IBM Steps into the Regulatory Compliance Arena
by Dan Burger

Since the stunning revelations of corporate greed and corruption, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has come to rest on the front burner for American business. Not only did the implosion of giant companies such as MCI WorldCom, Global Crossing, and Enron rock the U.S. economy, the necessity to prevent reoccurrences could be felt in IT departments from sea to shining sea. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act regulates the financial reporting of individual companies and holds company executives liable for reporting irregularities. IT departments are asked to make it happen. READ MORE >

Halcyon Enters U.S. Market for Systems Management Tools
by Alex Woodie

Halcyon Software, a British developer of systems management software for OS/400 and Windows NT, is coming to America. The company has an established business serving OS/400 shops in the United Kingdom and Europe, and is now expanding into the much larger U.S. market, which the company hopes is receptive to its low-cost software. Halcyon has started laying the foundation for a long-term, permanent presence by forming reseller partnerships and investing in technical support personnel on U.S. soil. READ MORE >

Original Launches New Module for WebSphere MQ Testing
by Alex Woodie

Original Software has added to its iSeries testing suite a new module for checking WebSphere MQ applications. TestMQ plugs into Original's TestBench for iSeries suite of tools to allow unified testing of WebSphere MQ messages, along with testing of traditional OS/400 applications. Original, based in the United Kingdom, worked closely with IBM's Rochester, Minnesota, labs to develop TestMQ, using a new technique to access WebSphere MQ on the OS/400 server. READ MORE >

Echospace 'TurboCharger' Aims to Ease WebSphere Customization
by Alex Woodie

One of the knocks many OS/400 shops have against IBM's WebSphere Application Server is its performance. Unless you've got plenty of power, WebSphere will run like a dog, or not run at all, they say. Last week, Echospace and its partner Key Information Systems announced a new product called WebSphere TurboCharger, which aims to eliminate at least part of the WebSphere performance conundrum: the time and effort users expend in customizing their WebSphere environment. READ MORE >

New Generation Software Updates Financial and BI Applications
by Alex Woodie

New Generation Software understands that some companies may want to process and store their financial data on an OS/400 server, but when working with the data and building reports from it, they'd prefer a point-and-click GUI interface. That's the purpose of the vendor's Concert Series Financial Software, which features updated Accounts Payable and Human Resources modules this fall. NGS also announced a new release of its second core product, the NGS-IQ business intelligence system. READ MORE >

News Briefs and Product Shorts

Lawson Ships 8.0 for iSeries as New Beta Sites Chosen . . . Camping Association Finds Good Returns with DPS Web Technology . . . Manta Launches Training Course for Programming E-Business Apps on iSeries . . . California Software Overhauls Query Engine with BABY/OLAP 2.0 . . . Parts Distributor Implementing DMS Systems Supply Chain Apps . . . Integrated Barcoding Systems Launches QuikTrac 5.1 . . . READ MORE >

Correction

The article "BCD Gears Up for WebSmart 4.0, Ships New Catapult Release" been corrected since it was first published. BCD is letting users connect their WebSmart applications to any SMTP e-mail server, not to any SNMP e-mail server. Guild Companies regrets the error. [Correction made 11/4/03.]

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