| Editors: | Timothy Prickett Morgan | Managing Editor: | Shannon Pastore | |
| Joe Hertvik | ||||
| Alex Woodie | ||||
| Shannon O'Donnell |
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Volume 10, Number 15 sponsored by:Symtrax Tango04 SoftLanding Systems RJS Software Systems Net400, An ROI Company
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IBS, IBM Launch Dedicated iSeries ASW Server by Timothy Prickett Morgan
Keeping good on his promise to proliferate iSeries-based Bumblebee
servers, Buell Duncan, general manager of the MidMarket Server division,
within IBM's Server Group, and the iSeries team last week
launched a dedicated iSeries server for supporting supply chain applications
from International Business Systems. IBS, based in Stockholm,
Sweden, is one of the largest ERP application vendors in Europe, with over
5,000 customers on AS/400 and iSeries gear running its manufacturing and
distribution applications. The company's U.S. operations are headquartered
in Folsom, California. IBS is also an AS/400 and iSeries hardware and
software reseller, and was one of the early supporters of IBM's
"SanFrancisco" Java frameworks project, which has been subsumed into
the development of Enterprise JavaBeans.
The current incarnation of the IBS suite is called Application Software
Version 4, or ASW 4 for short. The ASW suite, written in ILE RPG, has all
the regular accounting, ledger, fixed assets, inventory, manufacturing, and
distribution modules that are part of every ERP suite. In addition, ASW
includes extensions to these modules for e-business, CRM, business
intelligence, and supply chain management. The supply chain components
are bundled and sold as a stand-alone solution, called Demand Driven
Supply Chain Software.
Although the Bumblebee for IBS will stress the supply chain modules of the
ASW 4 suite, the machines will be able to run the whole shebang if
customers want to (provided they don't have too many users for each
module) and can also run other RPG or COBOL applications. The first
Bumblebee for IBS is a Model 270-2431 with 1 GB of main memory,
51.5 GB of disk capacity, and all the necessary peripherals to make it a
whole machine. This server uses a 540 MHz S-Star processor with no L2
cache memory and is rated at 30 CPWs for interactive workloads and at
465 CPWs for server and batch workloads. IBM and IBS say that this
machine is sufficient to support 60 ASW 4 users. The second version of the
IBS-branded server is a Model 270-2432, which is also a 540 MHz S-Star
processor (although this one has 2 MB of L2 cache); it is rated at 50 CPWs
on interactive workloads and 1070 CPWs on server and batch workloads.
This server is equipped with 1 GB of main memory and 68.6 GB of disk and
is designed to support 100 ASW 4 users.
The IBM eServer for IBS will be available worldwide starting November 20
through the IBM Business Partner channel, through IBS directly, and through
IBS' channel partners. Unlike the Bumblebee Domino, JDE, and
WebSphere servers, which are sold through the channel as well as directly
to users, the Bumblebee for IBS server is being sold only through IBM and
IBS channels. Therefore, IBM is not setting or providing user list pricing on
these configurations. Based on past history, the odds are the Model 270
configurations will have a starting negotiating price that is 8 to 10 percent off
the IBM list. But IBS and its partners can, if they choose, sell the iSeries iron
at a loss to close deals, giving discounts of 20 to 40 percent, so they can
close a big software deal for their ASW 4 suite. The hardware discounts
could be deeper, given the current economic climate, too. Or IBS and its
partners might, in certain deals, cut the price on the software and sell the
hardware at a modest discount.
IBM to Expand WebSphere With CrossWorlds Acquisition by Joe Hertvik
IBM announced last week that it is buying applications integration
vendor CrossWorlds Software in a cash transaction valued at
$129 million. This isn't a marriage of strangers, however. IBM and
CrossWorlds have a long-term partnership. Over the last four years,
CrossWorlds has functioned as an IBM OEM for MQSeries, and it has
added WebSphere connectivity to its products.
