This is a tough, but exciting, time to be in the ERP software business. Tough because businesses are hesitating to make big, multi-year commitments to technology platforms, but exciting because of the advances in technological innovation occurring in IT, and the new capabilities that brings to customers. One ERP software developer that’s charging forward with tech development and new business models is VAI, which will be unveiling the latest update to its S2K suite at its annual user conference later this year.

Few ERP software developers in the IBM i space seem to relish the adoption of new technology

Ever since Vision Solutions acquired rival Lakeview Technologies more than three years ago, Vision executives have talked about eventually merging the two companies’ flagship products into a single entity. That union officially started yesterday, when Vision announced MIMIX Availability 7 for IBM i, which combines elements of Vision’s old ORION HA product with MIMIX. Vision also unveiled MIMIX Global for managing MIMIX clusters and hybrid IBM i disk-based clustering environments.

Officially, MIMIX Availability 7 combines elements of the old MIMIX HA product with OMS and ODS, the names of the high availability products that Vision developed years ago, and which

While the virtues associated with living in an environmentally conscientious way are as abundant as wavy shafts of tan prairie grass in mid-summer, one motive that exerts considerable gravity in the heated conservation debate is that of money. Naperville, Illinois, a city with muscular environmental policies, is setting an example for other cities by further paring back the inefficient use of resources and lessening its impact on the environment while making better use of funds.

Naperville, a city of approximately 145,000 people located about 28 miles west of Chicago, has been consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top five

In the annals of AS/400 lore, there are two important Franks: Dr. Frank Soltis, the father of the AS/400, and Joe Frank, one of the architects of SSP, the precursor to OS/400 and today’s IBM i OS. Joe Frank is also credited with being “the father of 5250 emulation” with a product he created in the early 1980s after leaving IBM Rochester. Frank passed away five years ago, but his business partners at Trilobyte continue to support his original emulator with WinTronix IP Client TN5250e version 2.56.

Joe Frank left IBM in 1980 to found his own company, Software Systems

Oracle last week announced a new release of GoldenGate, a real-time data integration tool it obtained in its acquisition of GoldenGate Software a year ago. Among the new features in GoldenGate 11g are support for IBM‘s DB2/400, which is officially called DB2 for IBM i.

GoldenGate is a high speed data integration and replication tool that’s based on changed data capture (CDC) technology. The software is designed to enable real-time access to a customer’s most current data, no matter the database or platform, for the purposes of feeding data warehouses from production databases, operational reporting, or maintaining production systems

ERP giant Infor has inked a deal with TDCI to expand its sales of the BuyDesign product configurator and sales quoting software to MAPICS shops, among other Infor customer sets, the companies announced last week.

BuyDesign is a collection of Windows-based programs designed to streamline the configuration and sales process for ordering and buying customized products. The software is often integrated directly into ERP systems, providing a big boost for sales and order entry personnel, who would otherwise be hampered by the restrictive nature of ERP order entry screens when the customer is making a complicated purchase that involves a

Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) has successfully implemented the GoAnywhere managed file transfer (MFT) solution from Linoma Software to handle a variety of its file transfer requirements, while maintaining compliance with new state and federal privacy laws.

The DLLR is responsible for many aspects of commerce in the state of Maryland, including ensuring that contractors are licensed, collecting and distributing unemployment benefits, running workforce development programs, and ensuring workplace safety.

Prior to implementing a centralized MFT system on its System i server, the DLLR used manual file transfer methods to exchange data with other organizations. However, with

Developers can now take their Lotus Notes applications mobile with Teamstudio‘s recently released Notes development tool, Teamstudio Unplugged version 1.1.

Released in early August, Teamstudio Unplugged version 1.1 enables developers to mobilize existing Lotus Notes applications, or to develop brand new mobile applications for the Blackberry. It also allows end users to access Notes-based apps, with or without connectivity, the company says.

The new release provides an easier and more efficient way to mobilize any existing Notes applications, says Scott Johnsen, vice president of product management and alliances for the Beverly, Massachusetts, company.

“Developers who are familiar with Domino

Genuitec, the developers of the MyEclipse line of Java development tools that provide a low-cost alternative to IBM‘s Rational Application Developer, has achieved some IBM i followers with its MyEclipse Blue product. The Flower Mound, Texas, company recently announced a milestone with the one millionth installation of Pulse, a companion product to MyEclipse Blue.

Pulse is included with all editions of its J2EE development tool MyEclipse, including the MyEclipse Blue variant, which is designed to support IBM‘s WebSphere stack, and is used by some developers working with the IBM i server, officials with Genuitec say.

Pulse is

The Java-generating m-Power development tool from mrc was recently enhanced to include new “what if” analysis capabilities that allow decision makers to see how changes will effect their businesses.

m-Power is a model-based development tool used to quickly generate a variety of Web applications, such as portals, e-commerce sites, executive dashboards, mobile phone apps, and business intelligence systems. Many m-Power customers use the product, which generates J2EE code, to Web-enable existing IBM i applications, and to deploy them using the integrated Apache Web server.

The new what if analysis capability will be most beneficial for reporting, business intelligence, and executive