Newsletters   Subscriptions   Forums   Media Kit   About Us   Contact   Search   Home 

MMO
OS/400 Edition
Volume 2, Number 46 -- December 5, 2003
   In This Issue

We Bring It All Together So You Don't Have To.

Sponsored By
BCD INT'L

Want the Good News or Great News first?

The Good News: Nexus is a Robust iSeries Portal with all the features you would want.
The Great News: It's FREE!

That's right, a FREE license of Nexus to the first 1,000 iSeries shops & BP's that order. Nexus interfaces with iSeries web apps you created or built with WebSmart, LANSA, WebSphere & others. You're only responsible for the maint fee. Nexus comes with tons of end-user productivity tools. Save $33K - $87K over WebSphere's per processor portal prices!

To Order, To View, the Shockwave show
or To Try Nexus visit - www.bcdsoftware.com


Top OS/400 Stories from Around the Web

(Guild Companies) How can IBM convince 80 percent of the OS/400 installed base to give up their old AS/400s and join the modern iSeries world? To crack this nut, IBM is in the midst of its second Green Streak promotion, which provides price breaks to persuade customers to give up their old machines and get new iron. But what about those who like their iron old?
(CNET News.com) IBM plans to reorganize its sales force and increase partner program spending in 2004 in order to boost software sales. Big Blue also expects to accelerate software sales with an industry-specific orientation, with plans to expand training for more than half of its sales force.
(iSeries/400 Experts) IBM ran a full-page ad in last Friday's Wall Street Journal. In the ad, Big Blue pitched the iSeries to orphaned Hewlett-Packard HP 3000 customers, who lost sales support on October 31 and will also lose all technical support in January 2007.
(MC Press Online) After suffering through 2002 as one of the worst years on record for iSeries servers, spending has stabilized in 2003, and the iSeries is even experiencing a modest recovery. In fact, the number of iSeries servers sold during the first three quarters of 2003 increased by 12 percent from a year ago.
(iSeries Network) IBM's vice president of iSeries sales for the Americas recently sat down for an interview to discuss how IBM Rochester pulled the iSeries out of its recent sales slump.
(Guild Companies) While companies today can run nightly backups for multiple servers on common equipment, OS/400 still presents difficulties when using a single piece of software to manage backups and recoveries across multiple platforms. This results in a mandate to use a best-of-breed approach to get the job done.
(Guild Companies) Last May, Nicholas Carr, the editor-at-large of the Harvard Business Review, wrote an interesting and insightful article (some might say inciteful) called "IT Doesn't Matter." At every opportunity, the top brass for the major IT players have been raking Carr over the coals and making him run the gauntlet. The problem is that Carr may be right, and a review of what he says is very instructive for IT professionals.
(iSeries Network) IBM unveiled the BladeCenter JS20, the first blade server based on the 64-bit PowerPC 970 architecture, but the product doesn't ship until March. Although the JS20 supports SuSE Linux and Turbolinux, and IBM has future support plans for AIX, what about OS/400 on the JS20?
(iSeries Network) IBM CEO Sam Palmisano recently declared that IBM has collected approximately $7 billion for on-demand computing services in the past year. Palmisano also claimed the company has saved another $7 billion by applying on-demand computing techniques to its own operations. IBM didn't detail what products and services make up this rather large amount, but several analysts had some ideas about how Big Blue came to those totals.
(iSeries Network) According to IDC, worldwide server market revenue jumped by 2 percent in the third quarter, to $10.8 billion. IBM once again led the pack with 31.1 percent market share and total revenue approaching $3.4 billion, a 6.6 percent increase over second-quarter numbers.
(CNET News.com) Siebel Systems has signed a software distribution agreement with British Telecommunications. Under the deal, BT will start selling Siebel's new pay-by-the-month Siebel CRM OnDemand software. BT will also provide application hosting services for Siebel's customers.

Sponsored By
SUSE LINUX

Mainframe Linux for IBM
Midrange Systems

· Available for i/p/z/x Series
· Mainframe stability
· Access to legacy data

SuSE Linux Enterprise Server lets you keep your current environment and add the power of Linux. Utilize the best of both worlds, exchange data between each OS, all on one system.