Based in Burlingame, California, with European headquarters in Munich,
Germany, CrossWorlds employs approximately 350 people, and its
products fall into the following four categories:
* Collaboration--Prebuilt solutions for business process automation,
including sales order processing, service and support, and inventory
management
* Connectors--Bi-directional connectivity to common applications and
technology within an enterprise, including more than 30 different connectors
for ERP (from BAAN, J.D. Edwards, Oracle, and
PeopleSoft and others); CRM (Clarify, Remedy,
and Siebel; eBusiness (WebSphere, Ariba, and SAP BBP);
supply chain management (i2 Technologies and Manugistics);
technology drivers (JDBC, ODBC, MQSeries Integrator, Oracle RDBMS,
and HTTP); and telecommunications (MetaSolv and Portal)
* Tools--Graphical tools for system management, application connectivity,
and business process modeling
* Interchange Server--The foundation of CrossWorlds' product line, which
acts as a high-performance distributed hub for product services
CrossWorlds' software is designed to automate business processes that
integrate information from multiple applications. The software supports the
J2EE and XML standards. CrossWorlds software and services are sold on
both the product and the industry level, with defined product offerings for the
financial services, manufacturing, and telecommunications industries. In
WebSphere, CrossWorlds could be used to provide resource adapters for
connecting WebSphere resources to applications from companies like
PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards, and Oracle. This is a gap in the WebSphere
product line that IBM had been filling with a beta implementation of its own
Java 2 Connectivity resource adapters (downloadable from the Web for all
WebSphere implementations except the iSeries, at
http://www7b.boulder.ibm.com/wsdd/downloads/jca.html). It's important to
note that IBM's main application server rival, BEA Systems,
already offers BEA WebLogic Integration, which is software that provides
adapters, application integration, business process management, and B2B
integration for the WebLogic application server. So rebranded and
integrated CrossWorlds collaborations, connectors, and tools could replace
IBM's beta Java 2 Connectivity resource adapters, allowing IBM to offer a
WebSphere-branded solution for application integration that it could market
against BEA.
Expect a wait, however, for CrossWorlds functionality to be integrated with
iSeries WebSphere. The iSeries WebSphere solutions generally arrive 60 to
90 days behind solutions delivered for the WebSphere Applications Server
Advanced Edition for Multiplatforms V4.0 (which covers most major
platforms except the iSeries). Since this deal is not expected to be completed
until the first quarter of 2002, the earliest you might see CrossWorlds
capability in an iSeries WebSphere product would probably be the second
or third quarter of 2002, and it could be a year before the acquisition affects
the OS/400 marketplace.
In addition to WebSphere integration, IBM Global Services will add
CrossWorlds services capability to its Enterprise Application Integration
practice. And don't forget that there's a large marketplace for application
integration outside of WebSphere that IBM will use CrossWorlds to
capitalize on. According to IDC figures, quoted by IBM, business-
process integration software targeted at specific industries is the fastest
growing subsegment of the infrastructure software marketplace. IDC says
that this segment has an annual growth rate of 25 percent, with a projected
marketplace of $4 billion a year by 2005. In addition to the market
opportunity, CrossWorlds provides IBM with a respectable customer list
that includes Dow Chemical, DuPont, Ingersoll-Rand, Nortel Networks,
Norwich Union, Sony, Telekom Austria, Telecom Mobile Limited (New
Zealand Telecom), and Whirlpool. So the deal also provides additional
targeted marketing opportunities at large companies that CrossWorlds is
already servicing.
IBM's stated plan for integrating CrossWorlds into its business model and
attacking this market is the following: Incorporate CrossWorlds business
operations and personnel with existing IBM resources that handle business
integration software. Integrate CrossWorlds' and IBM's software sales
forces to market and sell solutions. Invest in CrossWorlds solutions targeted
at current customers and independent software vendors. And work on
implementation services and extend partnerships with global system integrators.
Given the uncertain economic environment and the gaps that the
CrossWorlds acquisition fills in IBM's J2EE application server and
application integration product lines, $129 million for CrossWorlds might
even be considered a steal. CrossWorlds' revenues for the third quarter of
2001 were $21.7 million, up from $15.1 million a year ago. And the
company lost $1.5 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of
$7.2 million in third quarter of 2000. During the first three quarters of 2001,
CrossWorlds had revenues of $63.5 million, up from $34.1 million during
the same period in 2000. CrossWorlds' net loss for the first three quarters
of 2001 totaled $6.4 million, compared with $29.9 million for the same
period a year ago. In addition, CrossWorlds' stock traded at approximately
$4.75 on Halloween, which is down 63 percent from its 52-week high of
$12.13, on November 1.
IBM paid $129 million for a company whose revenues could exceed $80
million in 2001, has a respectable customer list, filled a gap in its product line,
and provided additional sales and service opportunities in a high-growth
marketplace. It's safe to say that IBM made a good deal here.
