|
But Wait, There's More
Get the Latest OS/400 PTF Guide
Lotus Hopes Workplace Will Win Accolades at Lotusphere
Looking to shine the spotlight on its collaborative infrastructure featuring tools for messaging, e-meetings, calendaring, and scheduling, IBM will have its Lotus Workplace on a pedestal at the annual Lotusphere show beginning January 25 in Orlando, Florida. Some may say that by putting Workplace on a pedestal makes it an easier sell to companies that have not yet bought into the Lotus Notes/Domino strategy.
Workplace is key to that strategy. It's based on open standards, but relies on J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) to create its modular collaboration platform. Mixing Java and Domino, in the minds of many longtime Lotus fans, is like mixing beer and wine: Both result in a headache. Throughout the Lotusphere show, IBM will be working hard to sell its Domino upgrade roadmap. It will be interesting to see how the roadmap is applied to something akin to herding snakes.
Lotusphere will also play up the capability to integrate third-party, J2EE-based applications with Domino--not now, but in the next release of Domino, which is at least a year away. A peek into what that future release will do will be provided next week in Florida. Sources say the future also holds a new portal interface, as well as enhancements to both the calendaring and scheduling features.
IBM Lotus will also use Lotusphere to continue trumpeting the benefits delivered in Notes/Domino 6, such as server consolidation, the Smart Upgrade capability, and the portal function that was added in Notes/Domino 6.5.
No iSeries-specific announcements are planned. However, the story of how Countrywide Home Loans, running Domino 6 on iSeries, consolidated 14 Intel servers on three iSeries boxes will get some recognition.
IBM to End Free WAS 3.5-to-WAS Express Upgrade Offer
If you're running WebSphere Application Server Version 3.5, and you're considering the move to WebSphere Application Server Express Version 5 for iSeries, you had better get a move on. IBM announced last week that April 13 will mark the end of its no-cost upgrade offer for customers moving from the Standard Edition 3.X for iSeries to WAS Express 5 for iSeries. IBM, under pressure from users who were not happy with WAS Version 4, was allowing customers who had obtained WAS Standard Edition 3.5 by January 28 to get free upgrades to WAS Express 5 for iSeries, which shipped last February. IBM gave customers copies of WAS Standard Edition 3.X with OS/400 licenses, which led to a decent adoption rate. However, IBM pulled that offer with the roll-out of WAS 4, which cost $8,000 per CPU and turned out to be a CPW resource hog. The development of WAS Express 5 for iSeries filled the need for a low-cost, entry-level Java application server on the iSeries (in IBM's mind, at least, but certainly not in those of competitors in the midrange that sell alternatives). Support ended for WAS 3.5 last November. After April 13, iSeries shops will have to pay the full price to get WAS Express, which currently goes for $25 per intranet user, or $2,000 per CPU for an unlimited license.
We Can Still Do Business: Wal-Mart CEO Says RFID Thing No Big Deal
If you're a manufacturer or distributor in Wal-Mart's supply chain, and you're lagging a bit with your radio frequency identification (RFID) roll-out, don't worry: If you fail, the world's largest company isn't going to stop buying from you. In a Computerworld article last week, Wal-Mart's chief executive, H. Scott Lee, was quoted as prescribing a "tough love" approach to dealing with its suppliers, during a press conference at the recent National Retail Federation conference. "If they just can't do it [RFID], I mean, it's not like we're going to quit doing business with them," Scott said, according to the magazine. RFID is the third major IT requirement that Wal-Mart has foisted upon its suppliers recently, following AS2 and UCCnet mandates. Only Wal-Mart's top 100 suppliers must start including RFID tags at the pallet and box level by January 2005; all the rest have another year. Scott said if that timetable proves too aggressive, Wal-Mart would back off, but he thinks most of his suppliers are in the thick of it right now. Many suppliers say UCCnet and RFID will be net losers for their companies, and consider it a cost of doing business with Wal-Mart.
Island Pacific to Acquire Competitor for $11 Million
A torrent of news streamed out of Island Pacific during the recent National Retail Federation conference in New York City. First, the Irvine, California, developer of an OS/400 merchandise management systems for retailers announced its intent to acquire competitor Retail Technologies International, a Folsom, California, developer of Windows-based point-of-sale and inventory management software, as well as its reseller network, for $11 million. The pending acquisition made it easy for Tadashi, an upscale women's apparel company, to choose Island Pacific. Tadashi had been looking for a merchandising solution to support its first retail location in Costa Mesa, California, and had narrowed its choices down to Island Pacific and Retail Technologies International.
Patton to Head Clear Technologies CRM Sales Division
Clear Technologies, one of the few customer relationship management software vendors for the OS/400 platform, announced last week the promotion of Mickey Patton to the role of president and chief operating officer for the C2 CRM division of the company. Patton joined Clear Technologies in 1998, and in 2001 he distinguished himself by successfully delivering a Web version of the C2 CRM suite, says Greg Colley, Clear Technologies' founder and chief executive. Van Symons, a 25-year IBMer who joined the Dallas, Texas, company in late 2002, and who was promoted to the position of president and COO of the C2 CRM software division in early 2003, is now president and COO of Clear Technologies' eServer reseller business.
|
TWIN DATA
