Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(Guild Companies) But iSeries customers can dream, can't they? Last week, Timothy Prickett Morgan started specking out his own iMaginary iDeal iSeries product line, configuring the product line with its own feeds, speeds, and base prices. This week, he moves to the trickier ground of storage, operating system, database, and 5250 pricing. And you know something. His prices sound pretty good. Hey, IBM, are you listening?

(Guild Companies) Yes, but is it High Availability? Alex Woodie looks at the issues iTera and Maximum Availability have encountered since IBM doesn't classify their products as high availability solutions, because they don't use clustering (both products are currently based on remote journaling). Problems include marketing issues, value added enhancement (VAE) labeling, and periodic program hardware discounts when their solutions are sold as part of a "high availability" package. IBM may be changing its classification criteria to handle this new breed of HA products, but will that be enough?

(Guild Companies) IBM has announced the eight-way pSeries 650 "Regatta-Mi" server with Power4+ chip, which is a rev on the Power4 processor used in the iSeries Model 890 and the pSeries 630, 670, and 690 machines. The Power4+ is a lot cheaper to mass-produce than the Power4 and that IBM will be passing those savings onto pSeries 650 customers. With aggressive pricing, Big Blue hopes to win out against Unix server rivals Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard.

(MC Press online) IBM's Power4+ and Linux software announcements for mid-market organizations. Covers some of the same announcements referred to in the previous Guild Companies article, but also covers some of the marketing philosophy behind Power4+ and the iSeries implications of the announcement. (Hint: don't get too excited until 2003.)

(Guild Companies) Sanford Tapped to Implement IBM's New On Demand Transformation Strategies. IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano appointed Linda Sanford--former head of its Storage Systems Group--as vice president of On Demand Transformation with the task of implementing Palmisano's vision of autonomic, utility, on demand strategy.

(Guild Companies) But Wait, There's More, blurbs about various IT vendor happenings--with a heavy slant on OS/400. This week's edition includes BCC's expanded "RedStreak" promotion; IBM's minor tweaks to AS/400 and iSeries feature prices; PKWARE's acquisition of its business partner, Ascent Solutions; DataMirror's continuation of its "Simple HA for Under $60K" promotion through January 21, 2003; and IBM's and EXE Technologies' cross-promotion deal in the supply chain execution marketplace.

Vendor Announcements, Promotions And Deals

(iSeries Network) IBM launches WebSphere Express, low-cost entry edition WebSphere Application Server product. The bad news for iSeries shops is that Express will first ship for Intel-based Linux and Windows on December 13. An OS/400 V5R2 version is scheduled for first quarter 2003 availability, with OS/400 V5R1 support to follow approximately 30 days later.

(IBM) IBM announces DB2 OLAP Server for iSeries V8.1, based on Hyperion Essbase 6.5. New version adds improvements in scalability, ease of use, administration, and performance.

(IBM) IBM withdraws DB2 OLAP Server for iSeries V7.1 from marketing and distribution as of February 12, 2003. Product is being replaced with DB2 OLAP Server for iSeries V8.1 (see above).

(IBM) IBM withdraws several system operations training classes.

(IBM) IBM withdraws WebSphere Personalization for AS/400 V3.5, effective February 12, 2003. No replacement product specified.

(Guild Companies) HELP/Systems starts shipping Robot/LPAR, new tool to set up and manage logical partitioning through iSeries Navigator (formerly Operations Navigator) and OS/400 System Service Tools. Product interoperates with other Help/System utilities, including Robot/SCHEDULE, Robot/ALERT, Robot/AUTOTUNE, and Robot/NETWORK.

(iSeries Network) iSeries retail vendor JDA Software Group recently announced a restructuring that involves laying off 170 people and relocating another 150 employees. Plan's intent is to boost software revenue, which was reported at $10.8 million this quarter down from $15.6 million in the third quarter of 2001.

(Guild Companies) LANSA helps Australian vendor Dialect Solutions Group port Java-based e-Payment Integrator program to OS/400. Used to process credit-card sales, LANSA says the ported application will work with any OS/400 application, not just those developed by LANSA.

(Guild Companies) Linoma Software set to release new Transfer Anywhere data replication tool by December. Product to move variety of different data types without performing data conversion. Company has also issued major upgrades to its Surveyor/400 and RPG Toolbox productivity tools.

(iSeries Network) Supply chain software vendor Logility reported last week that its stock is in danger of being delisted from the American NASDAQ stock exchange. NASDAQ rules specify that a company's common stock maintain a $5 million market value; according to this article, total market capitalization of Logility is around $3.7 million.