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EMC Pursues iSeries and AS/400 Customers by Timothy Prickett Morgan
The iSeries and AS/400 disk drive market accounted for about $1.8 billion
to $2 billion in annual sales for as long as the OS/400 platform has been
around. In times gone by, IBM had to contend with a number of
plug-compatible, third-party disk array vendors and disk subsystem
suppliers, but it still got the lion's share of AS/400 disk sales. In 1994, as
IBM shifted from outboard disk arrays to inboard disk arrays, it became
increasingly difficult for third-party disk suppliers to compete against IBM.
When all was said and done, customers ended up with only three choices:
internal disk arrays from IBM, high-end Symmetrix arrays from EMC
Corporation, and raw drives and controllers from BCC Technologies.
EMC, long a darling of Wall Street because of its rocketing growth and
pole position in the enterprise storage space, has fallen on hard times ever
since the service provider and dot-com bubble burst. With revenues
plunging by 47 percent in the third quarter to $1.2 billion, the company was
forced to book a loss of nearly $1 billion.
Hence, the company's renewed interest in pursuing the biggest iSeries and
AS/400 customers, who might want to buy a Symmetrix array instead of
IBM storage units. Sources at EMC say that the top 20 percent of the
OS/400 installed base is either looking for disk arrays with 500 gigabytes
or more of capacity for their OS/400 machines or has a collection of
OS/400, Windows, Unix, and mainframe servers, each with a few hundred
gigabytes of capacity. These are prime targets for EMC's Symmetrix as
well as for IBM's Shark arrays and, in the case of OS/400-Windows shops,
High Speed Link-attached disk arrays and the Integrated xSeries Server and
outboard xSeries servers.
The big news is that the people within EMC, who have been trying to get
support to attack the OS/400 platform, are now being heard because of the
numbing silence coming from the Unix, Windows, and mainframe marketing
managers, who are seeing their numbers drop like rocks. As a true believer
in competition, I can assure you that if EMC starts pursuing the OS/400
platform, this will put pricing and other kinds of pressure on IBM, which
will cause it to improve its disk products faster than it might otherwise.
EMC's recent announcement that it would be pursuing the iSeries and
AS/400 space, made at the COMMON midrange user group show in
Minneapolis last month, was not just limited to marketing speak. The
company also rolled out some new technology and bundles that should
appeal to many big OS/400 shops.
Specifically, EMC can now attach to the feature 2766 Fibre Channel
adapter card that IBM has delivered to the iSeries and AS/400 line. This
feature card, which is actually made by Emulex, pairs with the
feature 2843 I/O processor card to make a Fibre Channel link between an
OS/400 server and a disk array. Now EMC's Symmetrix arrays are
supported alongside IBM's Sharks. IBM delivered this Fibre Channel
attachment for the OS/400 platform at the end of May.
EMC is also announcing that OS/400 shops can use UltraSCSI links
between their AS/400 and iSeries servers and the Symmetrix arrays. IBM
has developed HSL copper and fiber optic links to connect peripherals to
big OS/400 servers, rather than support direct UltraSCSI attachment. IBM
says that HSL is better than UltraSCSI, and it probably is. But the rest of
the world is still linking via UltraSCSI or Fibre Channel. This UltraSCSI
attachment is an alternative to SPD-attached disks as well as HSL-attached
disks, and is available for Model 6XX, SXX, 7XX,
and 8XX servers. EMC says further that it will support UltraSCSI
attachment on the forthcoming Power4-based "Regatta" servers.
Incidentally, for those iSeries and AS/400 customers who are concerned
with what disk drives EMC uses in the Symmetrix, they are mostly from
Seagate Technology but also include drives from IBM and other
suppliers. EMC offers 18 GB and 36 GB disk drives running at 10K RPM
to iSeries and AS/400 customers, with 73 GB and 181 GB disks also
available for customers who are not using them in online transaction
processing environments, where such high densities can curtail performance
because of an insufficient number of disk arms. Sources at EMC say that
iSeries servers running V5R1 and using Symmetrix arrays for data storage
have response times that are equivalent to IBM's internal disk arrays using
10K RPM disks. With IBM having technical problems with some of its 10K
RPM disk drives, some customers are eager for an alternative. EMC says
that it will deliver 15K RPM disk drives in various capacities in the
Symmetrix line sometime in the fourth quarter of 2001 or in the first quarter
of 2002.
