Magic Software recently announced G5, the codename for a new development environment due this month that promises to deliver “rich Internet applications” and an on-ramp to delivering applications via the software as a service (SaaS) method. Officials with the company say the software will build upon Magic’s eDeveloper legacy for the Web 2.0 age, while also removing the technical barriers that make it difficult for developers to target multiple deployment architectures with the same code base.

Integrated development environments (IDEs) haven’t kept up with the demands for more flexibility in the deployment of applications developed with the IDEs, according to

Feeling good about the quality of your data? Not losing any sleep over those promises made to the CIO? Then stop reading here. If, on the other hand, you hold reservations about what might be lurking in your databases, then it’s time to admit you might have a data quality problem. One software vendor that can help identify and fix common data quality problems, AMB Dataminers, recently introduced support for i OS and z/OS servers in its flagship product, AMB-Predictive Data Management.

People are reluctant to talk about data quality issues, and are even more reluctant to do something

Grenada Lakes Medical Center faced a quandary when it was getting ready to upgrade its old AS/400 infrastructure with new hardware. The hospital, which runs the MedSeries4 application from Siemens, had thousands of accounts payable transactions sitting on the old machine, and no easy way to move them over. But a solution was found in Report Automation System, from DB Technology, which allowed Grenada Lakes to efficiently mine the AP data into the RAS repository, where it is safely maintained.

It wasn’t the AP situation that first attracted Grenada Lakes to DB Technology’s RAS. The hospital was looking

Buoyed by the emerging market for software as a service (SaaS), New Generation Software last week announced a new business partner initiative to deliver access to its i OS-based business intelligence software over the Web. Under the NGS SaaS Collaboration Program, the company’s business partners–including other ISVs, resellers, or consulting firms–will provide end-user companies with access to several New Gen products, including Decision Assist, NGS-IQ, and its Concert Series financial software.

According to Bill Langston, director of marketing and channel development for New Generation, the new SaaS Collaboration Program is aimed at making it affordable and easy for small and

IBM last week announced a new release of Secure Perspective, a multi-platform security tool that’s designed to make it easier to implement tight security policies using plain English phrases, as opposed to the cryptic commands and configurations used by most platforms.

According to IBM, Secure Perspective enables customers to create and implement data-centric security policies using non-technical language, or “natural language” in IBM lingo. The tool then converts this non-technical language policy into an enforceable set of system-level commands that can be readily implemented on the target platforms, which include i (i5/OS), AIX, and Windows.

IBM first announced Secure Perspective

The Public Beta 1 version of IBM Lotus Notes/Domino 8.5 became available May 30 with versions of the Notes 8.5 client for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Citrix, as well as, Domino 8.5 server for Windows (32- and 64-bit), AIX (32- and 64-bit), Linux, Solaris, and System i (now known as i).

In terms of general functionality, users will see navigation improvements in the menus for mail, contacts, and to-do categories; the convenience of drag-and-drop between rich text fields in Notes documents (Windows only), Sametime Contacts names or groups to Notes name fields and rich text fields, or drag

BOSaNOVA continued to expand its thin client product line by rolling out new XPe line of thin clients specifically designed for Citrix XenDesktop virtual environments. XenDesktop is Citrix’s solution for simplifying desktop computing by relieving many of the management headaches and reducing the costs associated with traditional desktop computing. The company claims cost reductions of up to 40 percent can be realized.

The XPe thin clients are based on the Microsoft XP Professional operating system and include standard features such as TCP/IP TN5250e terminal emulation, an IE 6 (SP2) browser with Sun and Microsoft JVM, Macromedia Flash, and Adobe Acrobat

The pressures that a constantly changing business environment place on an IT department are only increasing. Discovering ways to improve the cooperative efforts between executive management and information technology is on everyone’s to-do list. And at the top of many of those lists is a project titled Application Modernization. A majority of IT department leaders say they are in the planning phases of such a project or will be very soon.

At the heart of the strategy are the existing dependable applications and a burning need to increase the productivity of end users. Determining how the modernization project meshes with

iQ4bis Software has added a Web-based portal to its business intelligence suite, which runs on Windows but is commonly used by i OS (formerly i5/OS) shops. As part of the new iQ4bis Analysis 4.2 release announced last week, the Southern California software vendor is including a beta of the new iQ4bis Analysis Portal, which will provide quicker access to reports.

iQ4bis develops a suite of business intelligence products aimed at small and midsize businesses, and enjoys a considerable installed based of i OS shops that prefer to use Windows to analyze their ERP data.

Gaining quick and meaningful access to

Dun & Bradstreet Picks Raz-Lee to Secure i Servers

Dun & Bradstreet Singapore has picked Raz-Lee Security to provide security software for its i OS environment, the software vendor announced last week. The Singapore arm of the financial services giant is implementing Raz-Lee’s iSecurity Prevention and Compliance packs to help it secure and audit its IT systems.

As one of the premiere providers of credit, bureau, marketing, purchasing, and receivables management services in the country of Singapore, Dun & Bradstreet’s IT systems provides a lucrative target for would-be criminals. To prevent hackers or inside users from gaining access to its