IBM last week unveiled and delivered Rational Team Concert for i, a new suite of change management utilities for System i and Power Systems shops. The software, which plugs into Rational Developer for i (RDi), is an i OS version of Rational Team Concert, and provides System i shops with integrated source control, change management, and build management capabilities, according to IBM.

For years, IBM has relied on third-party software developers to provide source control and change management capabilities for its AS/400, iSeries, System i, and now Power Systems server platform (with some exceptions). With the acquisition of Rational, IBM

Pat Townsend Security Solutions plans to roll out a new encryption key management appliance early next year called Alliance Key Manager, the company announced recently. With the capability to store and manage keys across all major platforms, including System i, the product will be a good fit for customers of all sizes, including OEMs and ISVs, the company says.

The new Alliance Key Manager product will help organizations create, distribute, archive, and manage the symmetric keys that allow them to encrypt and decrypt their data as it sits in databases and applications, and thereby adhere to various regulations requiring data

Micro Focus did not waste much time integrating NetManage products into its lineup. Barely four months after acquiring NetManage, Micro Focus is unveiling new releases of two key NetManage products, including OnWeb version 7.2.5 Web synch 1, which delivers support for clustering, end-to-end SSL, and the Firefox Web browser, and RUMBA version 7.5.2, which brings support for IBM i 6.1 and Citrix application streaming.

The introduction of clustering to the OnWeb host modernization solution is the most important announcement to come out of Enterprise Integration Technology (EIT), which is the name given to the former NetManage group and products following

BOSaNOVA recently unveiled the Q3 Enterprise, an updated version of its all-in-one encryption storage appliance that works with the Power Systems boxes, among other servers. The increase in throughput with the new Q3e, as it is called, will allow organizations to encrypt more data without worrying about degradation of application performance, while support for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithms will satisfy the most stringent security requirements.

Q3 is a rack-mounted encryption device that employs a dual-laced encryption engine to give organizations maximum protection against unauthorized use of their data. The product, which is based on DISUK‘s Paranoia device,

New Generation Software today announced that it is giving away two-user licenses for QPort Office, its business intelligence product that allows users to access Query/400 assets from Microsoft Office. The move is aimed at alleviating the temptation for System i shops to move to another graphical BI environment, DB2 Web Query, when upgrading from i5/OS V5R3, support for which ends early next year.

NGS unveiled Qport Office about a year and a half ago to give System i shops an alternative to the newly announced DB2 Web Query, which NGS maintains is too expensive and difficult to benefit most System

Developers can now check their SQL directly from their favorite development environment thanks to a new release of SoftTree Technologies‘ SQL Assistant. With the recently released version 4.0, developers get access to product features like IntelliSense, syntax checking, and code formatters directly from their IDE.

SQL Assistant is a programmer utility aimed at alleviating much of the manual work involved in developing clean SQL for Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Access, and Sybase databases. The software makes suggestions for completing SQL statements based on past development and “learns” as it is used, thereby helping developers eliminate keystrokes and

Lawson Software last month unveiled a new industry-specific version of its M3 ERP suite called Lawson for Equipment Service Management and Rental. The new suite gives Lawson an entry into a market that has been one of the System i server’s strong suits over the years.

The new Equipment Service Management and Rental application is aimed at being the backbone computer system for equipment manufacturers, equipment dealers, and rental operations. The software offers specific, integrated functionality for business processes specific to this industry, including sales, claims and warranty management, rentals and leasing, field service and repairs, and materials service management.

VAI‘s i OS-based ERP solutions will soon be marketed in Central America thanks to a newly formed partnership with Rjav Consulting, the Long Island, New York, software company announced last week.

Executives with VAI have been hinting for months that the company would soon be trying to win customers in Latin America, which they view as a potentially lucrative market for S2K Enterprise, the suite of software applications aimed at automating many back office processes. To that end, the company introduced support for Spanish with S2K 5.0, which VAI launched in September.

The partnership with a Panamanian company

Clouds come in all shapes and sizes. There are public clouds, private clouds, industry-specific clouds, and even “hybrid” clouds. Selecting the right professional services for your specific type of cloud is critical to the survival of your organization, and to that end, IBM‘s Global Services division last week unveiled new professional services offerings tailored for different cloud types.

IBM is pushing cloud computing as a way to unhitch IT from the “one server, one application” paradigm of computing (even though that paradigm never applied to Big Blue’s System i midrange or System z mainframe servers), and to boost its

Md2 Systems has joined the sales channel of ACOM Solutions, a provider of document and content management solutions for the IBM i and Windows marketplaces, the companies announced last month.

Md2 Systems is a systems integrator based near Richmond, Virginia, that focuses on the IT disciplines of application integration, document management, and mobile computing, particularly among JD Edwards and SAP customers.

As an ACOM partner, the company will begin offering the vendor’s collection of document management solutions, including EZeDocs, EZContentManager, and EZConnect EDI-XML. At some point, Md2 Systems plans to sell EZPayManager, which enables electronic payments over the ACH