At about the same time, EMC is expected to roll
out support for its Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) remote-mirroring
software running over regular IP networks. EMC has already tweaked its
InfoMover database extractor software to support OS/400's integrated
DB2/400 database. InfoMover is a data extraction and replication tool that
runs on Symmetrix arrays and can be used to move information between
OS/400, Unix, and Windows servers. InfoMover has been enhanced, in Version
2.0, so OS/400 shops can extract information from a flash copy of data
files created by EMC's TimeFinder software (which also runs on the
Symmetrix) as opposed to extracting from live production databases.
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LANSA Announces New Integrator Product by Shannon O'Donnell
LANSA, a provider of e-business, wireless, and graphical
application development tools for the midrange, announced a new product
at the Fall COMMON conference in Minneapolis. Known as LANSA
Integrator, this new product allows customers to use XML and Java
technologies to further automate their business operations and reduce
transaction costs with their trading partners.
Bill Benjamin, vice president of business development at LANSA, said,
"Thousands of customers have used LANSA to build Windows, wireless,
and browser-based applications that automate their business. But these
applications still involve manual entry of data. That's ideal for casual users of
these applications, but for high-volume data exchanges, further automation
of these transactions can save a large amount of money and reduce the
potential for human error. LANSA Integrator uses XML and Java
technologies to allow customers to build completely automated computer-to-
computer transactions."
LANSA Integrator leverages XML and Java to integrate iSeries applications
with any kind of application on any platform.
LANSA Integrator provides full integration services (data interchange)
between the following:
* Various platforms (both internal and external)
* Trading partners via the Internet
* Dynamic EDI-style transactions
* Java and native application integration
LANSA Integrator also works with emerging technologies such as XML,
document type definition (DTD), Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL),
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Sockets, HTTP, and FTP. All
that's needed on the remote system is a Java Virtual Machine, which will run
LANSA Integrator's remote Agent tool. The remote agent retrieves the
data from the remote system and passes it back to the local system, using
the format and protocol you choose in advance
LANSA Integrator can be used to dynamically exchange data in a number
of unique ways. Here are just a few examples of how LANSA's customers
are using this new product:
* Automating orders between a manufacturer and distributor by linking their
ERP systems
* Exchanging information between ATMs and a back-end iSeries banking
system using XML
* Processing orders between an outsourced Web site and a legacy ERP
application
* Integrating a Java-based credit card application with an iSeries order
entry application
* Exchanging data between a stand-alone wireless device and a back-end
iSeries application
LANSA is working very closely with approximately eight business partners
to create a very customized product. In fact, when your company purchases
LANSA Integrator, LANSA will work very closely with your company to
provide a custom fit that is tailored for your data and your applications.
For more information on LANSA Integrator, visit the LANSA and Java
and XML page at http://www.lansa.com/about/javaandxml2.htm.
Find information on the Apria Healthcare's two-way XML case study, also
on LANSA's Web site at http://www.lansa.com/casestudies/apria.htm.
by Shannon O'Donnell
PentaSafe Security Technologies, a leading enterprise security
infrastructure and policy management company, has announced a new
product designed for the Linux operating system running on the iSeries
eServer platform within logical partitions. VigilEnt Security Agent for Linux
can be quickly and easily integrated with PentaSafe's VigilEnt Security
Manager, which integrates with the VigilEnt Security Agent for iSeries, to
provide a complete solution for the security of all your iSeries systems.
VSA for Linux audits Linux partitions on the iSeries using the globally
recognized Australian CERT UNIX Security Checklist. This audit can
uncover areas where your in-house standards are not being met. VSA for
Linux can also recommend fixes that will ensure you have the most secure
iSeries Linux partition possible. Also included are many reporting capabilities
and audit checks (over 200), which can help you pinpoint potential problems
before they become real ones.
