News Briefs and Product Shorts

• ACCPAC International last week announced that its ACCPAC Advantage Series accounting software now supports the iSeries, running either OS/400 or Linux. The Pleasanton, California, based Computer Associates subsidiary developed its accounting system for the Microsoft Windows operating system but just couldn't pass up the opportunity to tap into the OS/400 server installed based, which ACCPAC pegs at 200,000 strong. And many of those OS/400 shops are small and midsized businesses, just the sort of company that ACCPAC targets with its software. The ACCPAC Advantage Series is available in four editions, including Enterprise, Corporate, Small Business, and Discovery. The software is completely Web-based and modulated, so users can install the components they need. The entry-level Discovery series includes the core general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and U.S. and Canadian payroll modules. The premium ACCPAC Advantage Series flavor, the Enterprise Edition, includes these modules, as well as inventory control, order entry, purchase orders, intercompany transactions, national accounts management, optional fields and validation tables, project and job costing, support for additional currencies and languages, and the capability to customize the application using Visual Basic. Pricing for the modules starts at $495 each. To find an ACCPAC near you, go to www.accpac.com.
  
  

• Seagull Software (formerly SEAGULL) announced last week that Windows and Web applications can now be considered legacy applications, and that they're now supported by LegaSuite, Seagull's legacy rejuvenation software. "Legacy is often used derisively to mean old and antiquated, when it really means working and in production," says Dale Vecchio, an analyst for Gartner. "Increasingly these working/production applications are Web applications. As application development evolves toward a services-oriented architecture, organizations need to consider reusing their applications in new ways, including the new legacy of Web applications." Seagull's market has predominantly been the OS/400 installed base and OS/400 ISVs, with some mainframe customers. These customers now have a need to bring their Windows and Web applications forward, and to connect them with today's evolving standards. Seagull's Windows connector is currently available, and the company plans to start shipping its new Web connector in January 2004.
  
  
• The mrc-Productivity Series BED (browser enhanced development) interface, a Web-based GUI that was introduced by mrc earlier this year, has two new Java servlet report-writing features. With the new extended report graphics, a user can create Java servlet reports that summarize many reports into one report (individual sales quotas and actual sales, for instance) and then graph the summaries in several ways (such as monthly or annual totals for the entire sales force). The second feature allows users to embed a series of separate reports into one large report, an attribute that unites data which otherwise could only be compared by shuffling several reports. Applications developed with the BED tools can be deployed in HTML, CGI, XML, RPG, or Java. And because servlets can run on almost any platform or operating system, mrc boasts that BED applications can be moved to the most cost-efficient or performance-efficient environment.
  
  
• Hyundai Mobis is the first Korean company to install an iSeries Model 890, IBM announced just before the COMMON conference last week. Hyundai Mobis, Korea's largest auto parts manufacturer, selected Big Blue's biggest OS/400 mainframe for two reasons: to consolidate multiple servers running its auto parts business system and to support the move to a Web-based interface. The company is using the iSeries Model 890 as a database server, and two iSeries model 830s as Web application servers, running IBM's WebSphere Application Server. The company is also establishing an independent auto parts computing operation as part of this project, which is expected to go live on the iSeries 890 next January. EunSang Shin, IBM Korea iSeries manager, says the project is inspirational. "It marks the transformation to a Web environment through the iSeries server by a large customer. We believe that iSeries will provide Hyundai Mobis with many benefits in management, operation, and cost.
  
  
• Hoping to better satisfy the evolving but budget-conscious electronic commerce needs in midsized businesses, iSeries software vendor ACOM Solutions and the consulting organization REMEDI Electronic Commerce Group have developed a partnership. The foundation of this partnership is based primarily on EDI-XML solutions at a modest cost. Midmarket companies generally view the costs and complexities associated with conversion to B2B electronic commerce as prohibitively expensive. Both ACOM and REMEDI consider companies with $40 million to $200 million in annual revenues as the core customers in their business strategies. The details of the agreement indicate REMEDI will become a reseller and integrator of ACOM's EZConnect EDI-XML B2B eCommerce translation and connectivity solution. REMEDI will also employ EZConnect as the enabling software for its new e-commerce application-service-provider offering. The company will sell, implement, and support ACOM's payment, purchasing, and document management products. REMEDI consists of a consulting staff, plus a network of independent affiliates and integrator partners. It is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. ACOM has its corporate headquarters in Long Beach, California, and its iSeries and AS/400 division headquarters in Duluth, Georgia, with regional offices in several major U.S. cities.
  
  
• Faultless Starch/Bon Ami, the manufacturer of household cleaning products and garden tools from Kansas City, Missouri, has selected the CMS/400 ERP system from CMS Manufacturing Systems, the Nashville, Tennessee, software company announced last week. With more than 1,000 SKUs to track, and the fact that most of these products are low unit cost and produced to stock, Faultless Starch required a product with strong inventory management capabilities, according to CMS, which says it beat out six other competitors, including J.D. Edwards, to win the contract. "We felt CMS was the closest fit because of the breadth of the product and the ease of implementation, said Helen Garvin, vice president, logistics and systems, for Faultless Starch. "We are very impressed with CMS400 in large part because it gives us an effective dashboard to provide immediate connection between the manufacturing floor and our executive decision-makers." Faultless Starch's CMS/400 system will include wireless barcode data collection, EDI/Release Accounting, real-time shop-floor reporting, advanced planning and scheduling, and tooling and maintenance integration.
  
  

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