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.
  
  

• September 6
• August 30
• August 23
• August 16
• August 2

• The U.S. arm of IBM has decided that upgrades from AS/400 Model 7XX servers to the new iSeries Model 8XX servers are not moving fast enough, so it is quietly chopping the prices on upgrades. The new upgrade prices went into effect on August 26 and, to our knowledge, IBM did not issue a customer announcement letter on the changes. In any event, sources tell us the promotion is really aimed at Model 720-2061 and 720-2062 customers who should be upgrading to Model 810-2465 servers before all 7XX-to-8XX upgrade paths are withdrawn from marketing on October 8. IBM's promotional discounts for these two Model 720 machines ranged from $4,200 to $12,800, depending on the features installed on the Model 720 that customers were ditching and on the Model 810 they were buying. Under the new promotion, that discount ranges from $16,800 to $21,500. This is a discount of between 30 and 38 percent off the list price of the 720-to-810 upgrade. Our guess is that a properly motivated IBM--meaning an IBM that thought you were going to spend money right now--would be happy to give similar discounts on any 7XX-to-8XX upgrade.
  
  
• When IBM revamped the iSeries line in January, it announced daily-capacity-on-demand pricing for iSeries hardware. If you need a little extra capacity on a Model 825, 870, or 890 server, you can pay $1,100, $1,200, or $1,300 per processor per day to temporarily activate those processors. While this is all well and good, many of the new applications on the iSeries--like WebSphere, Domino, and Tivoli products--have processor-based prices for a perpetual license, not for daily use. That's why IBM has announced daily per-processor prices for these programs when running on iSeries machines. Now the software pricing scheme matches the capacity-on-demand pricing for hardware. According to Mahyar Anklesaria, manager of software offerings at IBM's Software Group, the per-day pricing for this software is roughly based on the same 45-day ratio that IBM uses for processors. To come up with daily charges, IBM divides the cost of buying the software license by 45 and computes a daily price. iSeries customers who think they will frequently need extra capacity, or will need to use software on that extra capacity, might think twice before using the capacity-on-demand offering. If they use it anything close to 30 days a year, it might make more sense just to buy it, particularly if they amortize the cost over several years when they acquire the hardware and the software.
  
  
• The future may be in outsourcing, but that doesn't mean the future is pretty. This conclusion can be drawn from a pair of studies on outsourcing released last week by Gartner and Forrester, which say companies will struggle to use outsourcing efficiently and that outsourcers will struggle to deliver more than the most basic services. The Gartner report says that, by 2005, 70 percent of enterprises will use more than three external service providers, but that less than 10 percent of those customers "will have the appropriate processes and governance structures to effectively manage multiple ESPs [external service providers]." The Forrester report, on the other hand, concludes that the market for business process outsourcing is "overhyped" (as opposed to just enough hype, we suppose). Forrester says companies that experiment with business process outsourcing are reporting inflexible contracts, difficulty in managing vendors, and a lack of performance metrics. "Although some firms show BPO savings, vendors overstate their current offerings," said Forrester's group director, John McCarthy. The analyst firm says by far the most successful business-process-outsourcing offerings will include management of bulk transactions, such as credit card and stock trade processing, and broad shared services, such as human resources and payroll. It also says the market for business process outsourcing will grow to $146 billion in 2008, and that the marketplace will fragment.
  
  
• Still not convinced you need disaster recovery planning? What are you waiting for? According to a recent survey, it took terrorism to convince one-third of the IT managers interviewed to create a plan. Yet even in the aftermath of the recent blackout on the East Coast, which cost New York City companies $36 million per hour (a total of more than $1 billion), U.S. companies still are not giving disaster recovery the attention it deserves, according to VERITAS, the disaster-recovery software vendor, which commissioned the study. The study, conducted by Dynamic Markets Ltd. of the United Kingdom, says that more than one-quarter of the 877 IT managers interviewed say their company would be at risk if a disaster were to stike. "Results still show an alarming disregard toward elevating disaster recovery to its rightful position as a top-tier corporate concern," says Mark Bregman, executive vice president for VERITAS. The most potent perceived threat, according to the study, is hardware failures (61 percent), followed by software failures and viruses (both 59 percent), fires (56 percent), hackers (36 percent), and accidental employee errors (31 percent). Terrorism was perceived as a serious threat by 25 percent of the respondents, while hurricanes and tornados--which have caused some of the worst disasters in the United States--scored a paltry 6 percent on the disaster-recovery threat-o-meter.
  
  
• Microsoft has certified Attachmate's 5250 application connector for the .NET framework, Attachmate announced last week. The Bellevue, Washington, company received the .NET certification for two of its Version 2.1 myEXTRA! Smart Connectors: for 3270/5250 and for UTS/T27. These connectors allow users to integrate their systems with new applications, which can be developed in a variety of languages, including Microsoft's .NET tools, Java, among others. These Attachmate products now carry the Microsoft .NET Connected logo.
  
  
• Island Pacific, a developer of OS/400 applications for retailers, and Kyrus, a reseller of point-of-sale and iSeries systems, announced an alliance last week. Kyrus, which is based in South Carolina, has agreed to market, sell, and implement Island Pacific's iSeries-based solutions set, particularly the Irvine, California, company's entry-level OS/400-based solution, called Einstein in a Box. This solution, which is designed for smaller retailers, with 15 stores or less, delivers most of the functionality users will need, including purchase order management, receiving, distribution, price management, and basic stock and merchandise analysis, as well as upgrades to Island Pacific's OS/400 offering called IPOne Retail.
  
  

Sponsored By WORKSRIGHT SOFTWARE

Do you need area code information? Do you need ZIP Code information? Do you need ZIP+4 information? Do you need city name information? Do you need county information? Do you need a nearest dealer locator system? We can HELP! We have affordable AS/400 software and data to do all of the above. Whether you need a simple city name retrieval system or a sophisticated CASS postal coding system, we have it for you! The ZIP/CITY system is based on 5-digit ZIP Codes. You can retrieve city names, state names, county names, area codes, time zones, latitude, longitude, and more just by knowing the ZIP Code. We supply information on all the latest area code changes. A nearest dealer locator function is also included. ZIP/CITY includes software, data, monthly updates, and unlimited support. The cost is $495 per year. PER/ZIP4 is a sophisticated CASS certified postal coding system for assigning ZIP Codes, ZIP+4, carrier route, and delivery point codes. PER/ZIP4 also provides county names and FIPS codes. PER/ZIP4 can be used interactively, in batch, and with callable programs. PER/ZIP4 includes software, data, monthly updates, and unlimited support. The cost is $3,900 for the first year, and $1,950 for renewal. Just call us and we'll arrange for 30 days FREE use of either ZIP/CITY or PER/ZIP4. WorksRight Software, Inc. Phone: 601-856-8337 Fax: 601-856-9432 E-mail: software@worksright.com Web site: www.worksright.com