Here are some of the key benefits of VSA for Linux:
* Measures the security of your Linux partitions against the globally
recognized Australian CERT UNIX Security Checklist
* Baselines your Linux environments and then alerts when files and
directories have been changed
* Enables rapid response to security incidents with real-time monitoring for
changes in baseline configuration of files, permissions, services, and users
from a central console
* Quickly pinpoints security exposures in your Linux partitions through
scheduled audits and security checkup reports
* Saves staff time with easy and fast implementation across multiple systems
through a simple deployment wizard
* Can be used with PentaSafe's award-winning VigilEnt Security Agent for
AS/400 and iSeries to provide administrators security coverage across all
partitions, whether OS/400 or Linux, from a central point of control
* Determines if tampering has occurred with files and directory permissions
* Analyzes TCP and UDP port usage and detects any unauthorized changes
by comparing scheduled port scans with previous baselines
* Minimizes security exposures by enabling limited root access privileges
VSA for Linux starts at $1,995 per partition. For more information, contact
Janette Dyhle by phone (713-523-1992) or by email at jld@pentasafe.com,
or visit PentaSafe's Web site at http://www.pentasafe.com.
by Joe Hertvik
High-availability and application-integration vendor DataMirror
recently announced that it has updated its High Availability Suite solution for
the IBM iSeries with two new features designed to reduce latency
for systems mirroring. Here's the lowdown on the new features.
With OS/400 V5R1, changes to data areas and data queues are journaled.
Taking advantage of this capability, High Availability Suite will now mirror
changes only to data areas and data queues rather than mirroring the entire
object. This feature is designed to reduce the volume of data that must be
sent from the primary system to the backup system.
High Availability Suite now includes a monitor that measures the latency of
mirrored data (i.e., how long it takes to apply changes from the primary
system to the backup system). When the latency measurements exceed a
predetermined threshold, the system generates an alert to warn
administrators to take action.
For more information on these new capabilities, go to DataMirror's Web
site, at http://www.datamirror.com.
An article in last week's issue misstated the name of DataMirror's new
product for database transformation services. The name is Transformation
Server for XML, not Transaction Server for XML.
There were also two errors in the ROI story from last week. Freestyle-400
does not run with older versions of OS/400. It requires OS/400 V4R4 or
later. Also, the pricing was erroneous. The version that sells for $9,995
includes both the development and the runtime components. The $1,999
component referenced in the story is for OEM agreements only.
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IBM Issues a Statement on TigerTools' Fast400 by Timothy Prickett Morgan
Hot on the heels of last week's story on the Fast400 tool from TigerTools,
IBMers released statements, in the Midrange-L newsgroup and
through public relations channels, denouncing the program. As I expected,
IBM is definitely not pleased with the advent of Fast400, a tool that is
designed to take the governors off interactive green-screen workloads and
let 5250 applications run as fast as possible on server models.
Although IBM has never officially conceded this, and it may end up denying
this in a court of law sometime in the future, IBM has, since 1993, been
tailoring the performance of 5250 and other workloads on AS/400 and
iSeries machines to suit its business needs. Because tracking user-based
software pricing is so onerous, IBM shifted to a model where processing
capacity for different kinds of workloads was controlled by auxiliary
hardware and microcode underneath OS/400. In effect, IBM sells levels of
software performance, which drive user seats, as hardware features because
it is simpler. IBM has had other reasons for doing this, the strongest one
being a desire to encourage customers and Business Partners to move away
from their old RPG programs and green screens to newer client/server and
e-business applications.
That TigerTools has announced a product that purportedly gets around
these OS/400 governors (see last week's top story for more on that) should
not be a shock to IBM. It was only a matter of time. By my reckoning,
approximately one third of the $30 billion in AS/400 and iSeries server
sales from 1988 through 2001 will be for interactive software processing
capacity that was sold as auxiliary hardware; OS/400 and its integrated
DB2/400 database account for approximately another 10 percent. It is
important to remember that the interactive features IBM sells for its AS/400
and iSeries machines do not improve performance so much as they allow
software to run at a specified performance level, in many cases not even at
the full speed of the processor that customers buy. Being an advocate for
customers and for truth in advertising, I find this practice dubious, and
always have. I continue to believe that IBM should set a price for a server,
and for the software that runs on it, that is commensurate with what people
use. If IBM can offer capacity on demand for servers, it can do user-based
or processor-based pricing for 5250 software that is fair and honest.
Ed Fishel, a developer at IBM Rochester, posted the following message in
the Midrange-L newsgroup last week, which was echoed to me by IBM
public relations as the only official comment that IBM had on TigerTools and
Fast400. IBM refused to talk to me about specific issues I have with this
statement and what its course of action might be. Anyway, here's the
statement from IBM's representatives:
I am responding to some of the questions our IBM customers/Business
Partners are asking relative to the Fast400 product offered by TigerTools:
Fast400 is not a program that IBM either supports or endorses. Fast400
appears to be a "patched" program that alters the identification of interactive
workloads. IBM's long standing advice has been, and continues to be, to
not run patched programs. Running patched programs can result in
unexpected or unreliable system behavior.
