HarrisData, a developer of IBM i-based ERP software, will soon unveil a cloud-based version of its human resources and payroll product. The offering, which is the Wisconsin software company’s first foray into selling cloud-based services, will include an Apple iPad to function as the client, and will specifically target the popular hosted payroll offerings from the likes of ADP, Ceridian, and Paychex.

Michael Mallen, the executive vice president for HarrisData, has never understood the draw of outsourcing payroll processing. “One of my frustrations has always been, why would people want to spend all this money on

Go mobile or go home. It’s almost come to that. If the face of your company, the folks who interact with customers and prospects, can’t access real-time information on a smartphone or a tablet, they aren’t dressed for success and your company loses a competitive edge. BakerCorp saw this situation unfolding and, to its credit, did something about it. BakerCop’s ERP system is green-screen based and the person in charge of mobilizing some key applications knew almost nothing about the software or the system that ran it.

Sounds like trouble, but it’s not. Early in the process of figuring out

Red Oak Software last month unveiled Legacy Mobile 1.0, a new terminal emulator offering that allows users to access 5250 and 3270 applications from the comfort of their Apple tablet. Separate versions–one for 5250 and another for 3270–are available for download from the Apple iTunes app store for the cost equivalent of about five grande mocha frappuccinos. But that’s a small price to pay for the opportunity to impress friends and colleagues by accessing retro green screen i OS apps from iOS.

In case you haven’t noticed, the iPad has taken over the computer world. Apple sold 15.4 million iPads

IBM‘s new Rational Team Concert (RTC) version 4 will save IBM i developers time by allowing them to use the dependency build feature of the RTC product. In addition to a new release of RTC, IBM unveiled version 4 releases of Rational Quality Manager, Rational Requirements Composer, and its Collaborative Lifecycle Management (CLM) suite at last week’s annual Collaborate conference.

RTC is an application lifecycle management (ALM) tool that allows teams of developers to work together more efficiently. The product, which IBM first unveiled three and a half years ago, offers source code tracking for RPG, COBOL, Java,

Zend Technologies last week released a fourth beta of its new Zend Framework 2.0, which the company expects to be generally available towards the end of the summer. The company is also starting to push Zend Smart Start for IBM i, a training and consulting offering that typically ends with the customer getting its own custom PHP app running on IBM i.

The Zend Smart Start for IBM i program is a consulting engagement designed to get IBM i shops up and running with PHP in very quick fashion. As part of the program, one of Zend’s PHP-on-IBM i experts

ARCAD Software is exposing more of its application lifecycle management (ALM) suite to third-party products, including Microsoft .NET, IBM Rational Team Concert, the popular JIRA bug tracker, and even Rocket Aldon, with version 8.15 of its suite, which was recently released.

The most visible component of the ARCAD suite of ALM tools is probably Skipper, the software configuration management (SCM) component that provides change management and version control for IBM i and open systems environments. But the French company’s ALM suite goes way beyond SCM, and includes a variety of other modules, including customer request tracking (Customer), build management

IntelliChief recently announced the signing of two new customers, including Joy Cone Company and Titan International, to contracts for document management software. The Massachusetts company also signed Desert Spring Consultants to a new partnership deal.

Joy Cone is the largest ice cream cone company in North America. The Flagstaff, Arizona, company was founded in 1918, and today makes more than 1.5 billion cones every year, ranging from cake cups to waffle bowls to gluten free sugar cones.

Recently Joy Cone sought a solution to automate several processes in its Infor ERP XA (MAPICS) application, and to work toward the elimination

IBM i ERP software maker International Business Systems last month selected Doug Braun as its new CEO. Braun, a former RedPrairie executive, will be tasked with overseeing the rebuilding process at IBS.

Braun will be counted on to help turn things around at IBS, which has seen better days. The Swedish software vendor has shed more than half its workforce since 2007 and has less than half the revenues in had in 2007, according to its recently issued 2011 annual report. The vendor, which specializes in manufacturing and distribution ERP for IBM i and Windows, is in the midst

IBM last week unveiled new software designed to help companies build security into their mobile client interfaces by detecting security vulnerabilities during the development process.

The rapid consumerization of mobile devices, as epitomized with the “bring your own device” (BYOD) movement, has created an urgent need on the part of corporations to secure their applications when accessed on mobile devices, according to IBM.

While security has improved on the PC, thanks to concerted efforts by Microsoft, few today are aware of the security risks of mobile devices and mobile apps. The mad rush to develop and consume apps on

The capability to use the same Windows OS across multiple devices, including PCs, tablets, and smartphones, is bolstering expectations by small businesses in advance of Windows 8 release later this year, according to a recent survey by the easy-button people at Staples.

Staples says that a recent survey conducted as part of its Small Business Index showed that 70 percent of small business owners who were aware of Windows 8 have plans to upgrade to the new OS, which is expected to ship in October. The survey was conducted online in May and included a randomly selected sample of 501