Stonebranch recently announced updated releases of its workload automation software that feature better support for IBM i OS environments. With the version 3.2 releases of Infitran, its managed file transfer product, and Indesca, its collection of job scheduling agents, Stonebranch is giving customers the capability to manage all workload automation tasks from the comfort of their system of record–the System i.

If you’re not familiar with Stonebranch, you’re not alone. The company has maintained a relatively low-profile, at least from a System i perspective, since it was founded in 1999 by three former executives of German software developer Beta Systems

When Alliance Storage Technologies Inc. (ASTI) purchased the remainder of Plasmon’s assets in a fire sale early this year, the company knew it faced a tough challenge. After all, Plasmon had the exclusive rights to the technology underlying the Ultra Density Optical (UDO) storage format, but it couldn’t make any money. Today, nearly nine months into the recovery, ASTI executives are confident they can continue to design, manufacture, distribute, and service Plasmon’s UDO technology, and not go broke along the way.

Plasmon’s financial troubles started long before the company was placed into receivership by the British government earlier this year.

Without plans to control your data, your plans for controlling your business are going to suffer. Studies by consulting and analyst firms such as IDC and Strategic Research Corporation estimate that one half to three-quarters of corporate data is managed by users with little or no policy attuned to data quality or any kind of IT standards. This seems like an odd way to run a business when operations and decision-making processes are likely based on bad data.

The chances of data being bad certainly increase when a business has dozens, if not hundreds, of user-created databases scattered across many

Oracle announced last week that its complete set of supply chain planning solutions, called the Value Chain Planning suite, can now be hooked up to JD Edwards EnterpriseOne through a new automated integration mechanism. The VCP suite, which runs on Windows or Linux and require the Oracle database, is aimed at helping manufacturers and distributors to optimize various facets of supply chain activities, including demand planning, inventory management, production scheduling, and sourcing.

In an ideal world, manufacturers and distributors would make or buy as much product as they could, and worry about moving it later. But, of course, we don’t

Infor and its equity partner, Gold Gate Capital, last week announced the acquisition of SoftBrands, an enterprise software developer based in Minneapolis. The deal nets Infor two main business lines, including FourthShift, an ERP package for mid size manufacturers, and a suite of i OS-based property management applications that is used by some of the world’s largest casinos.

The pending acquisition of SoftBrands by Infor was previously announced by the two companies in June, and it closed this month. The deal calls for Infor and Golden Gate to pay $.92 per common share of SoftBrands stock, which was traded

A group of respected cryptographers recently publicized details of a new attack on the AES-256 encryption algorithm that appears to be quite sophisticated. For years, hackers have used blunt-force attacks to try and crack AES-256–the strongest of the U.S. Government-sanctioned Advanced Encryption Standards–with no major progress. The new approach appears to be easy enough to use that it’s making security experts worried, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on AES-256 for your enterprise security needs just yet.

Security expert Bruce Schneier, one of the first to alert the industry to the new cryptographic research, dubbed the attack “very

Identity Forge (IdF), a developer of adapters that allow i OS and z/OS identity credentials to work in the wider LDAP and Windows world, has inked a deal with Dewpoint that will see the IT consultancy reselling the IdF adapters.

IdF sells two main products, including the IdF Gateway, which functions as a proxy server that translates LDAP protocol commands from identity management systems running on Windows, Unix, and Linux into i OS and mainframe commands, and the Advanced Adapter series, which provides native security connectivity for i OS, RACF, ACF2, and Top Secret security, including.

Together, the IdF products

Organizations that audit their Power Systems servers using software from Bsafe Information Security can now audit their AIX environments, in addition to i OS and Linux, thanks to a new release of the Bsafe/CPA product unveiled this summer. The company also overhauled the Linux auditing function.

Bsafe/CPA is one of about 19 components of the Bsafe/Enterprise Security for IBM i suite. The software, which runs on Windows and the SQL Server database, helps organizations manage their security and regulatory compliance initiatives by collecting, consolidating, and presenting security-related log data from multiple systems in one centrally accessible program that features a

A short time ago, the words “open source software” conjured images of disheveled tech enthusiasts writing geeky utilities from their parents’ basements while slurping Diet Coke by the liter. That image has changed dramatically, and today open source software has become a profitable industry that’s populated by businessmen wearing Armani suits. In fact, open source software is growing faster than previously expected, according to a new report from the IDC.

The IDC forecast concluded that, from 2009 to 2013, worldwide revenue from open source software will grow at a 22 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $8.1

Software testing specialists Original Software and AppLabs have teamed up to sell each other’s products and services, the companies announced last week. The deal brings Original access to AppLabs’ suite of testing services, while it brings AppLabs access to Original’s products, including IBM i application testing software.

Original has strived to help customers move from manual testing processes, which are error-prone and time consuming, to automated solutions that can deliver better software quality. The British company supports all forms of i OS applications, although testing on Web and Windows platforms accounts for a bigger slice of its business.

The automated