VAI yesterday announced the launch of S2K 5.0, a new version of its flagship i OS-based ERP system for manufacturers, distributors, and other companies. The release includes many new features, including a new Java client, an updated warehouse management system (WMS), new Web portal programs, and a new iPhone interface, among many other new features.

Version 5, which VAI originally planned to announce at last year’s conference, is the first major release of S2K since the launch of version 3.7.6 about a year ago. The company elected to skip version 4 to avoid confusing customers, who were promised several

Does the i-based Power Systems server have what it takes to be a successful business intelligence (BI) platform? Some say it’s better suited for online transaction processing. But others, including BI software developer New Generation Software, argue it has all the attributes to excel at analytical workloads, too. To prove its point, NGS recently launched IQ Connexion, a new module of its flagship NGS-IQ suite that extracts data from other platforms, thereby making i the focal point of organizations’ BI efforts.

In recent years, Microsoft‘s SQL Server has emerged as a popular platform for small and mid sized

System i shops using the VAULT400 online backup and recovery service from United Computer Group will experience faster, more trouble-free backups thanks to an updated backup agent for i OS, the company says. The new agent also supports the latest release of the OS/400 operating system, now called IBM i, as well as new security capabilities.

Cleveland, Ohio-based UCG launched VAULT400 two years ago to capitalize on the growing interest in remote backup and disaster recovery (DR) services utilizing high-speed Internet connections. While tape-based processes continue to dominate backup and DR plans, security and reliability concerns of backup tapes is

ProData Computer Services yesterday launched RDB Connect 3.0, a new version of its remote database connectivity software for the System i. With version 3, ProData is opening the product up to support practically any database management system, providing System i shops with more options when it comes to sharing data among applications running on different systems.

Few System i shops these days run nothing but System i servers. Whether it’s Windows, Unix, mainframe, or Linux, most IT departments rely on different types of computers to run their applications. But accompanying that diversity is increased complexity and difficulty in getting the

Applied Logic‘s all-purpose DB2/400 product, File Edit Utility (FEU), learned a few new tricks with the release of version 16 last week. The Keizer, Oregon, company added new capabilities to FEU in the areas of merging files, conversion to XML, and printing as PDF. The product’s main file search capability was also improved.

FEU gives programmers and administrators for i-based Power Systems servers (formerly System i, i5, iSeries, and AS/400) a range of capabilities that come in handy for dealing with problems and situations that come up during day-to-day operations, including making changes to multiple files at once; recovering

ACOM Solutions last week announced a new reseller agreement with Commerce Plus Services (CPS) to target users of Infor‘s Application Plus (A+), an i OS- (i5/OS) based ERP application that’s commonly used in the wholesale distribution industry.

CPS was formed to target various functionality gaps in the A+ product line, according to Rick Redden, vice president of operations for the Dallas, Texas, company. The first of these point products was a sales tax solution that CPS sells for about $8,000. Along the way, one of CPS’ customers asked about electronic payment software, including hooking into the ACH, or Automated

In its quest to trim the cost of monitoring and managing its production iSeries environment, American Software has installed systems management tools from CCSS, the software vendor announced this month.

From its headquarters in the heart of OS/400 country–Atlanta, Georgia–American Software develops ERP software that runs on i OS, in addition to other platforms. In addition to making and selling i OS ERP software, the company’s subsidiary, American Software USA, also uses the platform to run its business.

Like other OS/400 shops, American Software needs to manage and monitor its servers for maximum performance. Recently, the company launched a

CYBRA last week announced MarkMagic version 6.5, a new release of its package of software for creating and consuming barcodes and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in an AS/400 environment. With the new release, CYBRA is now supporting IBM i 6.1, the operating system formerly known as i5/OS V6R1.

MarkMagic version 6.5 is largely based on the last major release of the product, version 6.1, which CYBRA announced about 10 months ago. Besides support for i 6.1, the only other major feature mentioned by CYBRA was the inclusion of the new Print Manager functionality, which gives users more options

Tennessee-based Unaka Company has licensed the whole group of Excel-based analysis tools from Global Software. With Spreadsheet Server, Executive DASH, and Budget Manager in place, Unaka managers have another avenue for accessing and analyzing data stored in their ERP systems.

Unaka is a group of companies that includes a manufacturing and import company, an office space company, and an international food supply company. Managing this diverse set of properties are a collection of ERP products from Infor and Ross Systems, including Infor ERP XA (formerly MAPICS) and iRenaissance, which runs on open systems platforms.

Like many organizations, Unaka

BOSaNOVA has teamed up with 2X to launch a new line of thin client computers. The new thin clients, the 732x and 762x series, feature 2X’s software for deploying and managing a Windows- or Linux-based thin client computing infrastructure.

2X was founded in 2004 with the goal of developing terminal services software for server-based computing. In 2005, 2X bolstered its existing Linux product when it acquired Terminal-Services.NET, which developed Windows-based terminal services software.

Today, 2X develops and supports several products as part of its ThinClientServer suite, including LoadBalancer for Terminal Services/Citrix, ApplicationServer for Windows Terminal Services, and VitualDesktopServer. 2X sells