), Detroit (May 6), New York City (May 6), Oklahoma City (May 7), Houston (May 20), and Winnipeg, Manitoba (June 2). Go to www.availabilityinstitute.org for more details.
April-June -- Bytware is conducting several workshops to help customers take advantage of the most valuable features of Bytware's monitoring, security, and paging products. Workshop topics include MessengerPlus, StandGuard, and MessengerConsole. Go to www.bytware.com/edu.htm for more information.
April 7-9 -- Northeast IBM User Groups will present its 13th annual iSeries and AS/400 user group conference at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel in Framingham, Massachusetts. More than 20 well-known speakers, including Frank Soltis, Allison Butteril, Ian Jarman, Susan Gantner, and Jon Paris, will present three days of classes on WebSphere, WebFacing, SQL, Client Access, RPG coding, iSeries futures, Java, and more. A vendor expo and IBM certification tests will also be offered. Go to www.neibmconf.com for more information.
April 9 -- SoftLanding is conducting a seminar on "How to Simplify iSeries and Web Development using WDSc Plug-Ins." The company will explain how you can use its TurnOver for WebSphere Studio plug-ins to embed full RPG, COBOL, ILE, and SQL support into WebSphere Development Studio, as part of the WDSc IDE. For more information, go to www.softlanding.com/websphere/live-event.htm
April 22-23 -- The Toronto User Group presents its "iSeries. . .Your iSeries: Getting IT together" conference at the Sheraton Parkway Hotel Toronto North in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Many of the same topics and speakers from this year's COMMON conference--including Allison Butterill, Charlie Massoglia, Patrick Botz, Carole Miner, and Jon Paris--will be presenting. Go to www.tug.on.ca/grid.htm for more information.
April 30-May 2 -- RPG World, an educational event for iSeries programmers presented by some of the top authorities on RPG and iSeries application development, will be held in Orlando, Florida. Topics include RPG, Web development, and general iSeries application development. Go to www.rpgworld.com for more information.
May 19-23 -- IBM presents the IBM Software Symposium 2003 in Munich, Germany. Covering the entire spectrum of IBM solutions, this symposium offers more than 200 technology demonstration points, track education, breakout sessions, networking opportunities, and Dr. Henry Kissinger, Nobel Laureate and international statesman, as an external keynote speaker. Go to www-3.ibm.com/events/symposium2003/showcase.shtml for more information.
May 21 -- Toronto User Group's May meeting of the members features "High Availability for the Real World," presented by Mike Warkentin of DataMirror. Jeff Meltzer of EXTOL also will be presenting a session at the meeting on "EDI and the Internet." Go to www.tug.on.ca/t_agenda.html#TEC2003 for more information.
May 25-27 -- The COMMON European Congress will hold its 2003 conference in Warsaw, Poland. Like its U.S. counterpart, the European show will present iSeries education, presentations, and a vendor exposition. Go to http://comeur.org/cec2003/ for more information.
June 9-12 -- J.D. Edwards presents the Quest Global Conference (formally known as JDE Focus). Staged in Denver, this conference centers on user-driven education, training, and speakers, with a J.D. Edwards focus. Go to the J.D. Edwards Web site for more information.
June 15-18 -- The 2003 iSeries & AS/400 Connection Conference offers four days of iSeries education at the Registry Resort in Naples, Florida. The iSeries educational tracks focus on application development, Java, SQL, e-business, operations, and security. Speakers include Dr. Frank Soltis, Al Barsa Jr., Allison Butterill, Wayne O. Evans, Susan Gantner, Janet Krueger, Jon Paris, Jim Sloan, and Howard F. Arner Jr. Go to www.tramenco.com/naples for more information and registration.
June 23-27 -- IBM presents its iSeries Technical Conference at the Hilton Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas. According to IBM, this is the place where technical experts and programmers can get their questions answered by IBM's best Rochester and Toronto experts. Go to www-3.ibm.com/services/learning/conf/us/iseries/ for more information.
July 20-23 -- LANSA presents its 2003 International LANSA Conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Chicago. The conference includes product education, customer success stories, strategic directions, hands-on labs, and roundtable discussions. Register by May 15 and get a free LANSA stadium blanket. Go to www.lansa.com/conference/index.htm for more information.
September 7-11 -- The COMMON user group presents its fall 2003 conference and expo in Orlando, Florida. Meet industry experts, attend hands-on labs, exchange information with fellow professionals, attend a multitude of educational tracks, and get real-world solutions at the vendor expo. Go to the COMMON Web site for more information and to register.
October 13-17 -- IBM presents an iSeries Technical Conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Orlando, Florida. According to IBM, this is the place where technical experts and programmers can get their questions answered by IBM's most knowledgeable Rochester and Toronto experts. Go to www-3.ibm.com/services/learning/conf/us/iseries/ for more information.
November 18-21 -- EXTOL will be holding its 2003 user conference at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix, Arizona. Attendees registering during March and April are eligible for a special two-for-one price, which includes an in-depth tutorial program. Go to www.extol.com/forms/uc2003/confinfo.cfm for more information.
April 9 -- A Webinar called "iSeries: Before You Buy High Availability, There Are Things You've Got to Know" will be presented from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. EST. Topics include architectural pieces for high availability solutions, the most beneficial components, unnecessary technology, and how to eliminate downtime. Leading the discussion are Terry Boulais from Vision Solutions, Brian Podrow from IBM, and Pete Elliot from Key Information Systems. Go to the Raindance Web site to register.
|
Editor: Joe Hertvik
Managing Editor: Shannon Pastore
Publisher and Advertising Director: Jenny Thomas
Advertising Sales Representative: Kim Reed
If you have a resource, event, or any other interesting item that you want to see publicized in Midrange Monitor, send an e-mail to Joe Hertvik
|
|
|
|
