Mirifex, an Ohio technology consulting firm, is ramping up development of its Mobile Business Access (MBA) solution, which gives users access to enterprise data and applications from BlackBerries, PocketPCs, and other handheld devices. The forms-based application, which relies on a mix of Java and XML, has already enabled several OS/400 shops to replace manual processes and become more lean in their operations.

Mirifex started writing MBA several years ago when one of its customers, a “fractional” airline called Flight Options that offers 2,000 high-profile customers partial ownership in its fleet of 200 aircraft, asked Mirifex to help eliminate some

iSeries users have two new ways to implement Secure Shell (SSH) authentication and encrypted remote access in their network environment. At LinuxWorld last week, SSH Communications Security, the original developer of SSH, announced that its SSH Tectia platform now supports Linux running on IBM‘s entire eServer line. IBM also recently unveiled a new implementation of the Open SSH protocol that will execute in OS/400’s PASE AIX runtime environment.

SSH enables two computers to communicate securely over TCP/IP without exposing access passwords or worrying about eavesdropping, connection hijacking, or exposure to other dangers such as denial of service (DoS)

IBM unveiled an array of new LTO 3 gear last week, following the delivery of the first LTO 3 drive late last year. To ship on March 4 are several new LTO 3 drives, two 3581 autoloaders, the 3584 library, and various LTO 3 media. IBM also made a statement of direction concerning its support for write once, read many (WORM) capability on LTO 3, which is important for regulatory compliance initiatives.

IBM made its initial LTO 3 announcement back in November, when the first drives based on the LTO 3 specification started shipping (see “LTO 3 Tape Makes Its

At LinuxWorld last week, Aldon unveiled Lifecycle Manager 5.0, a new version of its flagship change management system for cross-platform development. Expected to ship during the second quarter, Lifecycle Manager 5.0 brings the benefit of enabling organizations to run their source code repository on any Linux or AIX server, instead of requiring an iSeries server.

Cross-platform support is nothing new for Aldon. Since the Northern California software company first rolled out its Affiniti product several years ago, Aldon has enabled the management and tracking of development occurring on a variety of operating systems with its change management software. Linux, Unix,