But Wait, There's More. . .

• If you are trying to keep abreast of what IBM has been doing with PTFs on OS/400 and related systems programs, you have got to check out the OS/400 PTF Guides, put together by our partners, DLB Associates. IBM has been up to a lot of stuff in the past month, so check these out:
  
  March 1, 2003
  February 22, 2003
  February 15, 2003
  February 8, 2003
  February 1, 2003

• Silvon Software has sealed a deal with AquiTec International, a Chicago-based developer of supply chain software for the OS/400 platform, to offer a joint business-intelligence solution to AquiTec's customers. As part of the agreement, Silvon's Enterprise Performance Management software will be integrated with AquiTec's SCM/400 and SCM/e applications to help retailers and wholesalers measure the performance of certain retail orders, procurement, warehousing, and labor processes, and enable them to respond more rapidly to unplanned events. In other Silvon news, the Westmont, Illinois, company was on hand in College Station, Texas, for the grand opening of a new supply chain software lab at Texas A&M University. As part of the university's Industrial Distributions program, the Supply Chain Systems Laboratory will educate students on supply chain management issues and share its research with other universities and with industry. Silvon worked with IBM to deliver an iSeries server equipped with Silvon's supply chain business intelligence software. Other companies contributing to the lab include J.D. Edwards, Siemens, Prelude Systems, Intuit Eclipse, Dimasys, eBots, and Selltis. Also on hand for the February 27 opening ceremony was Al Zollar, IBM's new iSeries general manager.
  
  
• J.D. Edwards has followed through on a pledge it made last year by announcing plans to outsource some application development to an offshore location in India. The Denver, Colorado, ERP software company recently announced it is partnering with Covansys, a Farmington Hills, Michigan, outsourcing company that has significant investments in Indian development centers. As part of the agreement, J.D. Edwards will work with Covansys to establish a development center dedicated to J.D. Edwards 5 ERP applications in the Indian city of Chenai, where Covansys has an established development center. Resources equaling 60 full-time Covansys developers in Chenai will be dedicated to J.D. Edwards development. J.D. Edwards' new Covansys developers in Chenai will focus on quality assurance, testing, and maintenance, which, J.D. Edwards says, will increase its testing capabilities by 30 percent and allow development resources to be applied to new software development. There will be no staff reductions of J.D. Edwards developers, and the six-year agreement will also result in a cost savings approaching 30 percent, the company says.
  
  
• Software PM, a Milwaukee ERP software company, is changing its name and the focus of the company, which previously was selling and supporting Manufacturing PM II, a 17-year-old OS/400-based ERP system for small and midsized manufacturers. In an e-mail distributed a week-and-a-half ago over the Midrange-L mailing list, James Sciano, founder and president of Software PM, announced that he is changing Software PM's name to The Software Marketing Agency, or TSMA. The new focus of the company is to provide software reselling opportunities to software developers, service providers, and IT consultants. The first application that Sciano will be offering for resale is MPM II, which has been renamed Manufacturing Management Software III, or MMS III. Sciano said he will sell anybody the source code, distribution, and non-exclusive reseller rights to MMS III for a single payment of $7,500. With a private-label version of MMS III, anyone can begin selling the 15-module suite of basic RPG applications in any way they want--as an integrated suite, as individual products, or integrated with other software. The e-mail--which had the subject line, "A personal note from James A. Sciano"--set off an overwhelming negative response from Midrange-L regulars for being in violation of the lists prohibition on business solicitation and for the nature of his business offer. Sciano was subsequently banned from all Midrange Dot Com e-mail lists.
  
  
• MAPICS unveiled a new corporate logo and a new marketing strategy at the National Manufacturing Week conference in Chicago last week. MAPICS is revamping its image to reflect the completion of its acquisition of FrontStep, a developer of Windows-based ERP software for midrange manufacturers. The acquisition of FrontStep, which was comparable in size to MAPICS, was announced in November and finalized last month. The Atlanta company's new logo is a square, divided into four unequal-sized, pastel-colored triangles by two crossed diagonal lines. MAPICS says the four triangles reflect the four main values of the newly combined company: focus on experience-based manufacturing, dedication to providing customer value, commitment to delivering proven software products, and services that are comprehensive. MAPICS's new marketing strategy ("to enable manufacturers to become world-class by achieving best-in-class performance in key business functions") can be whittled down to seven goals for companies installing its software, including reducing lead-times, speeding time-to-market, cutting operations costs, exceeding customer expectations, and other ways of describing a well-run company.
  
  
• Buoyed by the success of its "Simple HA for $60K" promotion for OS/400 high availability software and services," DataMirror has launched a similar program called "Go Live for $55K" for its LiveIntegration collection of data integration software. The new deal calls for new DataMirror customers around the world to get LiveIntegration software, implementation, training, maintenance, and support for $55,000. DataMirror does not specify which components of the LiveIntegration suite, which includes Transformation Server, DB/XML Transform, Constellar Hub, LiveConnector, and iDeliver, are covered under the new deal, and says prices may vary based on local currency and services. The promotion is only valid for new customers and expires April 30.
  
  
• Create!form International, the Waltham, Massachusetts, provider of forms management software, bolstered its European channel last week with signing of a new partnership with a local reseller. As part of the agreement, Pyxis Consulting Group, a professional application and technology consulting company that specializes in output management, business intelligence, project management, e-commerce, supply chain management, and collaborative software will resell Create!form's software in Germany and parts of Austria, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Create!form's president and chief executive, Kurt Mueffelmann, says Pyxis has a long-established relationship working within the J.D. Edwards environment and will be able to provide native German language support to customers. Create!form has been building a network of channel partners who are experienced in J.D. Edwards ERP software ever since the ERP vendor selected Create!form for an exclusive integration and certification agreement in 2002.
  
  

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