EXTOL Rolls Out Support for i 6.1

July 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

EDI and B2B software maker EXTOL International is the latest company to announce support for i 6.1, the landmark release of the operating system formerly known as i5/OS. Improved Java performance was highlighted by EXTOL as a benefit of the new operating system.

EXTOL develops a series of software products aimed at enabling manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and other supply chain participants to exchange documents and data, using industry standard formats. Each of these EXTOL products, including Business Integrator, Business Collaborator, and EDI Integrator, have been certified to run on the new IBM i 6.1 operating system.

i 6.1 certification required more work on the part of software vendors than past OS releases due to the “program conversion” requirements IBM placed on the new operating system. Because of the extra work required to support the new OS, certification for i 6.1 has been slower than certification for past releases of the operating system.

But the extra work was worth it. According to Stephen Rosen, EXTOL vice president of marketing, the improved Java performance in i 6.1 will help customers. “The optimized Java support and performance improvements in i 6.1 enhance the value customers gain in deploying” EXTOL’s products, he says.

According to IBM’s Global Solutions Directory, there are now 308 applications certified for i 6.1. That is more than twice the number of applications that were certified seven weeks ago.