Alex Woodie
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ERP Flexibility Trumps Loyalty In The Cloud
August 22, 2022 Alex Woodie
How much loyalty exists in the ERP business? More than you might think, according to a new survey by ERP software provider Epicor. However, that loyalty only lasts so long in the fast-changing world of cloud ERP, SaaS solutions, and digital transformation, it found.
Epicor’s Industry Insights Report 2022 sheds some light on the state of the ERP industry, in particular the manufacturing segment where the Austin, Texas-based software company is most prominent.
One of the more interesting findings in the report, which was released earlier this year, concerned the level of loyalty that ERP customers feel toward their …
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The Cloud’s Future Is So Bright, So Why Are You So Glum?
August 17, 2022 Alex Woodie
It’s tough not to be excited about the cloud, that amalgamation of servers that Gartner says will account for half of enterprise IT spending by 2025. The cloud is where the action is; it’s where everyone is headed. So what’s holding you back? The cloud, it turns out, is not so rosy for those without a clear path to get there.
We’re in the steep part of the public cloud’s growth phase at the moment, thanks in part to COVID-19, which turbo-charged digital transformation projects, Gartner declared in a report earlier this year. The cloud’s growth comes at the …
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Most App Modernization Projects a Struggle, Survey Finds
August 17, 2022 Alex Woodie
If you’re having trouble getting your application modernization project off the ground, you’re not alone. In a recent survey of IT leaders who have been involved with application modernization, more than 90 percent said they have struggled with the projects. The biggest pain points probably won’t surprise you.
The survey, which was conducted on behalf of the Chicago-based IT consulting firm Asperitas Consulting, involved 150 IT leaders with titles like manager, director, VP, and CIO. The survey was restricted to individuals who have previous experience with application modernization projects, and who work at companies with at least 1,000 employees. …
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COMMON Launches IBM i Security Conference
August 17, 2022 Alex Woodie
Security is a big concern for IBM i professionals, and now the topic is getting its very own conference. COMMON recently announced that the inaugural i on Security 2022 conference will take place this October in conjunction with its NAViGATE conference in St. Louis, Missouri.
Security on the IBM i has been dismal for many years, according the annual PowerTech State of Security report, which has documented the poor security practices of IBM i shops. While the servers can be locked down as tightly as any in the industry, the combination of poor configuration, archaic programming models, and lazy administrative …
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IBM Puts The Finishing Touches On PowerHA For IBM i 7.5
August 15, 2022 Alex Woodie
If you have been waiting to use the new release of PowerHA SystemMirror for IBM i 7.5, then we have good news for you: IBM has finally completed the paperwork necessary to enable customers to actually get it.
Unless you have a soft spot in your heart for IBM product IDs and feature codes (we know you’re out there), the August 9 software announcement doesn’t have a whole lot of actionable information. IBM says that it has updated the product “with the necessary product IDs and feature codes to complete the required ordering and upgrade structure,” which is IBM-speak for …
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Big Blue Unveils New Scalable VTL For IBM i
August 8, 2022 Alex Woodie
IBM has unveiled the iDSI620, a new virtual tape library (VTL) for the IBM i server, developed by its business partner, Dynamic Solutions International, that scales incrementally via 1 TB chunks up to 240 TB of storage capacity.
The iDSI620 is designed to keep pace with customers rapidly expanding data environment without requiring new hardware, according to IBM.
“With iDSI620, there is no disruption to your data protection as your capacity or performance needs change,” IBM states in its July 26 software announcement. “You can simply add a storage license to your existing solution.”
As a customer’s data …
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JD Edwards Customers Face Support Decisions
August 3, 2022 Alex Woodie
JD Edwards was the gold standard for ERP software on the IBM midrange server for many years. But with end-of-support dates looming from Oracle, many JD Edwards customers – especially users of the World package – must make some decisions about the future of their ERP system.
In April, as it has planned for years, Oracle ceased providing premiere support for JD Edwards World, the older, RPG-based ERP package originally developed. This marks the first time in decades that the World product is not under mainstream support from its owner.
However, the software giant will continue to honor extended support …
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Security, Automation, and Cloud Top Midrange IT Priorities, Study Says
August 3, 2022 Alex Woodie
Improving cybersecurity continues to be the number one overall priority for IT teams at midsize companies going into the second half of the year, but automation and cloud migrations are not too far behind, according to a recent study from Kaseya. Legacy concerns also are viewed as a drag on productivity.
Kaseya last month published its 2022 IT Operations Report, in which it surveyed 1,877 IT professionals from around the world in April to learn about the top priorities and challenges where they work. The company surveyed only employees at organizations with fewer than 3,000 employees, which is Kaseya’s cut-off …
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Cleo and SrinSoft in Integration-Modernization Link Up
August 3, 2022 Alex Woodie
Modernization is a hot topic among organizations that run ERP and industry-specific applications on mature platforms, like the IBM i. But other parts of the stack need modernizing too, including the integration layer, which is the subject of a new partnership between integration software provider Cleo and SrinSoft.
Cleo provides a range of data and application integration solutions as part of its Cleo Integration Cloud (CIC) offering, which connects to backend IBM i systems. The Rockford, Illinois-based company supports API, EDI (AS2), and file-based integration methods via CIC, which is available in Express, Essentials, Business, and Premium versions.
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Altair Delivers More Options for Running SAS Code
August 1, 2022 Alex Woodie
Companies that have legacy SAS code for analytic applications running on IBM i servers and other platforms but don’t want to pay the SAS Institute for the runtime have another option from Altair, which recently acquired World Programming.
SAS was the dominant language for analytics for decades, starting in the 1970s, when Jim Goodnight and his colleagues developed the language at North Carolina State University. Goodnight went on to found the SAS Institute, which provided runtime and support for the open SAS code and, in the process, became the dominant provider of SAS solutions.
The SAS hegemony has only …
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