TigerTools is not an IBM Business Partner. In fact, IBM has no history with
TigerTools and has no knowledge of their ability to support Fast400. They
appear to have come on the scene only very recently, via creation of a
website, there seems to be little other available information about TigerTools.
As with any software provider, customers should evaluate whether or not
TigerTools offers the type of support structure they require.
IBM agreements prohibit customers from activating, or allowing a third party
product to activate, built in capacity without authorization from and payment
to IBM. In addition, the agreements prohibit the use of licensed code for any
purpose other than to enable the machine to operate in accordance with its
specifications, make back-up copies or to display code for maintenance
purposes.
Putting aside the fact that running Fast400 may enable interactive capacity
for which you have not paid, you need to consider the following: IBM will
make adjustments to OS/400 to address the unauthorized enablement of
unpaid for capacity ... whether it be interactive, processor, DASD, etc.
Thus far, TigerTools seems nonplussed by IBM's saber rattling, and says
that there has been a tremendous amount of interest in its products. As for
TigerTools being a new company that isn't an official IBM Business Partner
but which has a new Web site and a relatively simple but powerful product,
well, I say welcome to my world and, more importantly, welcome to the
OS/400 community. I cannot endorse or warrant Fast400, because I
haven't used it and have no idea if it delivers the performance it promises,
but I can tell you emphatically that I wholly endorse what the company is
trying to do for AS/400 and iSeries customers. If you have downloaded the
program and tried it, as I said last week, let me know what your experience
is, at tpm@itjungle.com. You can download it at
http://www.tigertools.com.
As for IBM's stipulation that its customer agreements prohibit products like
Fast400 from being used, I would remind IBM that the 1956 Consent
Decree only recently ran out on the OS/400 platform (on July 2, 2000), and
an intrepid lawyer looking for a class-action lawsuit to champion might easily
do so on behalf of shareholders who might have been misled about hardware
and software sales at Big Blue by these practices, or on behalf of AS/400
and iSeries customers who, having bought a server, might want to argue that
they are entitled to the full power of that machine without incurring additional
charges. I am not saying that these are necessarily logical or valid arguments,
but we are talking about lawsuits here. You don't have to be right to sue, and
being right, whatever that means, does not ensure that you win a lawsuit. I
have also been told by lawyers I have spoken to that many licensing
agreements that are put out by software companies are not legally binding,
regardless of what they say. I'm looking into the issue right now.
That said, it would not be surprising to see IBM's internal lawyers, as well as
its legal team from Cravath, Swaine and Moore, bring the full weight of the
courts down on TigerTools' neck. Cravath Swaine smooth-talked a federal
judge into letting IBM wiggle out of the Consent Decree in 2001 for
mainframes and in 2000 for AS/400s. That decree, which settled a number
of antitrust lawsuits and which had been amended through the decades,
prohibited some of IBM's more anticompetitive and abusive practices of the
past, and presumably its lifting can allow IBM to get away with things. This
may be just the test of what IBM can and cannot do now that the Consent
Decree is lifted.
Still, IBM has to be careful. Other tools from other vendors tune the
performance of OS/400 applications, and these are allowed, even endorsed,
by Big Blue. To go after TigerTools is to admit that the governors are there,
and to not go after TigerTools is also to admit that the governors are there.
This is called a double bind. And it's a very uncomfortable situation in which
to find oneself.
In my opinion, it would be best for IBM to try to work an honorable way
out of this mess without resorting to the courts. IBM should charge fairly and
openly for the different parts of OS/400, including the 5250 protocol, as well
as the database, Web application server, etc. Having a tightly integrated
system does not necessitate having a single price for the integrated
components in that system. IBM knows this, but, since 1993, to suit its own
financial needs, it chose to go another route on its pricing, one that runs
counter to the market at large. I think it is high time for IBM to reconsider
iSeries pricing, and if it takes a product like TigerTools to put the fear of lost
hundreds of millions of dollars into IBM to accomplish this feat and to make
iSeries pricing more competitive with the midrange at large, then so be it. I
want the iSeries platform to meet and beat Windows, not just exist in its
shadow. IBM needs to make the iSeries a high-volume, low-cost product
that small and midsize businesses want more than a Windows or Unix
platform, not an exotic, strangely priced collection of different servers for
distinct workloads that customers don't want to even try to understand. The
time is long past to start doing the hard work to make that iSeries
transformation happen.
