• Safestone Re-emerges with New Corporate Identity, i OS Security Tools

  June 10, 2008 Alex Woodie

  It’s been a couple of years since we’ve heard from the folks at Safestone, the i OS (formerly i5/OS) security software developer based in England. Despite a low public profile, it’s recently made a series of announcements concerning new security tools, a new Web site, and a new corporate identity that are seemingly aimed at reassuring the market that it hasn’t disappeared, and is committed to enhancing its collection of i OS security tools. Since it was formed in 2000 following the acquisition of a company called CCT by SoftScreen, Safestone (also known as SafeStone Technologies) has been serving

  …

  Read more

• NetManage and HiT Software Partner for Structured Data

  June 10, 2008 Alex Woodie

  NetManage, which is in the process of being acquired by MicroFocus, and HiT Software, a longtime developer of data providers for the i OS (formerly i5/OS) platform, have teamed up to help customers give structure to their data. Under the partnership, which was announced two weeks ago, NetManage and HiT Software will work together to help organizations convert unstructured data running on “legacy” platforms (z/OS and i OS) into structured data housed in modern SQL-based databases (ostensibly running on other platforms). The partnership will include two tools: NetManage’s OnWeb “legacy integration server,” which will expose legacy 5250

  …

  Read more

• Brooks Updates Remote Print Manager with Customized Workflows

  June 10, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Brooks Internet Software is giving users of its RPM Remote Print Manager software the capability to create complex printing workflows. With RPM version 5.0, launched two weeks ago, users can instruct the software to execute multi-layered tasks, such as convert i OS-based SCS spool files to the PDF format, and then send the resulting file to a Windows PC for printing. RPM Remote Print Manager is a Line Printer Daemon (LPD) print server designed to provide more flexibility in the management and handling of the print output of i OS, mainframe, and Unix systems. The software, which runs on Windows

  …

  Read more

• NGS and Munson Good for Laughs

  June 10, 2008 Dan Burger

  You gotta laugh. Well, not everyone does, because what’s funny to me may not be funny to you, and that’s what makes the use of humor in advertising a bit of a gamble. Still when humor is done right, success beyond that of an uninspiring marketing message is a safe bet. Last year New Generation Software (NGS) faced a major new competitive factor. It was going head-to-head with IBM, its business partner and its rival in the business intelligence segment of the System i market. Marketing resources, not the least of which is strictly budgetary, made IBM the 800-pound

  …

  Read more

• Small Insurance Companies Get On-Demand BI Service

  June 10, 2008 Alex Woodie

  A trio of IT vendors, including IBM, insurance software provider Sapiens Americas, and Millbrook, an IT consultancy to the insurance industry, have teamed up to deliver an on-demand business intelligence (BI) offering for small and mid size insurance companies. The offering, called Sapiens INSIGHT for Business Intelligence, will be based on IBM’s Cognos BI software, and provide smaller outfits an array of BI capabilities normally available only to larger companies. For small and mid size property and casualty (P&C) insurance companies, the capability to analyze data effectively and efficiently can make the difference between surviving in today’s

  …

  Read more

• IBM Mashup Center to Offer Online Trials

  June 10, 2008 Dan Burger

  The invitations to IBM‘s Mashup Center are out, but Big Blue has yet to determine when it will allow us to come play in its Web 2.0-oriented sandbox. The trial version, hosted by IBM and available on a trial basis on an IBM Web page is supposed to be ready “within a week or two.” When that day comes, it should offer some creative opportunities for non-programmer types to learn how composite applications can be assembled and used in a collaborative work setting. Widgets and templates can be combined with drag and drop convenience to bring together databases, unstructured

  …

  Read more

• Vision Signs Filipino Retailer to HA Contract

  June 10, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Puregold Price Club, one of the largest retail companies in the Philippines, has installed Vision Solutions‘ iTERA HA software to provide data replication and failover capabilities for its System i-based logistics application, the software company announced yesterday. Since it was established in Manila in 1998, Puregold Price Club has grown and now operates 23 stores near the Filipino capital and surrounding provinces. Supporting this growth are more than 600 employees and a robust IT system based on JDA Software‘s popular Merchandising Management System (MMS) application, which runs on a System i Model 550 at Puregold headquarters. With business

  …

  Read more

• Zend Taps System i-PHP Guru, Pushes the i Platform

  June 10, 2008 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  In its efforts to pump up the use of PHP for enterprise applications running on the i platform, Zend Technology has announced that it has hired a long-time PHP-on-i advocate, Mike Pavlak, to be part of the Zend team, helping get i shops moving toward deploying PHP for creating new applications and modernizing old ones for the Web. Zend has also hired other i-specific sales and channel managers, and has announced two new partnerships with players in the i ecosystem. Pavlak, as many of you know, was formerly the IT director at Tripp Lite, a Chicago-based maker of uninterruptible power

  …

  Read more

• Magic Targets Rich Internet Apps, SaaS with G5

  June 9, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Magic Software recently announced G5, the codename for a new development environment due this month that promises to deliver “rich Internet applications” and an on-ramp to delivering applications via the software as a service (SaaS) method. Officials with the company say the software will build upon Magic’s eDeveloper legacy for the Web 2.0 age, while also removing the technical barriers that make it difficult for developers to target multiple deployment architectures with the same code base. Integrated development environments (IDEs) haven’t kept up with the demands for more flexibility in the deployment of applications developed with the IDEs, according to

  …

  Read more

• The Power Systems M15 and M25 Versus Their Predecessors

  June 9, 2008 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  It seems like a long time since IBM announced the Power Systems convergence and the new Power6-based Power 520 i Edition 9407-M15, 9408-M25, and 9409-M50 machines, which replace the System i 520, 515, 525, and 550 boxes, which were based on the Power5+ processors. To its credit, Big Blue made a lot of progress in late 2006 with its user-capped Solution Edition Power5+ machines, which were productized as the 515 and 525 with the Power5+ chips in early 2007. The new Power Systems offer further price/performance improvements, but just how much depends on the precise configuration you look at. As

  …

  Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles