Logistics companies that want to move beyond the green-screen experience with their warehouse management systems (WMS) may want to take a look at BlueFountain Technologies. The Alabama company says its RPG-based BlueFountain Logistics (BFL) package has a native Web interface that will make it easier to train the Facebook and Twitter generation to use and become proficient with the software.

As a programming and business consultant for supply chain technologies, BlueFountain Technologies co-founder Doug Ross has seen a lot of warehouses and a lot of WMS software. Many of these packages, such as the venerable PkMS from his former

Companies that are building mobile access to an IBM i-based system take note. Automated communications with access to documents on the IFS could help increase user self-service and reduce inefficiencies in workflow processes. Think of it as a strategy that includes registered users and limited access, much like you experience with online banking. Downloading and uploading information to and from an IBM i system is now available using kLink from Computer Keyes.

Just two months ago, Computer Keyes introduced kLink, software that accesses IFS files from any Web browser, including those running on mobile devices. However, it was limited

Infor is calling the newly released M3 13.1 the biggest new version of the ERP system in more than a decade. And with more than 500 new features across functional areas, as well as the Infor 10x GUI treatment, that certainly appears to be the case. But going forward, Infor plans to move away from the “big bang” approach, and toward a more rapid fire, service-pack approach, much like IBM has done with IBM i 7.1.

Infor M3 13.1 is the first major new version of the Java-based ERP suite since version 10.1 shipped in 2010, which was preceded by

Organizations that are using Microsoft‘s lightweight LightSwitch development environment can feed data from IBM i servers into their LightSwitch applications using the latest version of HiT Software Ritmo/i. Version 6 of the tool also adds support for Microsoft’s Entity Framework (EF) object-relational mapper for .NET using native IBM i protocols, the company says.

Microsoft LightSwitch is a template-based, model-driven development environment that was first released by Microsoft in 2011. The software is intended to be used by non-technical Windows users who need to quickly generate database-powered, three-tier applications that feature modern Web interfaces.

Users get started with LightSwitch by

PowerTech, one of the security software divisions under the Help/Systems umbrella, has taken another step toward multi-platform interoperability with its recent announcement that it has received Hewlett-Packard ArcSight Common Event Format (CEF) certification. Interact allows users to monitor, capture, and send security-related events from IBM i servers to the HP ArcSight platform.

This capability allows HP ArcSight users to correlate event data in real time from several sources including the IBM i security audit journal (QAUDJRN), the IBM i operating system, Apache Web logs, and PowerTech Network Security & Authority Broker, which runs on the IBM midrange platform.

The

IBM i shops that are tired of paying IT personnel to manually submit jobs on the system may be interested in the latest product news from Halcyon Software. The UK firm last week unveiled a new version of Record and Playback, a utility that automates routine tasks and processes in IBM i environments. With version 11, Halcyon has added a new screen capture capability that should enable even more automation of tasks, as well as better diagnoses of errors.

IBM i shops are notorious for having slim IT staffs, and for having IT personnel that wear multiple hats. This

ASNA is talking up the recent awards won by its customer Retail Assist, the UK-based developer of multi-channel retail management software, as well as one of Retail Assist’s customers, which successfully implemented the browser-based, .NET version of its formerly RPG-only suite.

ASNA says that Retail Assist chose ASNA Monarch several years ago to modernize its RPG-based multi-channel retail management suite, called Merret. The application automates many tasks for the multi-channel retailer, including purchasing, warehousing, replenishment, inward and outward distribution, retail financials, planning, and CRM data capture.

Merret was originally developed to run on the AS/400, but Retail Assist wanted

United Computer Group this month launched VAULT400 Reports, a new offering that will give VAULT400 customers access to reports that detail the state of their backups and storage utilization on the VAULT400 cloud.

UCG last week mailed out notices to its VAULT400 customers to let them know about the new service and to provide them with security credentials to log onto the VAULT400 Web portal. The reports will be available to VAULT400 customers at any time, and the company will email the reports every quarter.

UCG is making three sets of reports available to its customers. The Backup Status report

It didn’t take long for Smith Brothers Stores to realize a return on its investment in Maxava‘s high availability (HA) software. Just two weeks after going live on Maxava Enterprise+, the UK-based industrial supply company leaned heavily on the software to save it from a potentially devastating situation.

Smith Brothers Stores sells a range of products to construction firms in the UK, including pipes, fittings, valves, HVAC equipment, tools, and other items. The 116-year-old company sells its products from nine locations across the country, as well as through an e-commerce website. Supporting the 100-person business is the IBM i-based

In a new study commissioned by Oracle, researchers found that more than two-thirds of a typical organization’s IT security resources are allocated to protecting the network layer, leaving less than one-quarter of the resources to address the security needs of core infrastructure components, such as servers, applications, and databases.

The study involved more than 110 companies that were contacted by CSO Custom Solutions Group on behalf of Oracle. The study asked the companies how they allocate their resources, including money and staff time, to address security concerns.

Despite the fact that a breach of a database would be potentially