Application development goals aim to continually improve business efficiency, drive increased revenue, integrate silos of information, and speed the roll-out of programs that can do all of the above. So it is with LANSA and its Visual LANSA product, which has just reached version 12. The key to the latest Visual LANSA is its diligence to database interoperability and heterogeneous platforms, while still being attentive to the IBM i customers.

Less duplication of the business logic stored in the LANSA data repository is at the top of the list of Visual LANSA enhancements. This is important when multiple development languages

Linoma Software last week launched a new release of Surveyor/400, its “Swiss Army knife” i/OS utility that allows users to do everything from browsing DB2/400 records and editing stored procedures, to building custom reports and converting spool files to PDF. With the new version 3.7 release of Surveyor/400, Linoma has added new integration methods with Microsoft Excel, as well as support for SSL encryption to System i hosts.

The list of things you can do with Surveyor/400–a lightweight Java program with a graphical interface–is extremely long, hence the commonly used “Swiss Army knife” and “do everything” labels. Depending on the

Lawson Software last week unveiled version 10.1 of M3, a Java-based ERP system for manufacturers and distributors that has traditionally been deployed on IBM System i servers. Lawson claims to have made more than 600 functional enhancements, including many desktop-oriented features aimed at improving the user experience. But version 10.1 also includes a lot of process-oriented enhancements, such as improvements to bulk ordering and demand planning, which are designed to save money and improve efficiency.

At the top of the new product heap are new search and user interface enhancements. Lawson says it has improved the Smart Office interface, the

The first version of ilook, looksoftware‘s new rules-based tool that turns all 5250 interfaces–including i/OS operating system screens–to Web-based GUIs on the fly, became available in December and is now being used for the first time in the field. The first users of the product, which is a free download, are pleased with the results, according to looksoftware, which is already working on ilook version 1.1.

The Australian company looksoftware introduced ilook last April at the COMMON conference in Reno, Nevada. While the company had offered thick- and thin-client screen modernization and Web enablement software for 5250 application for

i/OS shops using Shield Advanced Solutions‘ Receiver Apply Program (RAP) to replicate data and objects between System i servers will now be able to replicate data housed in their System i servers’ Integrated File System (IFS) as the result of new RAP features unveiled yesterday.

The addition of IFS support is one of the final major features needed for RAP to be considered an HA product, says Chris Hird, president of Shield Advanced Solutions, which is based near Toronto, Canada. “Having been involved in the HA market space for 20 years, I believe the product now provides the essential

IT organizations that could use a little help in setting up their change management environments may be interested in hearing about the new ACE professional services program launched last week by Aldon. Named after its application change expert (ACE) methodology, the new program offers three levels of service to get development shops on the straight and narrow when it comes to following best practices for change management.

Aldon has been a successful developer of application lifecycle management (ALM) and change management tools for the System i server and other platforms for more than 25 years. The company, which was

Many organizations have a desire to modernize their older “legacy” applications to bring them up to current standards with regards to user interface, integration, scalability, compliance, and maintainability. But in many instances, the first step can be the most difficult one. Where do you begin to unravel the “spaghetti code” and isolate business processes buried in the code? One vendor providing a starting point is Micro Focus, the U.K. company that recently solidified and simplified its Modernization Workbench with the release of version 3.1.

Micro Focus obtained the Modernization Workbench in late 2008 with its $9.7 million acquisition of

The recent unification of the AS/400 and Unix development teams at Keane‘s Healthcare Information Systems unit has paid dividends for University Physicians Hospital (UPH) of Arizona, which recently signed a contract extension to move to Keane’s unified product.

Keane provides a range of IT products and services to a range of industries, including application development, integration, and outsourcing services to organizations in financial services, energy and utilities, insurance, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications, transportation, and travel and hospitality. But the $1 billion, San Ramon, California, company might be best known for its Healthcare Information Systems division, which develops several shrink-wrapped products,

LogLogic last week unveiled a series of more powerful log management devices that collect and organize log data pulled from i/OS and other platforms. With the addition of Intel quad-core processors, bigger and faster disks, more and faster memory, and faster network connectivity, LogLogic says its hardened Linux-based appliances can ingest log data from enterprise IT resources twice as fast as previous generation devices.

LogLogic sells three main families of X64-powered appliances, each tailored for specific workloads. The top-of-the-line, tactically oriented LX series is designed to alert customers in near real time of violations of corporate policies that could jeopardize

Users of the i/OS-based Construction Management System (eCMS) from Computer Guidance now have the capability to integrate vehicle scales directly with their eCMS software. According to Computer Guidance, whose software powers some of the biggest construction and engineering companies in the country, the scale interface will simplify transactions involving loaded trucks.

The calculation of load weights using vehicle scales and tare weights (or the vehicle’s unladen weight) is critical to companies in the transportation and construction industries, which handle large amounts of raw materials. Bulk deliveries of asphalt for a new roadway, for example, will be priced according to the