But Wait, There's More

• IBM must be getting nervous about the uptake of its new iSeries machines in the second quarter, because it has announced an actual discount to customers upgrading from Model 7XX servers to new iSeries Model 810 or 825 machines. IBM normally gives rebates, good toward the purchase of other IBM products, and has rarely instituted real discounts. People want to spend less money, and IBM seems to understand that. In any event, companies that upgrade and take shipment of the machine in the second quarter (which means IBM can book the sale in that quarter) can get a 10 percent discount; those that take delivery of the machine in the third quarter will get a measly 2 percent discount. This deal expires September 19 and appears to be available only in the Americas region. In a separate promotion, IBM is offering a $600 educational coupon to companies that buy WebSphere Application Server or WebSphere Studio before June 30. This deal looks like it applies only to zSeries customers, but if you hassle IBM you can probably get it for iSeries licenses, too.
  
  

• 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 26
• April 19
• April 12
• April 5
• March 29

• IBM is now shipping an updated version of its WebFacing Tool that converts green-screen 5250 applications into Web-enabled applications that run as batch workloads. On April 25, IBM started shipping WebSphere Development Studio Client for iSeries version 5.0 (WDSc), an Eclipse-based IDE that includes the updated version of the WebFacing Tool. The updated WebFacing Tool is a critical component of the restructuring and repackaging of the iSeries because it provides a way for companies to almost eliminate the need for 5250 protocol to run RPG and COBOL applications. This means companies can purchase new iSeries Model 810s, 825s, 870s, or 890s with the Standard Edition of OS/400, a much less expensive option than the Enterprise Edition (which provides unlimited 5250 transaction processing). But there's a lot more to WDSc 5.0 than just the WebFacing Tool. The toolset, intended as a replacement for older development tools like PDM, SEU, and SDA, combines all of the different development tools programmers will need to write RPG, COBOL, DDS, C, C++, XML, and HTML applications for their iSeries, as well as to write Java applications for execution in the WebSphere Application Server. The Advanced Edition of WDSc 5.0, which IBM also started shipping a couple of weeks ago, adds support for Enterprise JavaBean. WDSc is a must-have toolset for anybody doing development on new iSeries servers. For this reason, it has been said that the WebFacing Tool is free, although in actuality users will be paying for it when they buy WDSc.
  
  
• John Earl was appointed to COMMON's board of directors last week. Earl, who works as chief technical officer at OS/400 security software company PowerTech Group, was chosen to temporarily fill the seat vacated by Paula Hodge, who resigned her post April 16, citing increased work responsibilities. Hodge, who is the director of information services at the Braille Institute of America, had served as the COMMON board's secretary since October 2000 and was reelected to the board last October, along with former president Charlie Massoglia. Current president Bob Boyson said he hopes to use Earl's skills to build COMMON's membership. "John Earl has outstanding qualifications and I'm delighted we moved quickly to appoint him," Boyson said. Earl brings more than 20 years of industry experience to the post. He has been a COMMON volunteer since 1998 and once served as the president for his local user group in Seattle. Earl's term expires in October 2005, at which time he may seek reelection.
  
  
• FormScape last week announced it has joined J.D. Edwards's ISV Program, making it the first document management software vendor accepted into JDE's new business partner program. As a participant in the program, FormScape will be given access to JDE APIs and a blessing from JDE to work with users to make the integration work. JDE formed the ISV Program last year to make it easier for independent software vendors to interface with JDE software, and to pick up some of the slack created when the company announced it would no longer certify the successful integration of more than one software vendor's product in certain product categories that complement JDE's ERP software, including document management software. The company whose product JDE chose to certify for future releases of its ERP system was Create!form International, a competitor of FormScape. The relationship between JDE and Create!form hasn't stopped FormScape from going after JDE users, a much sought-after group for the document management vendors. Last month, FormScape announced a new product called FormScape Express for J.D. Edwards, a scaled-down version of its product FormScape Enterprise for J.D. Edwards. More than 500 JDE shops use FormScape to manage their document output, the company claims.
  
  
• DRV Technologies, an Atlanta-based developer of a spool file management program for the iSeries and AS/400 platform, last week announced it has formed a partnership with Advanced Logic Solutions, a developer of OS/400 financial applications, also based near Atlanta. Under the terms of the agreement, Advanced Logic Solutions will resell DRV Technologies' SpoolFlex as a complement to its product line, which includes the Pacioli/400 Suite, Pacioli/400 Power Ledger, and ControllerVision. DRV Technologies president Richard Voss says the partnership will provide his product with exposure to new customers. Advanced Logic Solutions' financial applications can be used by many OS/400-based ERP systems, although the company has well-documented interfaces to MAPICS and DMAS, an ERP package for wholesale distributors developed by Software Solutions, which changed its name to Aperum in January. Development on the Pacioli/400 suite is done in Kiev, Ukraine.
  
  
• The security software industry breathed a sigh of relief last week, when Scotland Yard arrested a man believed to be the notorious hacker "Fluffi Bunni." Bunni gained notoriety and respect in hacker circles for his daring and successful attacks on the Web sites of some of the leading Internet security firms, including SANS Institute, an IT security education and training firm, and SecurityFocus, a security services firm that hosts the Bugtraq mailing list, which Symantec acquired last year for $75 million. After breaking into the Web sites, Bunni often humiliated his victims by posting a picture of a stuffed pink rabbit at a keyboard and the message "Fluffi Bunni ownz you." But Bunni's biggest stunt--and the one that got him on the FBI's radar screen--was a hack of DNS registrar NetNames following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That hack allowed Bunni to simultaneously deface thousands of Web sites with the message "Fluffi Bunni goes Jihad." The man that Scotland Yard arrested last week in suspicion of being Fluffi Bunni is Lynn Htun, age 24. Htun was collared while attending the InfoSecurity Europe 2003 software conference in London.
  
  

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Protect your iSeries or AS/400 from unwanted network intrustions The iSeries 400 (AS/400) has changed much over the last few years. In the process, it has changed its role in most organizations from a centralized processor to a decentralized server. In the old days, you could easily point to the wealth of data security features built into OS/400. This gave you a feeling of confidence in the integrity of your data. With the recent changes, your confidence may not be as high, and rightly so! Most iSeries installations support attached PCs in some form of Client/Server function. For some shops, this takes the form of PC's that are simply running terminal and printer emulation. Many more shops are running a variety of Client/Server functions on these PCs. Neither of these arrangements bodes well in the area of network security; read on. Did you know . . . Many Client/Server functions bypass traditional OS/400 security checking unless you have fully implemented object level security. Without this same full implementation of object level security, a PC-based Client database tool, such as Microsoft Access, can ACCESS any data file on your system. That same MS Access user can UPDATE any data file on your system. The same MS Access user can even DELETE records or files on your system. SafeNet/400, from Kisco Information Systems, protects your iSeries system from unwanted and unauthorized access via network connections, including the Internet. It lets authorized users do the work they need while keeping unauthorized users out. Modern network connections, like Client Access/400, FTP, ODBC and others, can leave the information on your AS/400 exposed. SafeNet/400 closes this exposure, and it does it without forcing you to change the way you already have your system set up. For more information, visit www.kisco.com/safenet. Go to www.kisco.com/tips for free helpful advice about configuring security on your system.