Get and evaluation copy today
www.suse.com


Vendor Announcements, Promotions, And Deals

(Guild Companies) ACOM Solutions' iSeries division is launching a new module for its EZPayManager/400 software. The new module lets companies store copies of checks, deposit slips, or other related forms on their OS/400 server, and print or distribute them electronically as needed.
(Guild Companies) In the J.D. Edwards OneWorld environment (recently renamed PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne), it can be very difficult to track down performance problems when an OS/400 server is used as the database. In particular, it's been next to impossible to correlate users with their DB2/400 jobs when those jobs malfunction. Performance tool vendor Centerfield Technology has offered a partial solution before, but now it says it has finally solved the problem completely, with insure/MONITOR for OneWorld 5.0.
(iSeries Network) Document management software vendor Create!form entered a distribution partnership with French reseller Amitech. The deal helps push Create!form products deeper into the French marketplace. Amitech has also signed on as a channel partner with Bottomline Technologies, Create!form's parent company. Create!form also signed deals with Atlantic Technologies of Italy and PQR B.V. in the Netherlands.
(iSeries Network) Echospace is releasing WebSphere Turbocharger, which will be marketed with its partner Key Information Systems. The product is designed to make WebSphere Portal easier to use.
(CNET News.com) EMC announced an agreement with software maker OuterBay Technologies in which OuterBay's Application Data Management Suite will be integrated with EMC's information lifecycle management (ILM) software products.
(CNET News.com) IBM has a new plan to win over customers who are using EMC's data storage gear. Big Blue's plan includes a new device that allows customers to shift data from EMC to IBM equipment without system downtime. The program also includes cost-analysis tools, as well as more than 100 advisors to help customers make the switch.
(eWeek) PeopleSoft will ship Version 8.8 of its Supply Chain Management suite, featuring new functionality to help manufacturers more easily produce goods and track customer orders. IBM announced separately that it is working with leading universities in its OnDemand Supply Chain Research Laboratory program, which is designed to create new SCM methodologies.
(eWeek) PeopleSoft announced that IBM will use PeopleSoft's Enterprise Services Procurement software to help Big Blue to better manage supplier relationships.
(CNET News.com) PeopleSoft has completed a stock repurchasing program, buying back 16.5 million shares of its common stock, roughly valued at $350 million. The buyback is part of PeopleSoft's effort to repel Oracle's hostile bid to takeover the company.
(Guild Companies) S4i Systems has delivered a new release of S4i Express document management software for iSeries servers. New features include AFPDS file support, enhanced browser integration, integration with portal products, new PDF capabilities, and integration with Elite Document Solutions' forms design software.
(eWeek) SAP's consulting arm, SAP Systems Integration, announced that it has acquired SPM Technologies Deutschland GmbH, a firm that provides IT architectural services. The deal is subject to approval by the German antitrust commission.
(ComputerWorld) Siebel Systems is extending the capabilities of its hosted Siebel CRM OnDemand Upshot Edition to include customer support.
(Guild Companies) Unitech issued a faster and more-resilient version of its ACR/XP data synchronization software. The new software enables a variety of computer platforms, including OS/400, mainframe, Unix, and Windows servers, to receive notification and to share field- and file-level data errors that are automatically detected by Unitech's ACR/Plus software.
(iSeries Network) Zebra Technologies purchased all the stock of thermal digital manufacturer Atlantek, a company that has some interesting photo printing technology it developed in conjunction with Kodak.

Sponsored By
COMPUTER KEYES

- Spool Files to PDF Documents -

KeyesPDF converts spool files into images or PDF documents. Spool files can be standard *SCS printer files, *AFPDS spool files, or *USERASCII spool files. Burst and convert these spool files into TIF images, PDF documents, or ASCII text and place them in a physical file or transfer them directly into your IFS. The resulting documents can then be e-mailed or published to a web site.

Try it out for free!
Just go to www.computerkeyes.com
or call (800) 356-0203.


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

(COMMON) COMMON's calendar of events features upcoming COMMON conferences, links to local user groups and meetings, local user group conferences and events, and COMMON international events.
(IBM) Redbook IBM eserver iSeries Supported Upgrades -- November 2003 contains all the supported upgrade paths for iSeries servers as of November 21, 2003.
(IBM) Draft Redbook Domino for iSeries Best Practices Guide provides important information on Domino 6 that is either not covered in other documents or is outdated.
(IBM) Draft Redbook Integrating Domino 6 and WebSphere V5Express on the IBM eServer iSeries Server is for system administrators who want to understand how to configure a single-sign-on environment between Domino and WebSphere applications.
(WorksRight Software) WorksRight has announced a new newsletter called ZIP Letter, targeted at iSeries and AS/400 professionals interested in mailing-related issues. The newsletter, which is distributed to WorksRight's ZIP CODE product subscribers, is also available on the company's Web site.

Sponsored By
RJS SOFTWARE SYSTEMS

Implement Document Imaging on your iSeries-AS/400 in 30 minutes or less

Image Server/400 is a Web browser-based document image management system for the iSeries.

