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.
  
  

• May 10
• May 3
• April 26
• April 19
• April 12

• If you have a server or workstation using the 900 MHz or 1 GHz "McKinley" Itanium 2 processor from Intel, pay attention. According to a report Intel is about to post to its support site, there is an electrical issue with the McKinley processors that, under very specific circumstances, can cause machines to crash. The exact nature of the problem and the conditions under which it manifests are not clear. Intel has developed a test to check for the problem, which OEMs making McKinley-based machines and customers already using them in the field can use. This test will be available through Intel's support organization and through OEMs. Having identified a potentially bad chip, customers have two options. They can clock down the Itanium 2 processor to 800 MHz. The problem does not manifest itself on chips that are slowed down from 900 MHz or 1 GHz to this speed. Or they can contact their OEM or Intel to get a replacement Itanium 2 processor--free of charge--that has been screened and identified as glitch-free. Intel does not plan to suspend shipments of McKinley processors. And the company is using the same test to ensure that the chips it ships now don't have the problem. Intel sources say the problem is not found in the forthcoming 1.5 GHz/6 MB L3 cache "Madison" Itanium 2 processor that Intel is set to debut in mid-2003.
  
  
• OS/400 ERP heavyweights J.D. Edwards and SSA Global Technologies recently announced financial results for their most recent quarters. JDE announced its preliminary financial results for its second fiscal quarter, which ended April 30. Total revenue for the quarter should fall between $200 million and $205 million--a 9 to 13 percent drop from the $224 million it reported a year ago--while license fee revenues of between $42 million and $45 million is expected. Based on those figures, JDE is projecting flat earnings of anywhere from zero to a penny per share. JDE chieftain Bob Dutkowsky says a key factor contributing to this less-than-stellar showing was the unpredictable nature of signing big deals. "We closed five transactions greater than $1 million in the second quarter, compared with nine in the second quarter of fiscal 2002 and eight last quarter," Dutkowsky says. "While we have been selected as the vendor of choice in these specific transactions, when they will close is difficult to predict." JDE will announce its audited results on May 29. SSA GT, which is a privately held company and is not required to disclose detailed financial results, reported total revenues of $79.1 million for its fiscal 2003 third quarter, which ended April 30. The company says these sales represent a 57 percent increase over the third quarter of 2002 (before its December 2002 acquisition of Infinium Software). The company says it's on track to hit $280 million in total revenue, which SSA GT president and chief executive Michael Greenough set as the goal at the company's user conference last year. SSA GT's planned acquisition of Elevon, which had revenues of about $42 million last year, could help SSA GT hit its revenue goal.
  
  
• Jacada and SEAGULL, two of the most visible providers of modernization software for OS/400 servers, recently announced financial results. Jacada reported total revenue of $5.1 million for its first quarter ended March 31, a decrease of $900,000 compared with last year. Software license revenue was $2.2 million, compared with $2.9 million a year ago, while services and maintenance dropped by about 7 percent, to $2.9 million. Overall, Jacada reported a net loss of $631,000 for the quarter, but that didn't discourage Jacada chief executive Gideon Hollander, who said he was pleased with the company's performance in light of the soft economy and pointed out that the company increased its cash holdings by $1.3 million, to almost $43 million. A day after Jacada announced its numbers, SEAGULL announced preliminary financial results for its 2003 fiscal year, which ended April 30. SEAGULL says its total revenues for the year should show a 6 percent increase over the $26.5 million it reported for the same 12-month period the previous year (the company had 13 months in its fiscal year 2002), which would be $28.1 million. If the preliminary results hold, it would make SEAGULL profitable for the year, says SEAGULL president and chief executive Don Addington. "Our primary goal this year was profitability," he says. "In addition, we achieved revenue growth and grew our cash balance by over 50 percent" to $9 million. SEAGULL expects to announce its audited results June 25.
  
  
• Kronos last week rounded out its 2001 acquisition of the North American Workforce Solutions division of SimplexGrinnell by acquiring the Australian Workforce Solutions business of Simplex International, an affiliate of SimplexGrinnell. Officials for Kronos, which develops a time and attendance package for OS/400, Windows, and Unix, and has expanded into the market for human resources and payroll software through acquisition, say the completion of the company's initial December 2001 acquisition was a logical goal. Kronos says it acquired 8,000 American and Canadian customers of SimplexGrinnell in the initial transaction. In last week's announcement, Kronos said 150 of those customers had converted to Kronos offerings, including Carson Valley Inn, a 230-room resort in Minden, Nevada, that employs 600 people. It is not known how many customers Kronos acquired in its most recent transaction.
  
  
• ASNA has formed a partnership with Centerlogic to develop and deliver OS/400-based .NET solutions to clients in the Northwest United States. Centerlogic, based in Portland, Oregon, was formed five years ago and historically has provided implementation, integration, and consulting services for Microsoft and Novell environments. Centerlogic officials say they are excited about forming a "center of excellence" for ASNA to serve the Northwest. The new partnership creates an opportunity for the two companies "to extend the usefulness of the AS/400 and still allow it to solve complex problems," says Rob Fenstermaker, Centerlogic's chief information officer.
  
  
• Varsity Logistics recently formed a partnership with Satori Software to deliver address-verification technology to companies that rely on OS/400-based shipping applications. The partnership has Varsity's OS/400-based shipping application, ShipSoft, being integrated with MailRoom ToolKit, a suite of tools to help shippers get the best possible mailing rates. In ShipSoft's case, the integration was made with the CASS Agent component of the MailRoom ToolKit, which checks addresses against the U.S. Postal Service's CASS database to weed out old or unused addresses. Varsity says its customers will see several benefits by deploying Satori's CASS address-verification agent, including an elimination of address-correction fees charged by many carriers, a minimization of inaccurate shipments, and an increase in customer satisfaction due to more accurate mailing. In addition to CASS compatibility, MailRoom ToolKit, which runs on a Windows platform and is compatible with any database with .COM connections, delivers ZIP code verification and mail presort tools.
  
  

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