Keeping unauthorized users out of its core banking systems and complying with industry regulations are top priorities for the International Bank of Miami. One way to satisfy these requirements is to implement a strong password enforcement system. However, with users already inundated with passwords, the bank decided to try another strong security mechanism–i OS-based biometric authentication from Valid Technologies–which has streamlined the sign-on process, and cut down password reset calls to the help desk.

With more than $800 million in assets, The International Bank of Miami, or TIBOM, is one of the largest independent banks in South Florida. TIBOM

Moving RPG applications to the Web is not the aggravation some people make it out to be. The idea of this has been diminished by persistent misconceptions that hover around IBM‘s iSeries shops like mosquitoes on a summer camping trip. You want proof? Business Computer Design Int’l. WebSmart ILE has more than 2,000 organizations with implementation that include B2B, B2C, and e-Commerce sites built by programmers with RPG skills and an understanding of CGI. Those are applications that run on the native HTTP Apache Web Server.

Last week, BCD released WebSmart ILE version 7, the latest version of its

IBM iSeries and System i shops have been migrating RPG code to the Microsoft .NET environment for years. It’s not happening because it makes no sense. For a lot of organizations, it’s the right thing to do. Making it quicker and easier is why ASNA, the application development tool maker with more than 25 years experience in the AS/400 market, develops a product called Monarch. ASNA has just released a new version of Monarch, Version 4.0, with plenty of enhancements worth noting.

Monarch 4.0 supports Microsoft’s .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008, which were released earlier this year.

It’s been a couple of years since we’ve heard from the folks at Safestone, the i OS (formerly i5/OS) security software developer based in England. Despite a low public profile, it’s recently made a series of announcements concerning new security tools, a new Web site, and a new corporate identity that are seemingly aimed at reassuring the market that it hasn’t disappeared, and is committed to enhancing its collection of i OS security tools.

Since it was formed in 2000 following the acquisition of a company called CCT by SoftScreen, Safestone (also known as SafeStone Technologies) has been serving

NetManage, which is in the process of being acquired by MicroFocus, and HiT Software, a longtime developer of data providers for the i OS (formerly i5/OS) platform, have teamed up to help customers give structure to their data.

Under the partnership, which was announced two weeks ago, NetManage and HiT Software will work together to help organizations convert unstructured data running on “legacy” platforms (z/OS and i OS) into structured data housed in modern SQL-based databases (ostensibly running on other platforms).

The partnership will include two tools: NetManage’s OnWeb “legacy integration server,” which will expose legacy 5250

Brooks Internet Software is giving users of its RPM Remote Print Manager software the capability to create complex printing workflows. With RPM version 5.0, launched two weeks ago, users can instruct the software to execute multi-layered tasks, such as convert i OS-based SCS spool files to the PDF format, and then send the resulting file to a Windows PC for printing.

RPM Remote Print Manager is a Line Printer Daemon (LPD) print server designed to provide more flexibility in the management and handling of the print output of i OS, mainframe, and Unix systems. The software, which runs on Windows

You gotta laugh. Well, not everyone does, because what’s funny to me may not be funny to you, and that’s what makes the use of humor in advertising a bit of a gamble. Still when humor is done right, success beyond that of an uninspiring marketing message is a safe bet.

Last year New Generation Software (NGS) faced a major new competitive factor. It was going head-to-head with IBM, its business partner and its rival in the business intelligence segment of the System i market. Marketing resources, not the least of which is strictly budgetary, made IBM the 800-pound

A trio of IT vendors, including IBM, insurance software provider Sapiens Americas, and Millbrook, an IT consultancy to the insurance industry, have teamed up to deliver an on-demand business intelligence (BI) offering for small and mid size insurance companies. The offering, called Sapiens INSIGHT for Business Intelligence, will be based on IBM’s Cognos BI software, and provide smaller outfits an array of BI capabilities normally available only to larger companies.

For small and mid size property and casualty (P&C) insurance companies, the capability to analyze data effectively and efficiently can make the difference between surviving in today’s

The invitations to IBM‘s Mashup Center are out, but Big Blue has yet to determine when it will allow us to come play in its Web 2.0-oriented sandbox. The trial version, hosted by IBM and available on a trial basis on an IBM Web page is supposed to be ready “within a week or two.”

When that day comes, it should offer some creative opportunities for non-programmer types to learn how composite applications can be assembled and used in a collaborative work setting. Widgets and templates can be combined with drag and drop convenience to bring together databases, unstructured

Puregold Price Club, one of the largest retail companies in the Philippines, has installed Vision Solutions‘ iTERA HA software to provide data replication and failover capabilities for its System i-based logistics application, the software company announced yesterday.

Since it was established in Manila in 1998, Puregold Price Club has grown and now operates 23 stores near the Filipino capital and surrounding provinces. Supporting this growth are more than 600 employees and a robust IT system based on JDA Software‘s popular Merchandising Management System (MMS) application, which runs on a System i Model 550 at Puregold headquarters.

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