Alex Woodie
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CXL Debuts iSeries Security Reporting Tool
January 25, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreEnglish developer CXL unveiled a new software utility this month called AZScan that tells users how security settings have been configured on their OS/400, Unix, or OpenVMS midrange systems. In addition to revealing what the actual security settings are, the sub-$500, PC-based AZScan also provides an explanation of settings and recommends ways to make them more secure.
AZScan is actually three products in one, and a license to AZScan gives users the right to run security scans with any of the individual products, which include AScan (OS/400 V4R4 and later), VScan (for HP/DEC Alpha/VAX systems), and UScan (for 75 different
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Brooks Launches ExcelliPrint for IPDS Conversion
January 25, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreBrooks Internet Software has developed a new software product that enables regular Windows printers to replace IPDS printers in OS/400 and mainframe environments. By converting IPDS print datastreams into PDF or PCL format, ExcelliPrint enables less expensive Windows printers to stand in for their pricier IPDS printing brethren, while simultaneously preserving the advantages of IBM‘s AFP architecture, such as support for graphics, barcodes, and bidirectional communication, the company says.
ExcelliPrint works by emulating a high-end IPDS printer. The software runs as a Windows service on a Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 PC, and continuously
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Testing At iSeries Shops Not Up to Snuff, Original Finds
January 18, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreThe importance of software testing was made painfully obvious to Bill Gates a couple of weeks ago. During his keynote at the consumer electronics show, the Microsoft chairman’s Media Center PC crashed during a demo, and other Microsoft executives had similar problems. While most midrange programmers would bristle at any comparison of Microsoft’s wares to their own, the iSeries world still has a thing or two to learn about good testing procedures, according to a report commissioned by testing tool vendor Original Software Group.
In October 2004, Original Software commissioned an independent study to determine how iSeries shops test
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New PowerTech Product Cracks Down on Special Authorities
January 18, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreIn an ideal world, there would be no need to grant All Object (ALLOBJ) privileges on your OS/400 server. Everybody would be granted just enough access to do their jobs, and no more. Of course, we live in an imperfect world, and IT administrators, programmers, and even outside auditors often need special authorities, like ALLOBJ, to do their jobs. Thanks to a new program called AuthorityBroker, launched by PowerTech Group last week, the use of special authorities can be minimized and monitored.
Users with special authorities can do quite a bit of damage to an OS/400 server. The big one
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iSeries Is Center of Lean IT Operation At adidas-Salomon Canada
January 18, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreMarketing people like to talk about how the ease-of-use and low total-cost-of-ownership of the iSeries can help users concentrate on the business at hand instead of worrying about information technology. Well, the folks up at adidas-Solomon Canada are actually living this lean IT dream. A new OS/400 server, a handful of Integrated xSeries Servers, and a new Web application have enabled the sporting goods manufacturer to eliminate Wintel server sprawl and expand customer service to the Internet, while keeping costs low at the same time.
With 250 employees and $230 million (Canadian) in annual revenues, adidas-Salomon is the biggest sports
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NGS Provides a Quick ‘Dashboard’ View into Business Performance
January 18, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreNew Generation Software launched new software this month for developing and serving graphical “dashboard” views that allow people to quickly absorb data pulled from iSeries servers. The new product, aptly called the Business Performance Dashboard, is based on the company’s flagship NGS-IQ business intelligence software, and enables executives and other decision-makers to view key performance indicators and other performance data in colorful and interactive Flash presentations.
Instead of reading page after page of static reports, executives can get to the heart of the matter much more quickly with the Business Performance Dashboard, says Bernard Gough, president and CEO of New
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Tango/04 Delivers Affordable BSM, or ‘Tivoli for the Rest of Us’
January 11, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreTango/04 Computing Group is embarking upon a new IT discipline with the latest release of its systems management suite for iSeries and Windows. With VISUAL Message Center 6.0, the company is now providing business service management (BSM), a relatively new strategy for melding the monitoring of IT infrastructure, applications, and business processes to create a more wholesome view of how these interdependencies affect service levels. Tango/04 seeks to provide an affordable BSM framework with VMC 6.0, which its chief calls “Tivoli for the rest of us.”
You will likely hear more about BSM as the march into the services phase
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eSP Creates New Product Category: ‘Terminal Session Management’
January 11, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreWhen eBusiness Solution Pros introduced its Stay-Linked emulator two years ago, the company primarily targeted warehouses and retail operations that needed terminal emulators to connected wireless barcode scanners with iSeries servers. With the explosive growth of wireless “Wi-Fi” 802.11 networks, eSP has identified a need for a new class of product that manages the range of devices that organizations want to turn into mobile host terminals. It has dubbed this new class of product “terminal session management.”
There are many terminal emulators for barcode scanners on the market, and Stay-Linked is not unique in this respect. But what is unique
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ProData’s New DBUnifier Creates Interactive Apps in a Jiffy
January 11, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreProData Computer Services recently announced the general availability of DBUnifier, a new menu-driven tool for creating interactive applications from DB2/400 database files, without any programming. With the capability to create selection lists (F4-lists processes), work with subfile processes, and create inquiry and file maintenance applications with field- and record-level validation, ProData says, DBUnifier gives OS/400 shops a reason to send IBM‘s Data File Utility packing.
Omaha, Nebraska, based ProData put itself on the AS/400 map many years ago with its Database Utility (DBU) product, which provides programmers with an easy way to work with data in the DB2/400 database.
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Help/Systems’ Scheduler Now Automates EnterpriseOne Jobs
January 11, 2005 Alex Woodie
… Read moreHelp/Systems last week launched a new interface that allows its Robot/SCHEDULE job scheduling software for OS/400 servers to work with PeopleSoft‘s EnterpriseOne ERP system. With the new Robot/SCHEDULE EnterpriseOne Interface, OS/400 shops can manage all EnterpriseOne batch jobs from within the Help/Systems product, resulting in increased automation.
Robot/SCHEDULE was designed to imitate the actions of an onsite operator. In much the same way that commercial pilots fly airplanes with the aid of an autopilot, Robot/SCHEDULE carries out certain tasks for the modern computer operator, freeing him to do other things.
Once Robot/SCHEDULE has been set up, the software can