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There's a New Systems Management Vendor in Town by Alex Woodie
Notability Solutions plc, a growing British company that has made
its living selling AS/400s and providing other services, used the recent
COMMON conference in Minneapolis as a launching pad for its new
venture as an independent software vendor. The company, which does
business in this country as Notability Solutions USA, formally
announced the availability of its Maximise systems management suite in the
U.S. and the U.K. on November 1.
Maximise is a collection of 11 utilities that help AS/400 shops automate
various operator tasks, including disk management, job scheduling, tape
backup and recovery, network monitoring, and messaging. The modules are
as follows (pricing is for P05 processor group):
* MaxMastermind--Manages AS/400 disk usage; starts at $1,750
* MaxAlarm--Alerts operators to dangerous situations; starts at $1,350
* MaxMessenger--Monitors and screens messages queues; starts at $1,530
* MaxScheduler--Schedule batch jobs in advance; starts at $2,725
* MaxCompression--Compresses data for more efficient storage; starts at
$375
* MaxChange--Software change management system for tracking upgrades;
starts at $3,200
* MaxInternet--Web-enables the Maximise suite; starts at $1,125
* MaxMultiplatform--Manage Windows, Unix, or Linux operations from the
iSeries; starts at $2,725
* MaxRecovery--Backup and recovery utility for AS/400; starts at $4,196
* MaxSpool--Manipulate your spool files; starts at $1,575
* MaxMonitor--Records statistics related to network traffic (price not
available at press time)
Most of the Maximise suite is based on the source code from the old
mAStermind systems management suite, to which Notability acquired the
rights from UniComp earlier this year. The components that
Notability developed itself include the MaxMultiplatform, MaxMonitor, and
MaxInternet utilities.
In addition to the marketing, maintenance, and development rights,
Notability acquired 200 mAStermind customers in the UniComp deal.
Notability is giving mAStermind customers who had been paying
maintenance fees a discount to upgrade to the new Maximise suite.
Before acquiring mAStermind, Notability had been a major U.K.
distributor of systems management utilities from Help/Systems, the
leading AS/400 systems-management-tool vendor in the United States.
Now Notability hopes to leverage its new-found status as the number-one
J.D. Edwards reseller in Europe and as a premiere IBM
Business Partner in order to beat the drum for its own set of automation tools.
Despite Notability's familiarity with Help/Systems' products, there doesn't
appear to be a range war on the horizon. Notability officials said they plan to stick
to a features-oriented sell that touts the benefit of Maximise, not the negative
aspects of Help/Systems products, of which there doesn't appear to be many.
"Our strategy is not to go up against specific products out there," said Janet
Van Bergen, sales and marketing manager for Chicago-based Notability
Solutions USA. "We believe we have a product that our clients like, that
improves the efficiency of their operations. Help/Systems has the
number-one market share, so it will obviously come up. [But] I think our
product competes well against Help/Systems, and in most cases the
functionality of our modules exceeds Help/Systems'. Van Bergen continued,
"Help/Systems has a good product. We think we have a better product."
Notability Solutions was formed earlier this year when Notability Ltd.
merged with Catalyst Solutions plc. The merger was a homecoming of sorts
for Stephen Morris, the CEO of Notability Solutions plc., who was one of
the original founders of Catalyst Solutions, an AS/400 hardware reseller in
the United States and the United Kingdom. Morris left Catalyst to form
Notability in 1993. Paul Morris, Stephen's brother, is the CEO of Notability
Solutions USA. For more information, go to http://www.notabilityusa.com.
Akornn's Got the Goods for Domino Administration
by Alex Woodie
One of the new OS/400 vendors making its debut at the fall COMMON
conference in Minneapolis last month was Akornn, a Marlborough,
Massachusetts, company that specializes in Lotus Domino
software and services.
Jack Forman, founder and owner of Akornn, said that while everybody
was telling him that attendance at the show was down compared with past
years, he was having great success getting the company name out there and
selling users on its product offering, called Akornn Server Commandos.
"Very little explaining was needed," Forman said of the product, which
amends a shortcoming in Domino whereby system administrators can
potentially be denied access to Domino databases, necessitating Domino
server downtime to correct the problem. "Most of them have already dealt
with it [the problem] and said 'Where the heck have you been?'"
