Dan Burger
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IBM i Manifest Americas Faces New Dilemma
April 4, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreIBM i Manifest Americas marketing person Jenniefer Halverson is leaving the IBM i advocacy group after only four months. It’s a shame, because during her time there the organization gained momentum that it did not have before her arrival. Whether this vehicle has engine strong enough to pull it up the steep hills that lie ahead is yet to be seen. For the time being, this is a setback.
Two factors played a role in Halverson’s decision. The first was a new job opportunity with a burgeoning company in the Windows market. The position was going to be very demanding
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Early Adopters of Profound UI Pleased
March 22, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreAny debate that compares graphical user interfaces to green-screen interfaces is usually over before it begins. It’s almost a unanimous decision. Green screens users, like four-leaf clovers, still exist, but the GUI wins by a technical knockout in 99 out of 100 cases. Last year, RPG Open Access was the new thing–a much talked about native RPG GUI. IBM i ISV Profound Logic Software was one of the first companies to put RPG OA into a product.
For many RPG programmers, and companies with an investment in skilled PRG programmers, this is a big deal. New language learning curves always
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Calculating the Risks on All Sides of the App Modernization Issue
March 21, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreRisky business. Is there really any other kind of business? Show me someone who eliminates risk, and I’ll show you smoke and mirrors. Executives are supposed to run their firms by minimizing risk. Those with their hand on the throttle of IT development, particularly in the IBM i environments you know so well, sometimes back off on application modernization projects because they are not sure how to manage risk. Ask Paul Conte if he agrees with this knee-jerk reaction.
Conte is a consultant, a one-man shop. He’s been around the IBM midrange long enough to remember the debut of the
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Participate in the IBM i Manifest EMEA Webcast on April 12
March 21, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreThere’s still a spark in the IBM i Manifest EMEA organization. It’s been a while since any news on this organization has surfaced, but a call for participation Webcast is penciled in for April 12. Perhaps this is a step in the direction of getting a program in place to bring together business partners (in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the U.S.) for the purpose of marketing the IBM i as well as promote business partner software.
The ever-popular Frank Soltis, pioneer of many IBM technologies and father of the System/38 and grandfather to the AS/400, is one of
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DDS Conversion Tool Joins Profound’s Web Development Tools
March 15, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreProfound Logic Software has released an integral piece of its native graphical user interface platform built around IBM‘s Rational Open Access. The Profound DDS Conversion Module converts existing DDS source members to native IBM i objects that support a graphical user interface. It does this without relying on the green-screen protocol, a distinguishing factor compared to other application modernization methods. Profound is one of several IBM i ISVs making use of RPG Open Access.
The DDS Conversion Module is an important piece of the Dayton, Ohio, software company’s Profound UI suite of application development tools designed for Web formats.
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NGS Business Intelligence Now a Solutions Edition Option
March 15, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreThe IBM i Solution Edition program provides an opportunity for companies to save some money on a new Power7 server when paired with the purchase of an IBM-certified, third-party ERP software that runs on that server. Last week, New Generation Software‘s business intelligence software was added into the package, giving companies that are happy with their current ERP an opportunity to upgrade to Power7 while increasing their BI capabilities.
New Generation Software’s business intelligence software, NGS-IQ, covers a lot of territory. It includes ad hoc query; production and Web reporting; online analytical processing (OLAP); business performance dashboards; summary-to-detail
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VAI Completes Dual ERP Integration for Two Distribution Companies
March 15, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreSo many companies are looking to streamline disparate systems into one integrated system, particularly when it comes to tightening supply chain management.
VAI, a company known for its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that runs on the IBM i platform, seems to have a talent for helping distribution, manufacturing, retail, and service companies tie up the loose ends inherent in those multiple silo nightmares.
Its most recent call to aid came from a hydraulic and industrial hose distributor with an 80,000 square foot facility in Spokane, Washington.
Spokane House of Hose needed one centrally managed and scalable ERP system
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Northeast User Groups Conference Coming April 11-13
March 14, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreEducation and training considerations for IBM i shops are getting more closely examined as new technologies and continue to impact the way all businesses perform. Specialized skills are in demand and employers are choosing to upgrade their current workforces rather than attempting to find outside people who can contribute the combination of technical skills and industry-specific experience that provides the best fit.
Up in New England, the annual Northeast User Groups Conference (NEUGC) has been delivering IBM midrange education and training for 20 consecutive years. It’s the largest IBM i (Power Systems, iSeries, AS/400) conference in that region. But it’s
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Too Much Data or Not Enough Analytics?
March 14, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreIt’s a data-driven world, folks. You might say we already have more data than we know what to do with, but that’s a problem that can be fixed as organizations turn to business intelligence with an emphasis on analytics. Taking information that’s disjointed, sometimes redundant, and probably of limited availability to those who can make best use of it, and putting it to work is a great untapped resource.
Using predictive analytics organizations can analyze trends and patterns found in historical and current data. The benefit comes from increasing the accuracy of forecasting trends affecting products and services, and gaining
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Cilasoft Security Software Gaining U.S. Business
March 8, 2011 Dan Burger
… Read moreIf you had a security audit tomorrow, would you pass? Security insiders say, more often than not, that security holes are numerous at IBM i shops, and are quite big in some cases. For IBM i security software vendor Cilasoft, the overall lack of good security policies in United States companies is leading to an uptick in sales of software and services.
Dan Riehl is one of the top security experts in the IBM i community. He is currently the head of U.S. operations for Cilasoft, a French security software company that’s grabbing business in the United States since