Alex Woodie
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Quadrant and BCD Re-Align Partner Programs
June 17, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreQuadrant Software and its new subsidiary BCD Software last month rolled out a new business partner program that’s aimed at re-aligning the two companies’ formerly separate reseller programs into a single program.
One of the benefits that Quadrant cited in its February acquisition of BCD was access to a broader product portfolio for both companies’ reseller channels. Quadrant has a big presence in the document management and fax routing business, with its Formtastic and QuadraDocV offerings, while BCD’s claim to fame is developing IBM i-based Web and mobile apps with its WebSmart platform (although it offers a number of point
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Your Next Big Tech Job Is. . . Freelancing
June 16, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreBusinesses are increasingly turning toward freelancers and independent contractors to get the expertise needed to complete many jobs, including IT-related tasks. The trend toward a more itinerant workforce will have repercussions for IBM i shops, including those that are struggling to fill jobs left by retiring Baby Boomers as well as those faced with a flood of applicants for a handful of jobs.
The world around us is looking more temporary by the day. Instead of buying a car, people get a ride via Uber. Just about anything you can think of–a guitar, a bike, the comfort of a dog–is
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SAP Hana For IBM Power Officially In The Works
June 9, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreIBM and SAP last week started talking publicly for the first time about running the HANA in-memory database on Power to create a potent solution for combined analytics/transactional workloads. There’s no firm date yet when we’ll see Power HANA, but the work is progressing as part of a test and evaluation program, the mega-vendors say.
The notion of running the in-memory HANA database on IBM’s Power processors is not a new one. Executives with SAP told IT Jungle it was a possibility when we spoke with them about it last year. “Power is something that we’re looking at very
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IBM Helps Users Find i Needles in CMOD Haystack
June 3, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreMetadata and indexes will only get you so far when you’re looking for one particular document among millions. In some scenarios, the capability to match a specific text string against an entire document repository is the only way to find that needle in a haystack. With the latest release of the Content Manager OnDemand (CMOD) for IBM i, IBM has added a powerful full-text search capability that will help users surface that hard-to-find content.
Full-text search is an optional feature in CMOD for IBM i version 7.2, which IBM announced April 29 and shipped May 2. The new feature was
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Halcyon Fills the ‘Missing Link’ with Interactive Job Log Monitoring
June 3, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreHalcyon Software claims it solved the “missing link” of IBM i message monitoring with a new interactive job log monitoring feature in the latest release of its Systems Operations Suite. The capability to monitor what interactive users do on the system will help administrators close the loop on server monitoring and get a jump on errors that could potentially corrupt data.
The new job log monitor in Systems Operations Suite (SOS) allows administrators to view all application, error, and other messages relating to jobs that are currently running. Normally, this information is transient on the system, hidden from view, and
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LANSA Teaches BPI Tool New SQL, Web Services Tricks
June 3, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreIBM i is a wonder of automation. Many of the tasks that require manual effort on other systems are handled “autonomously,” to use a word from the last decade. The folks at LANSA have long been advocates for a higher state of automated being on the IBM i platform, and the company takes it to new heights with the latest release of Composer, its business process integration (BPI) tool for IBM i and Windows.
LANSA Composer is a chimera that combines a drag-and-drop development interface with a data integration engine to help automate manual processes. Examples of these processes include
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LaserVault Goes SCSI with New Backup Device
June 3, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreThe ongoing flood of data and the low-cost of storage are leading customers in all industries to rethink their backup strategies. In the IBM i world, one backup vendor that’s building momentum in the field of tape displacement is Electronic Storage Corp., the Oklahoma company behind the LaserVault products. Last week, El Store announced the LaserVault UBD SCSI Express, a new edition of its Universal Backup Device product.
El Store launched its first UBD appliance in late 2010 to provide IBM i and Linux customers with a low-cost and easy-to-use alternative to a virtual tape library (VTL). The appliance
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Italian Stock Exchange Protected by Maxava
June 3, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreA critical component of the Italian Stock Exchange that runs on the IBM i server is protected from downtime by high availability software from Maxava, the software company recently revealed.
Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzie (CC&G), or the Clearing and Guarantee Fund, serves as an assurance system as a central counterparty for equity markets and derivatives managed by the Italian Stock Exchange. The organization is responsible for providing efficient, secure, and accurate processing of trading, clearing, and settlement transactions on a real-time basis.
“Every day CC&G keeps track of thousands of transactions,” Mauro Fonzo, head of systems management at
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BCD Spruces Up Web and Doc Management Tools
June 3, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreWebSmart customers will find a few new features aimed at programmer productivity in the version 10.2 release, which BCD Software unveiled at the recent COMMON conference in Florida. The Chicago subsidiary of Quadrant Software also updated its Catapult and Nexus Portal tools.
WebSmart 10.2 brings several features that will appeal to RPG or PHP programmers; the product, you will remember, is available in both ILE and PHP versions to fit the needs of both types of customers.
For starters, the WebSmart IDE now highlights matching parentheses and braces, which will make it easier for programmers to find and fix coding
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Textile Manufacturer Gets EDI Help from Robot
June 3, 2014 Alex Woodie
… Read moreWhen Standard Textile decided to move its EDI translator from IBM i to Windows, the company knew it needed a solid way to make the new Windows-based EDI talk with its core JD Edwards system running on IBM i. The company found what it needed in the guise of the Robot/SCHEDULE software from HelpSystems.
Standard Textile makes a variety of textile products–including sheets, blankets, window treatments, upholstery fabrics, uniforms, workwear, and napery–and sells them to customers all around the world. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company is privately held, and employs about 4,000 people.
About 80 percent of Standard Textile’s orders