But Wait, There's More. . .

• If you are trying to keep up with PTFs on OS/400 and related systems programs, check out the OS/400 PTF Guides, put together by our partner DLB Associates.
  
  

• April 12
• April 5
• March 29
• March 22
• March 15

• Among the list of companies surfacing as a possible acquirers of the Baan unit of Invensys is SSA Global Technologies. Struggling British engineering firm Invensys announced last week that it would begin selling off more than half of its assets in an attempt to repay debt and refocus on its core strengths. Among the divisions that Invensys listed for divestiture was Baan, a division of the business unit called Invensys Production Solutions (formerly Baan Process Solutions). Baan sells the OS/400-based PRISM and Microsoft Windows-based Protean suites of ERP software for companies in process industries. Invensys, however, provided mixed messages, as it reported that it would seek to hold onto its production management software for the process industries, which would include PRISM and Protean, as well as a software suite called Wonderware. If the process ERP suites are up for sale, however, SSA GT would have to be considered a leading candidate to buy them. The Chicago-based software company, which focuses on OS/400-based ERP software but also owns ERP suites for other platforms, has made clear its intentions to continue to grow through acquisitions. Several weeks ago, SSA GT secured an additional $75 million in funding through General Atlantic Partners.
  
  
• IBM issued two OS/400 PTFs last week to fix a problem in the Apache Web server that makes it vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks. The problem was originally discovered two weeks ago, in Apache 2.044, and was thought to be extant in all preceding 2.XX releases, according to iDefense, the Reston, Virginia, security intelligence services firm that first described the vulnerability. Last year, IBM announced it had released a version of OS/400 HTTP Server (powered by Apache) that was based on the Apache 2.0.39 code. Last week IBM introduced PTF number SI08600 to fix the problem with OS/400 V5R1, and released SI08601 to fix the problem at V5R2. The vulnerability in Apache to DoS attacks has affected a wide range of vendors that rely on the open-source Web server for their own software products. Interestingly, CERT Coordination Center's report on the DoS vulnerability lists IBM as being "not vulnerable" to the DoS risk. IBM says the vulnerability does not constitute a security risk.
  
  
• eStorage, formerly BCC Technologies, last week announced a two-for-one sale on 15K RPM AS/400 and iSeries disk drives. For a limited time, customers who purchase a 17-GB or 35-GB 15K-RPM drive from eStorage will receive a second drive for free. Both of these drives cost $1,650. In fact, both are 35 GB drives: eStorage's 17 GB drive is a "short-stroked" version of the 35 GB drive, in which only half of the disk platter is used to decrease search time and increase performance, compared to a 35 GB drive. eStorage, which bought the assets to BCC Technologies earlier this year, is the only provider of internal AS/400 or iSeries disks besides IBM. The company, based in Irvine, California, has often beat IBM to market with new technologies, such as the 15K RPM disks, and regularly offers comparable products at lower prices, even though it uses the same underlying technology drives as IBM, which it obtains through an OEM agreement. eStorage says the deal will continue as long as supplies last.
  
  
• It's all about the little guy now with J.D. Edwards. The Denver-based ERP software company recently signed on with brij, a JDE distributor that also offers marketing services, to remake JDE's image as a friend of mom and pop. The first project on tap is a mailer filled with "visual intrigue and return-on-investment testimonials" that will go out to the IT departments of small and midsized shops with revenues of less than $130 million per year. "We chose to grab the audience with visual stories and then pull them into fact-filled testimonials on the inherent affordability and flexibility of J.D. Edwards' collaborative enterprise software," says Clay Thornton, creative director at brij. JDE also says it's taking this action to dispel the "myth" that the company only sells software to Fortune 500 companies. (In fact, JDE is best known as a midrange ERP software and is usually not in on the bigger ERP deals at tier-one shops, which are dominated by the likes of SAP, PeopleSoft, and Oracle.)
  
  
• Resolutions, the Suwanee, Georgia, provider of document management software for OS/400, Unix, and Windows platforms, recently formed a new partnership with Image Information, a systems integrator in Roswell, Georgia, that specializes in imaging, report management, computer output to laser disk (COLD), and related technologies. As part of the partnership, Image Information has become a master value added reseller for Resolutions and will sell Resolution's complete line of products. Image Information originally formed an agreement in 2002 to sell Resolutions' R-File Manager, an imaging package for converting paper documents into searchable digital records. As a master VAR, Image Information will start selling the rest of the products in the Resolutions line, including R-Forms, R-Fax, R-Checks, and R-Output Manager.
  
  
• ERP vendor Geac has formed a partnership with Lakeview Technology to provide high-availability solutions to its System21 ERP system, the companies announced last week. As part of the agreement, Geac will market Lakeview's OS/40 high-availability software, called MIMIX, to the 1,500 System21 users in the United States. "We have already experienced great success in working with Lakeview to support our European customers, and we look forward to offering this solution to our U.S. customers," says Peter Quinn, general manager of Geac's System21 Americas organization (the System21 team is headquartered in Studley, United Kingdom). It is normal for ISVs to partner with certain high-availability software providers, to standardize implementation practices and to share leads and prospects. Lakeview already has similar partnerships in place with several other OS/400 ERP software vendors, including J.D. Edwards and Fiserv. Lakeview also has an exclusive partnership with Jack Henry & Associates.
  
  
• IBM is loading its big guns with the open-source Linux operating system as it battles Microsoft for the hearts and minds of IT managers in the small and midsized business (SMB) market. Big Blue last week introduced its business partners to Integrated Platform Express. This latest tactic gives IBM's business partner network Linux-based solutions incorporating IBM hardware, an offering that is expected to draw considerable attention in the price-sensitive SMB space. Industry analysts at Gartner say that 45 percent of SMBs are already using or experimenting with Linux. Integrated Platform Express is particularly geared toward business applications, such as e-commerce and customer relationship management, and is designed to integrate with IBM's xSeries Intel-based servers and Express family of software. The goal, IBM says, is to help independent software vendors and resellers quickly create an inexpensive, Linux-based solution they can resell to SMB customers. Those SMBs will most assuredly hear resellers singing the praises of gaining a low-cost platform where new Linux applications can be tested and deployed. Integrated Platform Express includes WebSphere Application Server Express, DB2 Express, and the customer's choice of xSeries models 225, 235, or 345 servers, along with disk storage. It will be available June 27, with prices starting at less than $4,000. For additional information, go to www.ibm.com/linux/integratedplatformexpress.
  
  

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