Alex Woodie
Alex Woodie is Senior Editor at IT Jungle. He was previously editor of two of IT Jungle's main newsletters, Four Hundred Stuff and The Windows Observer. Prior to joining Midrange Server (as Guild Companies was formerly called) in October 2001, Alex was a products editor at now defunct publisher Midrange Computing, where he was first introduced to the AS/400 and covered hardware, software, and services for Midrange Technology SHOWCASE magazine. Before joining Midrange Computing, Alex was a staff writer for The Insurance Journal and a reporter and columnist with The Paradise Post newspaper. Woodie obtained his Bachelors of Arts degree in journalism from Humboldt State University in 1997. Upon graduation, Alex intended to make his way onto a major daily newspaper, but in 1999 he found himself drawn to the high-technology industry, where his background in science and engineering has suited him well. He lives in Northern San Diego County. When he is not writing next week's newsletters, Alex can be found in his favorite chair reading the day's paper, in the kitchen, or at the beach.
-
VAULT400 to Protect Food Service Company
June 4, 2013 Alex Woodie
Reinhart Foodservice, the largest independently owned food service distributor in the United States, has tapped United Computer Group to provide cloud backup and disaster recovery services for its IBM i environment. The company is using UCG’s VAULT400 solution to help minimize downtime of its critical IBM i applications.
Reinhart Foodservice (RFS) provides fresh produce, proteins, ingredients, supplies, and equipment to customers in 45 states. The company operates 30 warehouses around the country, and serves the East, South, and Midwest of the country through its own fleet of trucks.
RFS worked with North American Systems International, a value added reseller
-
Accellion Debuts Mobile Printing Solution
June 4, 2013 Alex Woodie
Accellion, a provider of mobile file transfer solutions, recently unveiled apps for iOS and Android that allow users to print directly from their smartphones. The offerings are based on Ricoh HotSpot Enterprise software, which debuted last year.
Smartphones and tablets are changing the way people work. However, when it comes to connecting to printers and printing documents, they fall short of the PCs that they are in some ways replacing.
Ricoh debuted its HotSpot Enterprise solution in December to get around this inconvenience. HotSpot Enterprise enables users to print directly from a mobile device to a printer or multi-function
-
Google and Amazon: Your New Friendly Neighborhood Industrial Parts Suppliers
June 4, 2013 Alex Woodie
Small and midsize distributors in the U.S. have a lot to worry about. Now they have even more, thanks to the new business-to-business (B2B) supplier operations recently launched by Internet juggernauts Amazon and Google. The services, both of which are in beta, could provide another sales channel for wholesale distributors–or they could become direct competitors.
Amazon claims to have more than 750,000 items available on its AmazonSupply website, which evolved from its SmallParts.com website and launched in 2012. Everything from air cylinders to zinc latches can be found here, which Amazon dubs “the Store for Business and Industry.”
AmazonSupply
-
Construction Firm Happy with eCMS 4.0 and IBM i System
June 4, 2013 Alex Woodie
Rudolph/Libbe, a full-service general contractor serving the entire country, has a platform it can build from now that it has completed an upgrade to eCMS 4.0, the current release of the IBM i-based construction management system developed by Computer Guidance Corp.
Based in Walbridge, Ohio, Rudolph/Libbe is one of the largest construction firms in the country. The company provides a wide range of construction, maintenance, and facility-related services to organizations across the country.
In 1996, Rudolph/Libbe and its sister company GEM, a specialty contractor, became Computer Guidance customers and adopted its CMS. About a decade ago, the companies upgraded to
-
TMW Delivers Web Interface for IBM i Trucking App
June 4, 2013 Alex Woodie
TMW Systems is now giving users of the Innovative IES trucking application the option of accessing the application through a Web browser. The new Web Edition of the IBM i application should bolster usability, especially for new users, and also provide access from smartphones and tablets.
Innovative IES–Web Edition enables users to access the entire dispatching and fleet management application and all its functionality from a GUI delivered in a Web browser. This release supports three browsers, including IE, Firefox, and Chrome, including those browsers running on mobile devices.
The new Web interface should make it easier for new users
-
IBM i Security Firm Looks To Mobile Biometrics For Growth
June 3, 2013 Alex Woodie
The day is fast approaching when people who need access to sensitive data will be able to authenticate themselves using biometrics embedded right on their smart phone. Industry experts anticipate Apple to embed a biometric scanner of some sort into the next version of its iPhone. And when it does, the folks at Valid Technologies will gleefully ride Apple’s coattails as it rushes to keep up with orders for its IBM i-based biometric authentication software.
At least that is the hope for Valid, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida. Liberty-loving Americans display a general wariness and resistance to using
-
Fresche Legacy Discusses Three IBM i Modernization Cases
May 21, 2013 Alex Woodie
The reasons why organizations undertake IBM i application modernization initiatives are as varied as organizations themselves. Sometimes, it’s people-driven, while other times, the technology itself needs a refresh. With 12 years in the modernization business, the folks at Fresche Legacy (formerly Speedware) have seen it all. Recently, the company shared details of three current IBM i modernization projects.
Fresche Legacy is a Montreal, Quebec, company that specializes in application modernization. Much of its work entails IBM i servers, IBM i technologies, and IBM i-centric languages, such as RPG, COBOL, CL, and SYNON. The company is as well-versed with IBM i
-
WebSmart Flattens the PHP Learning Curve
May 21, 2013 Alex Woodie
When it comes to learning PHP, there is no shortage of information available on the Web, where thousands of tutorials and forums can be accessed with the touch of a button. But for RPG veterans who prefer a little handholding with their PHP, like IBM i consultant Russ Khoury, a different approach is warranted. Khoury found the WebSmart PHP package from BCD provided a way to learn PHP in an environment that is both structured and productive. New templates just released in WebSmart PHP 9.5 should further boost productivity.
Khoury has been developing and maintaining applications for clients in the
-
Tango/04 Eyes Business Agility with Updated Monitoring Tools
May 21, 2013 Alex Woodie
Tango/04 last week announced the general availability of SmartConsole 8.0, the latest version of its multi-platform systems monitoring tool that includes new iOS and Android tablet interfaces and a cloud back end. The software can be used for much more than delivering notification of a failed job on the IBM i server, as Tango/04 is setting is sites on helping customers to monitor a wide range of business events as a means to increase agility.
Tango/04 built a name for itself by providing systems monitoring and management capabilities for the IBM i platform with its flagship VISUAL Message Center product.
-
Surround Tech Reaches Milestone with Dev Tool
May 21, 2013 Alex Woodie
Surround Technologies recently shipped Accelerator for .NET version 4.0, a major new release of its .NET-centric development tool for creating new applications from IBM i database files, or modernizing existing ones. The new version includes an HTML5 client that can support nearly all of the same user interface controls that Surround Tech has supported on its full Windows client, as well as faster code generation.
Version 4 represents a milestone for Accelerator for .NET, an application framework that includes a series of pre-built components and wizard-driven code generators that plug into Microsoft Visual Studio. Surround Tech has been working toward