Kisco Sends IBM i Reports to Google Drive Cloud Service
October 23, 2012 Alex Woodie
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Kisco Information Systems last week announced an update to WebReport/i that allows IBM i shops to send their reports and spool files directly to Google Drive, a new cloud storage and synchronization service that competes with Dropbox. The new feature will be useful for IBM i shops looking to expand their report distribution. WebReport/i is an IBM i utility that automates the conversion and distribution of raw spool files from IBM i applications. The software can convert spool files to PDF, HTML, TIF, RTF, XLS, or CSV formats, and then distribute them via email, fax, FTP, or the Web. The software already provided a way for users to share reports over an intranet using a built-in Apache Web server. With the new version 12.03 release, Kisco is stepping report sharing up a notch with support for Google Drive. Google Drive was unveiled earlier this year as a freemium cloud storage and data backup service that works across Windows, Android, iOS, and Mac operating systems. Anybody with a Google account gets up to 5 GB of free space, while 25 GB of space costs $2.49 per month. Drive has also become the repository for Google Docs and works with all of the file formats supported by Docs, such as Word, PDF, TIFF, XLS, and others. Kisco says that, with version 12.03, WebReport/i can now automatically send to Google Drive any IBM i spool files that have been converted to a popular PC format like PDF or CLX. Once the IBM i report has been uploaded to Google Drive, it can be accessed from any supported device, including Web browsers, smart phones, and tablets. “Some configuration work is needed on the IBM i, but a step-by-step guide simplifies these tasks,” Kisco says of enabling the Google Drive function. Google Drive supports a file synchronization feature, but that doesn’t appear to be supported with WebReport/i at this time. Google Drive’s synchronization feature requires client software to be installed on the machines involved with the synchronizing. WebReport/i 12.03 is available now. Pricing for the PDF version of the product starts at $1,995. For more information see www.kisco.com. RELATED STORIES Kisco Bolsters WebReport with New PDF, Distribution Features Kisco Hooks WebReport/400 to Apache for Intranet Serving Kisco Adds Digital Signatures to Spool-to-PDF Tool Kisco Adds Fax Support to WebReport/400 Kisco’s WebReport/400 Now Converts Spool Files to XLS
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