Documents can be quickly scanned and stored in IFS folders, and then located and retrieved for viewing via any Web browser. Integrate with other iSeries-AS/400 applications.

Call us at 888-RJS-SOFT or download a FREE fully functional demo from our Web site at www.rjssoftware.com


Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

December 9 -- The Central Florida Midrange Users Group will host a presentation by Vic Clevenger entitled "Dream Impossible Dreams" during its December meeting at Lee's Lakeside on Lake Eola in Orlando, Florida. For more information, go to the user group's Web site.


December 10 -- The Long Island System Users Group will host a presentation by Becky Schmeiding, senior software engineer in the IBM Client Access/400 development organization, at its December meeting at the Fox Hollow Inn in Woodbury, New York. For more information, go to the user group's Web site.
January 13, 2004 -- The Central New York 400 User Group will hold its January meeting at the Doubletree Club Syracuse. The meeting's topic will be Application Development. Go to the group's Web site for more information.
January 20, 2004 -- The Front Range IBM Users Group will hold its January meeting at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado. The featured speaker is Robert S. Tipton, and the subject will be "Untangling IT." For more information, go to the group's Web site.
January 25-29, 2004 -- The 11th annual Lotusphere conference will be held at the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Florida. This year's conference includes preconference JumpStart sessions, hands-on and breakout sessions, a product showcase, interactive Birds-of-a-Feather sessions, certification training and testing, and other special events. Register before December 2 at the Lotusphere Web site to take advantage of special pricing.
February 10-12, 2004 -- Help/Systems will hold its 13th annual iSeries Operations Automation User Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Conference participants can discuss real-world examples of iSeries automation or select specific training sessions on the Robot Automated Operations Solution products. The conference will feature keynote speakers Malcolm Haines of IBM and Renee Wall Rogen, who specializes in career and personal motivation topics. Help/Systems is also offering daylong preconference workshops. For more information, go to Help/Systems' conference Web page.
March 22-24, 2004 -- The Northeast iSeries-AS/400 User Group will host its spring conference at the Sheraton hotel in Framingham, Massachusetts. The conference will feature a keynote address by Frank Soltis, as well as training sessions and seminars by many award-winning speakers from around the world, including Allison Butterill, Linda Cole, Dick Grenham, Donald Heller, Skip Marchesani, Pete Massiello, and Craig Pelkie. For more details, go to the conference Web site.
March 31-April 3, 2004 -- Lilly Software Associates presents its 10th annual user conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The conference, "Evolve 2004: Breaking with Tradition," will focus on helping users make modest changes to their business processes in order to produce significant improvements. Go to Lilly Software Associates' Web site for more information.
April 28-30, 2004 -- ASNApalooza 2004 will be held at the Westin River Walk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. ASNApalooza is three days of ASNA Visual RPG instruction and technical insight, with an emphasis on RPG development for Microsoft's .NET platform. ASNA is also offering a special registration price of $1200 per person, if you register by Tuesday, September 30. Go to ASNA's Web site for more information.
May 2-6, 2004 -- The COMMON user group presents its spring 2004 conference and expo in San Antonio, Texas. COMMON is the largest and most widely attended of the iSeries-specific conferences. IBM's own experts and many other industry professionals present sessions and hands-on labs. COMMON provides an excellent opportunity to network with fellow professionals, attend a multitude of educational tracks, and get real-world solutions at the vendor expo. Go to COMMON's Web site for more information and to register.
May 19-21, 2004 -- Aldon Computer Group will present its annual user conference in Chicago. Sessions will highlight the practical application of Aldon software, including Affiniti, CMS, eTEAM, and Aldon integration to WebSphere (WDSc, WSAD, WSSD). Go to Aldon's Web site for more information.
June 20-22, 2004 -- The COMMON European Congress will present its annual conference in Cardiff, Wales. Initial planning has already commenced, but if you have any ideas for the event, go to the COMMON Europe Web site to see how you can contribute.
June 20-23, 2004 -- The iSeries and AS/400 Connection Conference will take place in Naples, Florida. This conference features 98 sessions, including 13 hands-on labs, and covers many key iSeries and AS/400 topics. Expert instructors from the iSeries community, including IBM staff members, will be presenting. The conference is offering a $100 discount if you register before December 31. Go to the iSeries and AS/400 Connection Conference Web site for more details.




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


Subscription Information:
To unsubscribe, change your email address, or sign up for any of Guild Companies' free e-newsletters, visit http://www.itjungle.com/sub/subscribe.html.

THIS ISSUE
SPONSORED BY:

BCD Int'l
SuSE Linux
Computer Keyes
RJS Software Systems


BACK ISSUES


Copyright © 1996-2008 Guild Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.