But Wait, There's More

iSCSI Support for iSeries a Long-Term Goal for IBM

Support for iSCSI on the iSeries is "likely" in the future, an IBM storage director said last week. But don't hold your breath. "In the past, IBM has picked up other storage attachments for the iSeries, and while there is not a near-term plan to put iSCSI on the iSeries, it is likely that there will be in the future," said Clod Barerra, IBM storage strategy director. Eventually, this will be good news for small and midsized OS/400 shops looking for a low-cost alternative to Fibre Channel in the creation of storage area networks (SANs). IBM rolled out its first iSCSI SAN server recently, the TotalStorage DS300, which starts at $3,000 and is targeted at low-cost iSCSI storage servers sold by Dell but made by EMC. Large companies that are looking to save money by consolidating their storage for their iSeries, Unix, Windows, Linux, and mainframe servers can buy high-end Fibre Channel-based storage arrays from IBM or EMC, but these are very expensive boxes, fit only for the largest enterprises, running a mix of platforms. (IBM also says that the iSeries itself can function as a SAN for Windows servers, but the limitation of connecting to only xSeries servers via the adapters really makes it not a SAN in the true sense of the term).

Judge Decides in Favor of Oracle

If Oracle did buy PeopleSoft, it would not be such a bad idea after all. At least that's the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, who ruled on Thursday that the proposed merger of the mega ERP software firms is not likely to threaten competition in the market, and therefore would not violate antitrust laws. The ruling is a stinging defeat for PeopleSoft and the Department of Justice. It is also a shock to many industry insiders who have warned that such a merger would have a detrimental ripple effect throughout the markets for high-function human-resources-management and financial-management-systems software, where this battle is being waged, and into the overall IT market as well.

PeopleSoft's board of directors issued a statement Thursday noting that it would review the implications of the ruling, and defiantly restated that it had already "carefully considered and unanimously rejected each of Oracle's offers, including its current offer of $21 per share." Many of PeopleSoft's customers are vocally against an Oracle takeover.

Regardless of the judgment, it is likely that appeals will be made and Oracle will also face antitrust challenges from the European Union.

New Generation Software to Resell TGI's ERP Offerings

New Generation Software, a developer of business intelligence software for the OS/400 platform, and Technology Group International, which develops an ERP software package for OS/400, Unix, Linux, and Windows platforms, strengthened their partnership recently. New Generation Software, based in Sacramento, California, has joined Toledo, Ohio, based Technology Group International's reseller channel as a Silver Partner and will resell the Enterprise suite. While Technology Group International develops ERP for many platforms, New Generation Software will concentrate on serving the iSeries sector, says Dave Gillman, New Generation's channels manager. "The agreement strengthens our partnership with TGI and allows us to further expand NGS's iSeries software offering by adding the Enterprise Series software suite," he says.

QRS Turns Down JDA Software, to Be Acquired by Inovis

Inovis, the developer of EDI and B2B communications software for OS/400 and other platforms, has stepped in to acquire QRS for $116 million, following a failed bid for QRS by JDA Software. Publicly traded QRS develops a range of products for B2B supply chain communication, product data synchronization, and collaborative sourcing of merchandise, and counts 9,800 users in the retail and manufacturing sector. QRS said last week that it terminated a June merger agreement it signed with JDA and another company, CVP2 Corp., and as such will pay JDA a transaction termination fee of $3.75 million. QRS was courted with unsolicited bids by five different companies, according to the Wall Street Journal, but it looks like the marriage to Inovis is going to stick. "QRS looks forward to delivering superior value to its stockholders by consummating the merger with Inovis," Liz Fetter, president and chief executive of QRS, said.

Vision Solutions Hires Another Ex-Lakeview Employee

High availability software developer Vision Solutions has hired another former employee from rival Lakeview Technology. Last week the Irvine, California, software company announced that Stephen Massey has been appointed its new executive vice president of worldwide sales. Massey is a 30-year veteran of the high technology business and has enjoyed stints at Star Data Systems, Sirius Computer Solutions (Lakeview's biggest reseller partner), as well as Lakeview Technology, where he was vice president of worldwide sales and vice president of business development. "I am very pleased to welcome Steve on board at Vision Solutions," said Alan Arnold, president and chief operating officer of Vision Solutions. "His strong global sales-management and business-development experience, as well as his deep knowledge of the high availability marketplace, make him a valuable addition to our team." Massey joins former Lakeview executive David Wegman, Vision's executive vice president of marketing and development.

Jack Henry Makes Two More Acquisitions for eChecks, Turnkey Insurance Offerings

Jack Henry & Associates, the developer of banking systems for OS/400 and other platforms, made two acquisitions last week. First, the Monett, Missouri, company bought privately held Select Payment Processing, a Texas-based provider of a Web-based electronic check processing system that converts paper-based checks into electronic checks and then processes them through the ACH network. The check processing system, based on Microsoft technology, allows checks to be used much like credit cards and is offered by banks, third-party payment processors, utilities, and others. The acquisition is subject to approval by Select Payment's shareholders, which is expected in the next couple of weeks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Jack Henry also announced the acquisition of Banc Insurance Service, a Massachusetts outsourcing provider that helps financial institutions get their insurance offerings up and running with a minimum of hassle. The company, which currently has 15 clients, allows banks and credit unions to own a complete insurance agency solution without the significant capital investments required to build or buy an agency, or the inherent operational risks, Jack Henry says. The deal is done, and terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

IBM Forms Industry Group for Automotive

IBM recently launched a new industry group within its PartnerWorld network designed specifically for third-party software developers targeting the automotive industry. More than 100 ISVs have committed to joining the PartnerWorld Automotive Industry Network, including several that target the OS/400 platform, such as PeopleSoft, DMS Systems, DST, and Informatica. The PartnerWorld Industry Network, headed by former iSeries general manager Buell Duncan, has attracted 1,500 ISVs across 43 countries in several established industry-specific groups, including banking, financial markets, healthcare/life sciences, retail, government, insurance, and telecommunications. ISVs that join IBM's industry networks gain access to IBM technical know-how, sales and marketing support, and IBM Business Consulting Services. In exchange, the ISVs are encouraged to develop software for IBM's middleware stack.