In a bid to get more AS/400 shops involved in application modernization, NetManage has simplified the way it packages OnWeb for iSeries, a middleware product that reformats 5250 screens and applications into GUIs or Web services that can be accessed over the Internet. The company has also slashed the starting price from approximately $20,000 to about $6,000, and moved the suite’s server component to the iSeries’ PASE environment, eliminating the need for an additional server.

While NetManage previously offered the server component for OnWeb for iSeries on Unix, Lintel, and Windows platforms, most customers ran it on Windows servers, says

ACOM Solutions threw its hat into the content management software ring last week with the unveiling EZContentManager, a new Windows-based application it is developing. When EZContentManager ships early next year, it is expected to help companies centralize the storage of documents originating from a variety of locations and sources, including iSeries and Windows servers, while providing access to the documents from any desktop or Web browser.

ACOM is billing EZContentManager as a low-cost and no-frills content management system that will satisfy the basic content management needs of most of its clients, which are predominantly mid-size companies. Company officials accept that

When the Dutch office of Capgemini Outsourcing needed a systems management tool to manage an iSeries server it was running for a client, the company first considered bringing the iSeries under the fold of its existing enterprise-level systems management framework. While the well-known framework excelled in a Unix environment, it left much to be desired on the iSeries. The consulting firm’s product search eventually led it to a Spanish ISV named Tango/04 Computing Group, which specializes in iSeries systems management.

Capgemini manages a range of servers for its customers, including large OS/400 and Unix systems. In the OS/400 family,

ProData Computer Services last week introduced new way for customers to obtain its DB2/400 database utility: on-demand licensing. Instead of spending a minimum of $2,000 for a full Database Utility (DBU) license, OS/400 shops can now gain temporary access to the versatile tool for $10 per day, as long as they spend at least $300. On-demand licensing is one of the new features in DBU version 7.0, which ProData announced last week.

DBU is a handy utility that makes it easy for programmers, administrators, and even non-technical users to view and access any file in the iSeries database, without programming.