What’s the return on investment (ROI) for going green? For individual consumers, it may be that warm, fuzzy feeling you get from driving a Toyota Prius. But in the corporate world, warm and fuzzy doesn’t cut it. Now, new software from Oracle gives managers the hard numbers on their companies’ environmental footprints, as well as how they stack up against the latest environmental regulations. Best of all it does this from within companies’ existing JD Edwards and Oracle ERP systems.

Business people are becoming increasingly concerned about the environmental impact that their companies–as well as the companies they do business

IBM i administrators can prevent users from executing certain commands with the new Command Security tool unveiled by PowerTech this month. Command Security features a rule-based control mechanism that can block commands for certain users and circumstances, or even modify the command before execution. It also features an audit trail that ensures attempts to use specific commands won’t go unnoticed.

While the text-based command line is viewed by Windows and Web aficionados as a vestigial backwater overlooked by computer evolution, devotees of the IBM i server understand how powerful and useful the command line can be. Instead of fooling around

Customers can now separately purchase the database and backup encryption capabilities of Linoma Software‘s IBM i encryption tool, called Crypto Complete. With last week’s release of version 3, customers that only need the tool to protect their backups and IFS files can save up to 50 percent in license fees. Version 3 also sports performance enhancements in the encryption and tokenization processes.

Linoma launched Crypto Complete in September 2007 in response to customer demand for database encryption tools. The vendor had already been providing i5/OS encryption in its managed file transfer (MFT) tool, Transfer Anywhere (now called GoAnywhere), but

Big things come in small packages. For instance, version 3 of the iMap electronic forms utility just released by inFORM Decisions. It is the mapping component for iForms, the company’s suite of products for converting spool files into laser printer output or electronic documents, which run natively on the IBM i platform. With version 3, it should be easier for non-technical people to customize how iMap distributes documents.

iForms was designed to allow companies to create their own business forms and reports rather than purchasing those documents from printing vendors and incurring those costs. And for companies that are

HiT Software this month unveiled a new release of Ritmo, a .NET data provider used to hook DB2/400 and other DB2 databases into the latest Windows applications. With version 5, the software vendor now enables developers to work with Ritmo from within Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, among several other new capabilities.

Ritmo is a Windows-based product that helps Windows developers build high-speed, native data connections between their .NET applications and their data residing in the three DB2 database versions, including DB2/400, DB2 for Linux, Unix, and Windows, and DB2 for the mainframe. The software does this by reading SQL statements

RJS Software Systems plans to debut single sign-on (SSO) across its range of document management and information capture products, the company recently revealed. It also issued updates to its Web-based document management and its electronic form and report generator.

A June posting to the company’s blog, RJS Informer, indicates the company is working on adding SSO to its range of solutions. The Burnsville, Minnesota, company has 34 products in its catalog, but focuses primarily on its newer document management offerings, such as WebDocs, iForms, WebForms, DeliverNow, iPrint, SignHere, inContact, DocumentAssembly, and Enterprise Workflow.

“RJS will soon add single sign-on

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has acquired control of Flexera Software, developers of the InstallAnywhere installation utility that’s used by IBM i ISVs, from its private equity owners, Thoma Bravo.

More than 70,000 ISVs use Flexera’s installation tools, including the multi-platform InstallAnywhere and InstallShield, which supports Windows. InstallShield is the more recognized asset, as millions of people around the world use it everyday to install and uninstall software from their Windows PCs. But the installation protection that InstallAnywhere provides on IBM i, z/OS, and Unix servers gives Flexera clout in the enterprise.

Last week, Thoma Bravo announced that

Job scheduler developer Flux last week announced a partnership with File Transfer Consulting that will bring its customers a new resource for designing managed file transfer (MFT) systems.

Flux is a Java-based suite of workload automation and MFT tools that are used to streamline the flow of work and documents across servers, including the IBM i server. The software, which we wrote about last month, can initiate remote services over the Web via REST and SOAP interfaces, and uses a Web browser for all design and management tasks.

Flux is now one of the tools that File Transfer Consulting

Bergquist, a supplier of parts for the propane industry, has streamlined its purchase-to-pay processes with the installation of document management and imaging tools from IntelliChief, the software vendor announced this month.

Bergquist is a Toledo, Ohio, company that supplies equipment and technical assistance for customers in the propane industry. The company operates three distribution centers covering 60,000 square feet that house more than 12,000 items, such as regulators, valves, gauges, fittings, cylinders, and various other accessories.

The company recently implemented IntelliChief, the Windows-based suite of document management, imaging, and workflow solutions that was spun off by Quadrant Software just

TMW Systems has acquired Appian Logistics Software, a developer of routing and scheduling optimization software for the transportation industry. Appian’s Windows-based software is often found deployed alongside TMW’s dispatch management systems, including those running on the IBM i OS.

Oklahoma City-based Appian Logistics’ flagship product, called Direct Route, is used to create the quickest and most efficient delivery routes given several variables, such as time, location, vehicle capability, and work rules.

In addition to Direct Route, the company developed several add-on solutions, including DRTrack, which provides GPS tracking; a territory planning tool, called Territory Pro; a fleet sizing tool