• Global’s Executive Dash Gets Closer Hooks to Excel

  October 28, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Global Software last week unveiled a new version of its Executive Dash reporting tool, which is used to create dashboards for consumption by managers and executives. With version 12.1, Global Software has overhauled the product to make it more like Excel, and easier to use. Executive Dash is an Excel-based tool that enables users to create dashboard interfaces that graphically depict key performance indicators (KPIs) based on financial data pulled in real-time (or near real-time) from a variety of ERP systems. Global Software calls Executive Dash (which is often deployed with Global’s flagship Spreadsheet Server) a “buffet-style” analysis tool, a

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• Is Java the AS/400’s Final Lifeline?

  October 21, 2008 Alex Woodie

  For the first 10 years that IBM pressed Java onto its AS/400 installed based, the programming language was received with boos and sneers. “Why would we spend millions to retool in Java when RPG works just fine?” was the near-universal response. But today, with Power Systems server sales plummeting, RPG programmers retiring and dying, and serious questions about the value of the platform in a Web-connected world, i OS application developers appear to be looking now to Java as a means of survival. There are few platforms today that bear the same connections that RPG and the Power Systems server

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• AquaFold Adds DB2/400 Support to Database Tool

  October 21, 2008 Alex Woodie

  i-based Power Systems shops looking for a power tool to supercharge their database development and maintenance tasks may want to check out the latest release from AquaFold. Last week the Silicon Valley company unveiled Aqua Data Studio version 7.0, which adds support for the DB2/400 (DB2 for i) database, brings a new entity relationship modeling component that should help developers better understand how their applications consume data, and support for seven languages. AquaFold bills its Aqua Data Studio as an integrated development environment that provides programmers, database developers, and systems administrators with a single, consistent interface to work with

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• Infor ERP LX Adds Compliance and Language Features, SOA Enablement

  October 21, 2008 Dan Burger

  Manufacturers using the Infor ERP LX suite of products for process or mixed-mode environments have new features and functions available to them with the release last week of Feature Pack 3. At the top of the list are capabilities relating to regulatory compliance and support for multiple languages in a single instance database. The LX product line was once known as BPCS and is often referred to by that name. It’s a bastion of the IBM System i installed base. Among the core business processes that are included in the Infor LX suite are manufacturing, logistics, channel management, customer relationships,

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• Shield Gets Closer to Full HA with RAP 3.1

  October 21, 2008 Alex Woodie

  With the launch of Receiver Apply Program (RAP) version 3.1 earlier this year, Shield Advanced Solutions has narrowed the gap between its remote journaling-based product and high availability (HA) products that have been established in the market for years. The capability to automate the switch-over process and reverse the flow of journaling is perhaps the most important new feature in RAP 3.1 bringing the product closer to feature parity with other HA solutions. Shield launched RAP in April 2007 to provide an alternative to i OS high availability software, which the company felt was too feature rich and too expensive

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• IT Chiefs Don’t Care About Software Quality, Survey Says

  October 21, 2008 Alex Woodie

  More than 40 percent of CIOs and senior IT executives participating in a recent opinion survey indicated they don’t care at all or care very little about the quality of their companies’ software, according to Original Software, the developer of software testing tools that funded the survey and recently released its findings. Original’s opinion poll, which was conducted on board a cruise ship during the recent Richmond Events 2008 CIO Forum, was not a scientific survey. The company did not disclose the number of people it polled, which would allow the calculation of a measurable rate of error. Nonetheless,

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• Aldon Wants Your Programming Horror Stories for ‘Turkey Awards’

  October 21, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Have a teeth-gnashing, ulcer-inducing, or soul-sapping programming tale to tell? Or perhaps an uplifting story of a miraculous turnaround to meet a development project deadline with just seconds to spare? Either way, application lifecycle management (ALM) software vendor Aldon welcomes your story, and will be doling out prizes as part of its “Turkey Awards,” which was announced last week. There are two categories for the Turkey Awards, with different requirements for entering. Aldon welcomes programming horror stories of the worst type in the Most Frightening Development Nightmare category, which is open to everybody. There is no set timeframe for when

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• Retailers Not Doing Enough to Protect Financial Data: Survey

  October 21, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Despite the computer security requirements of the Payment Cardholder Industry (PCI) standard, consumers do not think retailers are doing enough to protect their vital data, suggests a new survey from Solidcore Systems. The survey from Solidcore, which supports the i OS with its real-time change control system, concludes that consumers would feel safer if an independent entity certified retailers, instead of an army of independent auditors who sometimes have different interpretations of PCI. Solidcore says it surveyed the opinions of more than 500 consumers from different demographic backgrounds scattered across the country. The company did not provide a margin

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• Talend Says Its Open Source Approach for Integration Tools Has Been Validated

  October 21, 2008 Alex Woodie

  When Talend added i OS support to its suite of open source data integration tools a year ago, the company faced doubts whether the open source model could work for enterprise data integration tools, a market dominated by the likes of IBM, Informatica, and SAP. If the number of downloads, customers, and partnerships in the last year is any indication–and Talend says it is–then the model definitely works. Talend launched its flagship Talend Open Studio product about two years ago to capitalize on the demand for competitively priced data integration tools. The primary use of the

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• Agilysys Wins Casino Contract, Cuts Revenue Forecast

  October 21, 2008 Alex Woodie

  A new casino-hotel being built in Mississippi will base its operations on a suite of applications that run on IBM‘s Power System (formerly System i) servers. It will be yet another casino customer for Agilysys, which dominates the field. However, even as Agilysys wins new customers, the poor economy forced the publicly traded company to lower its outlook for the rest of the year. The $100 million Riverwalk Casino Hotel is currently being built along the shores of the Mississippi River in the city of Vicksburg. The property will include an 80-room hotel, two restaurants, a VIP club,

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