Think the System i business is important to Infor? Today, the ERP giant backed up its declarations of System i dedication with the surprise launch of a new customer relationship management (CRM) application written specifically for the i OS server. Called Infor CRM i Edition, the application is designed to help existing Infor ERP users by improving their customer service, running sales and marketing campaigns, and implementing new order management processes.

Infor has become increasingly visible and vocal about its sizable System i business this year. A string of acquisitions that culminated with the purchase of SSA Global for

Robert Scarboro didn’t set out to migrate the Windows-based ERP system at his company to the IBM System i. The project started out with a goal of adding a warehouse management system to the existing ERP system. But the way that process unfolded led him to consider options not originally on the table. Scarboro and the executive team at RefrigiWear began seeing a bigger picture and a better opportunity to enhance business. What caught their attention was the functionality offered by VAI.

Everybody knows that switching ERP systems creates some pain. It’s not easy and it’s not quick. But

System i professionals will have an easier time implementing field-level data encryption using the latest release of Linoma Software‘s Crypto Complete. Unveiled July 15, version 2.0 adds several time-saving features, including more flexibility when encrypting alphanumeric fields, more fine-toothed security access control, and pre-formatted audit reports. All told, the enhancements combine to make field-level encryption on the System i less painful.

Linoma unveiled Crypto Complete nearly two years ago as companies began implementing field-level encryption, the strongest level of encryption recommended by the Payment Cardholder Industry (PCI) group. The software uses encryption algorithms that are included in i OS,

Software Engineering of America (SEA) recently announced the availability of the GiAPA i OS performance tool in the United States and Canada. Developed in Denmark by iPerformance Trading, the application is designed to give System i administrators a quick way to identify if batch or interactive applications are running well, and help to identify the source of the problem if they are running slowly.

As part of the deal, SEA becomes exclusive marketer and distributor of GiAPA in North America. This includes all sales, marketing, installation, implementation, and technical support, according to Jatin Thakker, vice president of sales for

IBM surprised the IT world last week with the announcement that it’s planning on buying business intelligence software vendor SPSS for $1.2 billion. The big “get” for Big Blue, which bought Cognos nearly two years ago for $5 billion, will be the Predictive Analytics Software (PASW) suite, a set of software products aimed at helping organizations to analyze trends and patterns hidden in their data so they can make better decisions.

Since a product re-branding initiative earlier this year, SPSS is all about the PASW. Indeed, the Chicago-based company added the PASW moniker to about 40 individual products. Only a

System i shops that are looking for anti virus software to protect their IBM Lotus Domino version 8.5 e-mail environment may want to check out Trend Micro. Last month, the Silicon Valley firm unveiled ScanMail 5.0 for Lotus Domino, which runs on i5/OS, as well as current releases of other major server operating systems.

ScanMail for Lotus Domino provides multiple layers of security protection at the mail server level. The software is designed specifically to protect Domino mail servers against viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, and assorted malware using signature-based and independent detection mechanisms. It also offers content filtering

MochaSoft, a developer of inexpensive terminal emulation software, recently unveiled a version of its 5250 emulator that runs on RIM‘s BlackBerry Storm, a smart phone with a touch screen display.

Released last month by the Danish software company MochaSoft, TN5250 for BlackBerry allows users to access i OS applications from the comfort of their touchscreen-equipped BlackBerry phones. The software supports all standard 5250 emulation features, including device names. It also supports SSL encryption and features an auto log-in option and customizable colors.

TN5250 for BlackBerry can be used on both the touch screen version of the phone and

System i shops that use Quadrant Software FastFax solution to distribute i OS spool files via fax or e-mail gained several new features with the latest release of the product unveiled last month. Most importantly, version 4.7.5 gives customers more customization options when it comes to delivering e-mail.

FastFax is a suite of products that enables users to distribute i5/OS spool file output as either a fax or an e-mail. The version that supports System i functionality is called FastFax/Enterprise, but there are other versions dedicated for client-server environments.

FastFax/Enterprise includes its own dedicated hardware for delivering faxes, while optional

Attention LANSA customers: If you have found Surround Technologies bundle of add-ons for Visual LANSA useful, you may want to take a look at the latest addition to the Accelerator series, including a new Task-Reminder application and another that creates groups of items on LANSA-developed systems.

Surround Tech is a New Jersey software development company that makes add-on tools to be used by LANSA developers. One of its most popular applications is Accelerator for Visual LANSA, a toolkit that the company claims can reduce the time required to develop a Visual LANSA application by 50 percent or more.

In July,

RPG & DB2 Summit Set for October in Minneapolis

For the past year or more, the murder rate of IT budget items has increased at an alarming rate, with a catastrophic effect of driving down the attendance at almost every educational and technical conference you can name. However, recent signs that the recession may be lifting and an increased attention on investing in the IT skills of in-house personnel may be putting more people in conference seats once again.

This is the hope of the System i Developer RPG & DB2 Summit, a semi-annual event now in its third