The shortcoming has to do with the decentralized way that Domino handles
Access Control Lists, which are lists that accompany every Domino
database and basically say who can and cannot access particular database
files. The way Domino is engineered, administrators have no all-powerful
authority to modify an ACL without bringing the server down and replicating
the database from a Lotus Notes workstation, which means that everybody
is kicked off the system, resulting in downtime.
For example, the potential exists for a Lotus Notes user to accidentally
erase himself from the ACL for his own file, such as an email program or an
address book. Lotus Notes displays several warning pages before users
erase themselves from ACLs, but many users continue anyway, oblivious to
the consequences, Forman says. Similarly, when users create new databases,
they have the option of excluding the administrator from the new file's ACL,
taking control away from the administrator.
When users erase themselves from the ACLs for their own files, the
administrator's only remedy is to shut down the Domino server, FTP the
offending Domino database to his own Notes work station, update the
ACL with the correct information, then FTP the database back to the server
before bringing it back online. Indeed, this is what Lotus' tech support will
tell you to do if you call them up with this problem, Forman says.
"We were really shocked to find out they [Lotus] hadn't come up with a
solution, and I'm shocked to find out they still haven't fixed it," Forman said.
"They've limited the features that you need as an administrator."
What Akornn's Server Commandos do is provide administrators with
automatic access to ACLs without having to work through the Lotus Notes
client software. Akornn ACLmaster, the suite's core component, allows
administrators to modify ACLs, regardless of whether or not the
administrator is granted access through the ACL. ACLmaster gives
administrators direct access to ACLs through the server console
(a command line interface) or remote access using a Notes workstation.
The product can also be used to automatically have the administrator added
to the ACL of every new database created.
Besides ACLmaster, the Akornn Server Commandos suite comes with
handy utilities for manipulating ACLs, including Akornn Delete for Domino,
for removing databases on any Domino server; Akornn COPY for Domino,
for replicating databases for routine system backups or platform migrations;
Akornn PURGE for Domino, for removing documents from databases, even
from remote servers; and Akornn DIRectory for Domino, for performing
searches on file names and directories "the old DOS way."
"There are these tasks where occasionally you have to sit down at the
server by opening up the client locally," Forman said. "We're hoping
[OS/400 operators] are used to having control in the command line
environment."
The entire Akornn Server Commandos suite sells for $1,995. Individual
utilities cost $500. A trial copy of the entire suite is available online at
Akornn's Web site, at http://www.akornn.com.
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BCD Releases Betas for Email and WebSmart by Joe Hertvik
Business Computer Design Int'l. recently released two beta
products designed to add new capabilities to its Catapult email and report
distribution software, as well as to make it easier to administer WebSmart
Web sites. Here's the scoop on the betas and what they do.
The Catapult V2.5 beta adds additional document-generation options,
forms overlay support, and faster download times to BCD's email and
report distribution software. V2.5 supports the generation of PDF, HTML,
and RTF files from AS/400 and iSeries spool files. The company is also
providing an integrated forms overlay feature to the package. Using forms
overlay, customers can capture OS/400 spool files, use an overlay to format
the data with the same graphical look as a corporate document (such as an
invoice or purchase order), then email the formatted documents as PDF,
HTML, or RTF files. Besides the new formatting capabilities, BCD has
streamlined the communications interface between the Catapult client and its
AS/400 or iSeries server to provide for faster downloads. The company is
also including new Catapult upgrade capabilities that automatically distribute
new versions of the Catapult client to other client PCs when the product is
used. A final enhancement is that Catapult V2.5 introduces customized
translation table support for compatibility outside of the North American
market.
BCD has also announced the beta test release of WebSmart Site
Management System. Built by using BCD's ProGen WebSmart development
tool, Site Management System is an administrative tool that runs under the
WebSmart Application Server. Site Management System allows users to
implement systemwide security; change the look of a site by modifying
front-end pages; add or remove links to pages on the global or individual
level; work with help text files and add context-sensitive help; add drop-
down cascading menus and navigation menu trees; and integrate WebSmart
applications or other Web applications and pages. Using Site Management
System requires an iSeries or AS/400 server running OS/400 V4R2 or
above, with the WebSmart Web Application Server and an OS/400 HTTP
Server or OS/400 Apache Web server instance configured and
active.
These betas are available from BCD via its Web site, at
http://www.bcdsoftware.com, or by calling the company at 630-986-0800.
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