(Guild Companies) Shield Advanced Solutions starts shipping new version of JobQGenie, batch job recovery utility that is commonly used in OS/400 high availability environments. JobQGenie V3R2 takes advantage of IBM's remote journaling facility for batch job data transmission. Works well with new breed of high-availability products based on remote journaling.

(Guild Companies) News Briefs and Product Shorts. This week's edition includes stories about Symtrax, MPI Tech, WorksRight Software, Generic Software, Original Software Group, and Thenon.

New Redbooks, White Papers, and Other OS/400 Resources

(IBM) Redbook - Intentia Movex Java on the IBM eServer iSeries Server: An Implementation Guide - Targeted at Movex Java customers, consultants, business partners, and technical and service representatives who are implementing Movex Java in conjunction with OS/400 and other supplemental solutions.

(IBM) Redpaper - pSeries 650 Model 6M2 Technical Overview and Introduction - General description, architectural and technical overview, and other introductory information on this new eight-way Regatta machine that uses the new Power4+ chip (see announcement stories in The Top OS/400 Stories from around the Web section).

(IBM) Redbook Hint & Tip - Logical Partition PTF Requirement for V4R5 Secondary Partitions - A tech tip that advises customers and technicians to apply PTF MF26176 permanently to V4R5 secondary partitions before the system is upgraded to certain 8XX hardware. V4R5 partitions contain applications that can't be upgraded to V5R1 before an upgrade. Contains table of server models for which this tip applies.

(IBM) iSeries Access Information APAR Page - Contains links to information APAR sites for iSeries Access products (formerly Client Access products). Lots of good information for solving problems involving several different products, including iSeries Access for Windows V5R2 and Client Access Express for Windows V5R1; iSeries Access for Web; Client Access for Windows 95/NT; and older Client Access versions.

(SEAGULL Software) Pre-Recorded Web Seminars Web page - Contains several previously recorded seminars that you can access at your convenience. Seminars cover SEAGULL's X-Caliber application delivery tool; an overview of Web Services; an overview of SEAGULL's WEB & Windows-to-host solutions (Winja, J Walk); and how SEAGULL implemented solutions in the Government and Insurance marketplaces (Registration required).

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

November 20 -- The New England Midrange User Group (NEMUG) will be holding a monthly member meeting on Wednesday, November 20, to discuss XML and its role as a possible replacement for EDI. The guest presenter will be Andrew Vaiciunas of LANSA. The deadline to register for the event is Friday, November 15 (today). For more information and to register, go to NEMUG's Web site at http://www.nemug.com .

November 20 -- Search400: Search400.com IT Excellence Awards Ceremony. Tune in next Wednesday to see which vendors were voted best in the categories of e-business and scalability. The free event (registration with Search400 is required) is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Eastern Time and will be hosted by Search400.com site editor Michelle Davidson. To register for this event, go to http://search400.techtarget.com/webcasts/0,289675,sid3,00.html .

November 21 -- Registration is still open for The OMNI User 16th Annual Technical Conference, an all-day event that will feature 28 technical sessions of interest to OS/400 shops, 8 product demonstration sessions, food, and a keynote address by Dr. Frank Soltis. What more could an OMNI user ask for? For more information and to register (you must be a paid OMNI member), go to http://www.omniuser.org/OMNI_Conference_2002.htm .

November 27 -- Symtrax will be hosting an online Webinar providing an introduction to Symtrax Portal, its latest offering for the OS/400 platform that provides a centralized access point for its report generation products. The Webinar will start at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. To register for the event, go to Symtrax's Web site at http://www.symtrax.com .

November 27 -- Looksoftware will be hosting an online overview and demonstration session of its newlook Web enablement product for the OS/400 platform at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. To register, go to http://www.looksoftware.com/news28.htm .

December 2-6, 2002 -- ASNA: "Gloves Off, Hands On Visual RPG and Caviar Programming," Toledo, Ohio - Five-day course teaching every major aspect of ASNA's Visual RPG and Caviar. Learn shortcuts, insider tips, and techniques on these products. Also provides coverage of other features such as cross-platform database access, application packaging and deployment, performance and security issues, and an overview of component-based development using ActiveX controls. For more information and to register, go to http://www.asna.com/seminar_AVR_intermediate_OHIO.asp .

March 5-7, 2003 -- Registration is open for ASNApalooza 2003 in San Antonio. ASNA also opened Lab Registration for the conference this month. ASNApalooza is three days of ASNA Visual RPG (AVR) learning and technical how-to. Early discount rates are in effect until December 31. For more information, go to http://palooza.asna.com .

March 30-April 1 -- The EDGE, a user group for people who use Computer Associates' Advantage development tools, will hold its U.S. conference in New Orleans. Pre-register for the event by December 31, 2002, and receive a discount. For more information, go to http://www.edgeusergroup.org/events/USA/2003 .