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 24
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• April 26

• OS/400 shops who are looking to upgrade from IBM's old Application Development Manager (ADM) to a more modern third-party change management system don't have to hurry. Last week, IBM and Aldon Computer Group announced that the ADM-to-Affiniti migration program has been extended indefinitely. Aldon, which is based in Emeryville, California, says the two organizations decided to extend the migration program based on the success they have had moving users to Affiniti, Aldon's GUI-based software change management (SCM) system for managing development occurring across platforms, including iSeries, Windows, Web, and UNIX environments. IBM's marketing manager for iSeries application development Dave Slater says Affiniti meets the demands of modern developers. "To be effective in the world of e-business development, SCM tools need to be able to manage C++ and Java source code in the Integrated File System," he says. "Affiniti offers the capabilities ADM customers need as they move to e-business development."
  
  
• General Atlantic Partners, which took a large stake in SSA Global Technologies this spring, is in final negotiations to purchase the Baan business unit from Invensys, the Financial Times reported last week. In early April, General Atlantic invested $75 million into SSA GT, the Chicago, Illinois, ERP software vendor that has been gobbling up other ERP software suites, with a special appetite for OS/400-based suites. In mid April, Invensys put its Dutch software unit, Baan, on the auction block. The struggling English conglomerate said it is divesting itself of Baan, which it acquired for nearly $715 million in 2000, in an attempt to realign itself along its core competencies. SSA GT emerged early on as the most likely successful suitor, as Invensys' OS/400-based ERP suite for process manufacturers, PRISM, seems to fit in nicely with SSA GT's other ERP product lines, which include BPCS, PRMS, Infinium, and more than a dozen others. The iBaan ERP suite runs on OS/400, Unix, and Windows as well. Ironically, General Atlantic was instrumental in making Baan a powerhouse of enterprise software in the 1990s. In the early 1980s, the venture firm invested $20 million in Baan, which soon thereafter grew rapidly. General Atlantic was also involved in Baan's most recent restructuring in the late 1990s. The Financial Times reports that Invensys is considering selling the whole Baan subsidiary (which may include more than just the iBaan ERP suite) to General Atlantic for about $139 million.
  
  
• Jim Stracka, founder of OS/400 security software company PentaSafe Security Technologies, which was acquired by systems management and security software maker NetIQ last year, has a new gig. Stracka has joined forces with founder and former CEO of Icon Strategies, Mark Blankenship, to cofound W5 Technologies, in Houston. The new company's product is a software offering called Enhanced Sales Process technology, designed to help companies use the Web and e-mail to track sales-related activities originating from environments that aren't conducive to electronic tracking, such as direct mail, print advertising, and tradeshows. W5 Technologies is delivering this offering as a Web-based service, via the application service provider model, with help from VeriCenter, also in Houston. Stracka has big plans for his new endeavor. "We built PentaSafe with over 200 percent year-over-year growth and headcount growing from seven to 250 in the first three years, and that was selling only to a niche security market," he says. "W5 has a potential client base exponentially higher than the security space--every company has a sales process. With this super-charged sales force, we plan to grow W5 at an even faster pace than PentaSafe."
  
  
• Business intelligence software vendor SPSS last week announced the promotion of Neil Olson to head the company's research and development efforts. Olson joined the Chicago, Illinois, based company with its 2001 acquisition of ShowCase Corp, which developed a business intelligence application, called Strategy, for the OS/400 platform. Olson had previously been director of product development at SPSS's development labs in Rochester, Minnesota, and Richmond, California. In his new role as vice president of research and development, Olson will be in charge of the development of Strategy, as well as SigmaPlot and SigmaStat, the company's technical graphing and statistical analysis software line. Olson joined ShowCase in 1991 and makes his home in Rochester.
  
  
• OS/400 business intelligence software vendor Silvon Software and iSeries reseller Sirius Computer Solutions last week formed a joint marketing alliance. The new partnership calls for Sirius, which is based in San Antonio, Texas, to sell Stratum, the business intelligence software developed by Westmont, Illinois-based Silvon. iSeries general manager Al Zollar applauded the partnership, saying it typifies the growing move by software and hardware providers to leverage each other's market leadership and expertise. "It's a pleasure for us to watch and further encourage strategic efforts between our resellers and independent software vendors in order to optimally address the key business requirements of IBM's customers," he says. Silvon, which was founded in 1987, specializes in providing analytical solutions to mid-market companies in the manufacturing, wholesale distribution, and retail industries, and counts 1,500 customers.
  
  

The article on W5 Technologies originally contained several errors. The article incorrectly stated that Mark Blankenship was CEO of Shell Chemical Company; he is in fact a founder and former CEO of Icon Strategies. The article also originally misspelled Mark Blankenship's name. Guild Companies regrets the errors. [Corrections made 7/08/03]

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