• NGS Launches Another BI Product for i OS

  July 8, 2008 Alex Woodie

  New Generation Software recently introduced Decision Assist–Financial Performance, a new business intelligence (BI) product for IBM i (formerly i5/OS). The new product is geared toward helping i OS shops build dashboard interfaces that give decision makers quick access to actionable intelligence harnessed from their general ledger systems. Like NGS’ other Decision Assist offerings, the new Financial Performance variant includes several pre-defined dashboards for frequently accessed reports, including analysis of income, cash flows, and budgets. Decision Assist is a prepackaged collection of BI components from NGS that includes the flagship i5/OS-based NGS-IQ server, a pre-built data mart, Windows-based development tools, browser-based

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• AMB Hooks Data Quality Tool into IBM DataStage

  July 8, 2008 Alex Woodie

  AMB, a developer of data quality tools for i OS and other platforms, recently announced that its InfoPublish data quality tool now supports IBM‘s DataStage and Information Server extract, transformation, and load (ETL) tools. Thanks to AMB’s integration, InfoPublish users can load DB2/400 and DB2 z/OS files directly into IBM’s ETL tools, a process that delivers an extra layer of data cleanliness, the company says. IBM’s DataStage software, which it obtained years ago with its acquisition of Ascential Software, is an enterprise-strength ETL tool often used for building data warehouses, or other activities that require moving and massaging

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• Varsity’s i OS Shipping Software Certified by UPS

  July 8, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Companies that rely on the IBM i operating system and UPS shipping services to move their products have another reason to select Varsity Logistics as their shipping software provider: certification of Varsity as a UPS Select Provider. Varsity Logistics, which was acquired by Constellation Software of Toronto, Ontario, last fall, develops a collection of shipping applications that run only on the IBM i OS. The company’s ShipSoft and transportation management system (TMS) suites automate shipping tasks, such as picking the best carrier, finding the best rate, printing the required documents, and tracking the package to arrival. The software works with

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• DAPREX Taps First Option for Online Paycheck Solution

  July 8, 2008 Alex Woodie

  System i shops that use payroll software from DAPREX now have the option to move paychecks online, thereby eliminating paper-based checks and pay stubs. The solution was developed by DAPREX’s partner, System i outsourcer First Option, and is available now. The new application was written in Java and enables DAPREX payroll users to eliminate the costs associated with paper checks for their employees. The Web-based software allows employees to log on to a secure Web site to view their pay stub information and print pay stubs, as well as to view month-to-date and year-to-date information. DAPREX President Laura Hallick

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• Coming to Grips with Your Digital Landfill

  July 8, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Chances are good that you’re living in a “digital landfill,” with no rhyme or reason in the way you classify and store electronic information. According to a survey conducted by the Association for Information and Image Management, (AIIM) most organizations are failing to live up to the responsibilities of collecting information electronically, nor are they taking advantage of solutions that could help them. AIIM shared some surprising statistics during a recent presentation, titled “What’s In Your Digital Landfill?” According to the Maryland organization, more than 40 percent of organizations have no policy for classifying electronic information as business records,

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• Jamaican Home Improvement Store Selects VAI

  July 8, 2008 Alex Woodie

  A $100 million per year Jamaican business has installed an i OS-based ERP suite from VAI on which to standardize its operations. Hardware & Lumber, which is a subsidiary of Jamaica’s largest conglomerate, GraceKennedy & Company Limited, selected S2K Enterprise to replace three disparate systems that were outdated. From its headquarters in Kingston, H&L sells a variety of products through its 14 retail locations, including building materials, home improvement supplies, household items, and agricultural products, to consumers and other retailers. The company, which also functions as a distributor, handles 80,000 SKUs, and employs 650 people. Yvette Johnson, chief information officer,

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• Drummond Certifies Five Products for AS1 Interop

  July 8, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Five B2B software products from three vendors have passed the most recent tests by Drummond Group for interoperability using the AS1 protocol. Companies sending and receiving EDI data over e-mail using AS1 can rest assured that products from Axway, Inovis, and nuBridges are certified for compatibility. Drummond Group conducts nearly a dozen tests a year to ensure B2B software vendors’ products don’t muck up the payload during transmission via various protocols, including AS1, AS2, AS3, ebXML, RosettaNet, and GDSN (global data synchronization network). Software vendors pay Drummond to test and certify their software, and supply chain participants use

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• Magic Taps New Era for Reseller Partnership

  July 8, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Magic Software Enterprises, a provider of application development and integration solutions for the IBM i OS platform, last week announced the formation of a reseller partnership with New Era Solutions Consulting, a systems integrator based in New York City. As part of the partnership, New Era will sell and support Magic’s eDeveloper application platform, as well as its iBOLT business integration suite. Previously, New Era offered consulting services utilizing Magic’s technology. “Adding Magic Software’s entire product suite to our offering really strengthens our solutions overall to our customers,” says Mayer Schmukler, New Era’s president. “Our decision to increase

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• The Power Systems 550 M50 Versus Its Predecessors

  July 7, 2008 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  When IBM said that it was mostly concerned with preserving the price points of its i-class machinery as it made the transition from the System i to Power Systems i Editions, the company wasn’t kidding. With the user-priced entry Power 520 M15 and M25 editions, customers are seeing some price/performance improvements, but with the larger Power 550 M50 machine, the bang for the buck is not appreciably different from its predecessor System i 550 boxes. You can debate for yourself whether or not this matters all that much, but I think it does matter. With every successive generation of systems

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• IBM Rejiggers Development Tools on Entry Power 520 i Editions

  July 7, 2008 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  At the prices that IBM has historically charged for the AS/400 and its successor systems, you’d think that the compilers and related application development tools would just come as part of the system, much as the DB2/400 database did–and still does in the most recent DB2 for i incarnation inside the i 6.1 operating system. But, when Software Group was created more than a decade ago, the former system product groups started losing control of the software stacks that ran on their systems–that were for all intents and purposes the systems. That is why the i platform has been

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