Vision Solutions‘ developers have learned a thing or two over the years following the acquisitions of rivals iTera and Lakeview, and that knowledge is on display with ORION 6.0, the newest release of Vision’s enterprise-strength high availability software for IBM i. Now available, ORION 6.0 introduces a new “one button” role swap feature that promises to simplify role swaps, changes to the graphical and 5250 interfaces, as well as performance enhancements that should benefit SAP ERP users.

When Vision Solutions acquired iTera and Lakeview Technology in 2006 and 2007, respectively–or more accurately, when Vision’s parent company Thoma Cressey Equity

Monitoring and managing MQSeries running on the IBM i OS (formerly OS/400) server can be a painful experience. Paul Ratchford, a product manager with i OS systems management software specialist CCSS, has yet to see a third-party MQ Series monitoring tool that runs well on IBM i systems. This is why CCSS’ customers requested the company write an MQSeries solution that doesn’t kill the i server’s performance, which the company did and released this month with QSystem Monitor version 12 release 9.

MQSeries (officially known as WebSphereMQ since 2002, but still referred to by its original IBM name by

New Generation Software recently introduced Decision Assist–Financial Performance, a new business intelligence (BI) product for IBM i (formerly i5/OS). The new product is geared toward helping i OS shops build dashboard interfaces that give decision makers quick access to actionable intelligence harnessed from their general ledger systems. Like NGS’ other Decision Assist offerings, the new Financial Performance variant includes several pre-defined dashboards for frequently accessed reports, including analysis of income, cash flows, and budgets.

Decision Assist is a prepackaged collection of BI components from NGS that includes the flagship i5/OS-based NGS-IQ server, a pre-built data mart, Windows-based development tools, browser-based

AMB, a developer of data quality tools for i OS and other platforms, recently announced that its InfoPublish data quality tool now supports IBM‘s DataStage and Information Server extract, transformation, and load (ETL) tools. Thanks to AMB’s integration, InfoPublish users can load DB2/400 and DB2 z/OS files directly into IBM’s ETL tools, a process that delivers an extra layer of data cleanliness, the company says.

IBM’s DataStage software, which it obtained years ago with its acquisition of Ascential Software, is an enterprise-strength ETL tool often used for building data warehouses, or other activities that require moving and massaging

Companies that rely on the IBM i operating system and UPS shipping services to move their products have another reason to select Varsity Logistics as their shipping software provider: certification of Varsity as a UPS Select Provider.

Varsity Logistics, which was acquired by Constellation Software of Toronto, Ontario, last fall, develops a collection of shipping applications that run only on the IBM i OS. The company’s ShipSoft and transportation management system (TMS) suites automate shipping tasks, such as picking the best carrier, finding the best rate, printing the required documents, and tracking the package to arrival. The software works with

System i shops that use payroll software from DAPREX now have the option to move paychecks online, thereby eliminating paper-based checks and pay stubs. The solution was developed by DAPREX’s partner, System i outsourcer First Option, and is available now.

The new application was written in Java and enables DAPREX payroll users to eliminate the costs associated with paper checks for their employees. The Web-based software allows employees to log on to a secure Web site to view their pay stub information and print pay stubs, as well as to view month-to-date and year-to-date information.

DAPREX President Laura Hallick

Chances are good that you’re living in a “digital landfill,” with no rhyme or reason in the way you classify and store electronic information. According to a survey conducted by the Association for Information and Image Management, (AIIM) most organizations are failing to live up to the responsibilities of collecting information electronically, nor are they taking advantage of solutions that could help them.

AIIM shared some surprising statistics during a recent presentation, titled “What’s In Your Digital Landfill?” According to the Maryland organization, more than 40 percent of organizations have no policy for classifying electronic information as business records,

A $100 million per year Jamaican business has installed an i OS-based ERP suite from VAI on which to standardize its operations. Hardware & Lumber, which is a subsidiary of Jamaica’s largest conglomerate, GraceKennedy & Company Limited, selected S2K Enterprise to replace three disparate systems that were outdated.

From its headquarters in Kingston, H&L sells a variety of products through its 14 retail locations, including building materials, home improvement supplies, household items, and agricultural products, to consumers and other retailers. The company, which also functions as a distributor, handles 80,000 SKUs, and employs 650 people.

Yvette Johnson, chief information officer,

Five B2B software products from three vendors have passed the most recent tests by Drummond Group for interoperability using the AS1 protocol. Companies sending and receiving EDI data over e-mail using AS1 can rest assured that products from Axway, Inovis, and nuBridges are certified for compatibility.

Drummond Group conducts nearly a dozen tests a year to ensure B2B software vendors’ products don’t muck up the payload during transmission via various protocols, including AS1, AS2, AS3, ebXML, RosettaNet, and GDSN (global data synchronization network). Software vendors pay Drummond to test and certify their software, and supply chain participants use

Magic Software Enterprises, a provider of application development and integration solutions for the IBM i OS platform, last week announced the formation of a reseller partnership with New Era Solutions Consulting, a systems integrator based in New York City.

As part of the partnership, New Era will sell and support Magic’s eDeveloper application platform, as well as its iBOLT business integration suite. Previously, New Era offered consulting services utilizing Magic’s technology.

“Adding Magic Software’s entire product suite to our offering really strengthens our solutions overall to our customers,” says Mayer Schmukler, New Era’s president. “Our decision to increase