Companies that have looked for a storage area network (SAN) disk array but were turned off by the high price of IBM‘s Enterprise Storage System (ESS) Model 800 “Shark” array now have another option from Big Blue. Last week the company launched the ESS Model 750, a scaled-down Shark array that features fewer processors, disk drives, and bus adapters than the Shark 800, but starts at only $150,000 for 1.1TB of storage.

The baby Shark 750 is based on the same architecture as the ESS Model 800, and includes much of the same replication and disaster recovery software as

A new version of Kronos‘ time and labor management software for OS/400 should make it easier for both employees and managers to interface with the system. iSeries Central 5, which was announced last week, contains several new features–such as a new HTML interface, navigation “genies,” and a new graphical scheduling system–that are the result of requests made by a new iSeries Central customer advisory board that was formed earlier this year.

iSeries Central is an industrial-strength suite of time and labor management applications that run exclusively on OS/400 servers. Its core module, iSeries Timekeeper, replaces manual timecard systems, while

Last week, IBM shuffled its WebSphere deck and issued new releases of its core Web services development and delivery platform. The newly named product, WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation (WBISF) version 5.1, allows companies to implement and deliver “services-oriented” applications assembled in Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) using WebSphere Studio Application Developer (AD) Integration Edition V5.1, which was also announced and shipped last week. IBM issued a statement of direction to support WBISF on OS/400 this summer.

Before we get into the details, let’s get the WebSphere names straight. IBM has done a little spring cleaning with its WebSphere product

Ricoh and IBM have teamed to provide AS/400 and iSeries users with greater control over their Ricoh printers and multi-function printers (MFPs). Ricoh last month announced that, as the result of a new Workstation Customization Object (WCO) for Ricoh printers available with OS/400, users are now able to customize their print jobs to fit their needs.

For years, Ricoh has supported OS/400 servers with its line of printers and MFPs. Just last fall, the Japanese owned electronics giant announced new software that supported direct OS/400-based AFP and IPDS printing on its line of printers and MFPs. The company also offers