• VAI Gives Retailers a Windows Option for Backup

  November 27, 2007 Alex Woodie

  The new release of VAI‘s ERP system contains a little bit of new functionality for all of its customers, including the distributors that make up the bulk of its customer base, manufacturers, and even retailers. And with S2K version 3.7.6, which was officially unveiled at the VAI user conference earlier this month, retailers can continue to use their point of sale (POS) systems even when the System i or the network connection go down. From its headquarters in Ronkonkoma, New York, Bog Vormitagg’s company continues to buck the trend when it comes to midrange ERP vendors. While many ERP

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• Lawson S3 Is Already 64-Bit on i5/OS, Like All System i Apps

  November 27, 2007 Alex Woodie

  A month ago, we ran a story in this newsletter about how Lawson Software had finished converting its S3 suite of ERP application to run in 64-bit mode on Unix operating systems, but how the i5/OS operating system would have to wait a while longer. As it turns out, S3 was already running as 64-bits on i5/OS, providing a lesson for both Lawson and IT Jungle on the architecture of the System i. In early October, Lawson announced that Lawson 9–another name for S3, which stands for “staff, source, and serve”–was available to run in 64-bit mode on the AIX

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• MPG’s PerfNav Gains New Summary Report

  November 27, 2007 Alex Woodie

  Midrange Performance Group this month launched a new release of Performance Navigator, a Windows-based tool used to analyze the performance of System i servers over time, and for sizing hardware against workloads. With PerfNav version 13, MPG has added a new executive-level report that is viewable through a Web browser, and supports the latest release of the WebSphere Application Server. Since it was introduced in 1998, PerfNav has been helping business partners and large System i shops align their growing application workloads with the latest in midrange hardware. The Windows-based software uses IBM‘s PM/400 data collection facility to gather

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• CYBRA Gives Users More Control Over System i Printing with MarkMagic 6.1

  November 27, 2007 Alex Woodie

  CYBRA recently launched a new release of MarkMagic, the company’s software for designing barcode labels, RFID tags, and electronic forms for printing from System i servers. With version 6.1, the New York company has given customers the option of using a new Print Manager component that CYBRA says will provide greater control over document management activities. The Print Manager component of MarkMagic lets the user define certain rules based on information in the spool file. At run time, Print Manager automatically processes these rules and changes printing instructions to follow them. In this way, users can let their print jobs

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• EPI Updates DB2/400 Database Assistant to Track CL

  November 27, 2007 Alex Woodie

  Excel Program Inventions recently launched Database Assistant version 2.2, a new release of its field-level change and impact analysis tool designed for speeding database maintenance projects for RPG applications. With the new release, the tool gains the capability to track changes made to CL, and to generate SQL for any changed files. From time to time, programmers run into situations where they need to expand the fields in their applications, or add entirely new fields to support the growth of the company or compliance initiatives. In these situations, it’s advisable to use some type of tool to automate as much

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• Teamstudio Supports Notes/Domino 8

  November 27, 2007 Alex Woodie

  TeamStudio recently launched Teamstudio Edition 24, a new release of its suite of development and productivity tools for Lotus Notes and Domino developers. With this release, Teamstudio delivers support for Notes and Domino version 8, and delivers several other enhancements. The Teamstudio suite is a collection of client- and server-side utilities that provide Notes and Domino developers with a variety of useful functions for designing, programming, maintaining, and fixing their applications. The suite is made up of a handful of individual products, including Analyzer, CIAO, Delta, and Snapper, all of which now support the latest release of Notes and Domino

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• AMR Predicts Moderate ERP Spending Growth for 2008

  November 27, 2007 Alex Woodie

  AMR Research predicts spending on ERP software among large companies will grow about 5 percent in 2008 compared to 2007 levels, a decent rate of growth, but a bit off of the pace of growth over the past three years. In the paper “The Enterprise ERP Spending Report, 2007-2008,” AMR analysts Simon Jacobson, Jim Shepherd, and Bob Kraus slice and dice the predicted ERP spending for the new year. The findings were based on about 200 interviews with IT decision makers at companies with more than 1,000 employees in the U.S., the U.K., and Germany. A report for smaller companies

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• The System i Fourth Quarter Sales Strategy

  November 26, 2007 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  As I sit here at my desk writing this article, just about everyone–including myself–is gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday in America. But the rest of the world does not take a break in late November. The month is just one thing standing between them and the close of another year of either buying or selling IT infrastructure. And right now is the last couple of weeks that IBM and its System i channel partners can possibly hope to peddle new gear to customers and boost sales with whatever budget money is left for 2007. It is an interesting challenge

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• Power Systems Division Eyes Cognos Deal; Business Systems Shrugs

  November 26, 2007 Dan Burger

  For the typical System i shop, the ramifications of IBM‘s acquisition of business intelligence software provider Cognos two weeks ago will have less effect than tossing a cup of water in the ocean. Not now, not next month, or next year. That’s not because there is little or no interest in business intelligence among the users of i5/OS and OS/400. Business intelligence, regardless of how you define it, is a factor in the IT planning within many System i-centric companies–the bigger the company, the bigger the BI factor. It’s pretty safe to say that the IBM-Cognos deal will only

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• As I See It: The Sick Guys in Your Wallet

  November 26, 2007 Victor Rozek

  If you’ve been employed for the past six years, without being officially notified you have been given a 30 percent pay cut. That’s what happens when the dollar drops by nearly one-third of its value. What also happens is that your $300,000 home loses $90,000 of its value; your savings are worth 30 percent less, and your groceries cost 30 percent more. As any driver knows, the price of a barrel of oil is over five times what it was just six years ago. One sure sign that the guys pictured on our currency are in poor health is how

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