• PureSystems Sales Break 6,000, And IBM Names New GM

  July 22, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Two weeks ago, we told you that Andy Monshaw, the long-time head of IBM‘s Storage Systems Division and more recently the general manager of the PureSystems modular systems business, had left Big Blue. Due to the Independence Day holiday in the United States, IBM was unable to confirm Monshaw’s departure, but last week Big Blue said that Monshaw had indeed left the company and that a new executive had been tapped to replace him. The new general manager of the PureSystems product line is Andrew Sotiropoulos, who has been around many IBM divisions and groups over the years and

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• Sirius Considers Expanding Its Power Cloud Capacity

  July 22, 2013 Dan Burger

  Sirius Computer Solutions launched its Power Cloud just about a year ago. It created two cloud environments specifically for small to midsize IBM midrange shops. Those two clouds are three-quarters full now, says Jay Johnson, director of managed services for Sirius, and the company is evaluating an investment in more cloud capacity. The existing multi-tenant clouds are built on Power 720 boxes. The next configuration may include a PureFlex system. Although 90 percent of the Power Cloud workload is IBM i-based and the growth trajectory is i-based, Johnson says there are customers interested in the capability to include AIX and

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• IBM Pushes Out Power, Mainframe Microcode Lockdown To 2014

  July 22, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  It looks like IBM is getting pushback from customers and partners who are not happy about an announcement it made earlier this year to lock down access to licensed internal code for System z mainframes, Power Systems, and various storage arrays based on Power7 machinery. As The Four Hundred reported back in February, in announcement letter 113-027, IBM said that it was tweaking the licensing of the machine code, often called licensed internal code or microcode, for selected high-end servers based on Power and System z processors. IBM has revised the terms and conditions to machine code on these

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• App Supporter Rimini Street Posts Another Record Quarter

  July 22, 2013 Dan Burger

  Third-party maintenance and support contracts seem to be a good alternative for companies feeling the pointy stick from the likes of Oracle and SAP. The popularity of that choice is readily apparent. For instance, Rimini Street, a third-party provider, just announced another record-breaking second quarter, noting 57 new client transactions and a 165 percent increase in new sales. This isn’t the first time Rimini has reported impressive increases in its business. It is the 13th consecutive quarter of financial gains. Its total invoicing for the second quarter of 2013 totaled $15.7 million, which it pegs as a 64

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• Cloudy Software Jump Saves SAP’s Second Quarter

  July 22, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  German software giant SAP has turned in a mixed second quarter, and as it turns out, the mix was just right. Between perpetual software license sales and cloud-style subscriptions, that is. In the quarter ended in June, SAP’s software license sales took a 7 percent dive to €982 million, which would be pretty bad news under normal circumstances. However, its cloud software subscription sales exploded by 206 percent (that means more than tripled) to €159 million, saving the day. Add it all up, and software license and cloud subscription sales together rose by 3 percent to €1.14 billion, and at

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• Working Vacations On The Rise For Americans

  July 22, 2013 Jenny Thomas

  Vacations are supposed to be a time to get away from it all to recharge your body and mind. But before you head out, don’t forget you won’t be the only one in need of recharging and grab all your cords and wires since all of your electronic devices will need to power up, too. According to a new survey by TeamViewer, a provider of remote control and online meetings software, the definition of “vacation” continues to be redefined for a growing number of Americans. In fact, 61 percent of employed Americans polled by TeamViewer say they will work

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• Curbstone Revamps Card Payment Software to Avoid PCI Exposure

  July 16, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Curbstone, a developer of credit card payment software for the IBM i server, is rolling out a new software as a service (SaaS) credit card payment solution, called Curbstone CorrectConnect (C3) that will shield customers from the most onerous requirements of the PCI DSS security standard. The new offering, which Curbstone customers are already using, features additional options for Web-based merchants, as well as organizations that take payment information over the phone. We are still in the first decade of PCI DSS compliance, but it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier for merchants. Besides the upfront costs of

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• Infor Gives BI Tool the 10x Treatment

  July 16, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Infor last week unveiled the 10x release of Infor BI, a business intelligence suite that includes an in-memory OLAP database. The new release brings all of the apparatus associated with Infor 10x, including a shiny new SoHo user interface, mobile capabilities, and hooks into the Ming.le social platform. The company is also close to announcing integration of Infor BI into SkyVault. Infor BI is based on the MIS product formerly sold by Systems Union, a German software company that Infor acquired in 2006 for about $200 million. Infor has about 3,000 customers for MIS (also called Decision Ware), mostly small

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• IEC Protects Internal Systems with Valid Authentication

  July 16, 2013 Alex Woodie

  When it comes to security, there are few groups who take it quite as seriously as the Israelis. And when it came to protecting the systems that control the country’s electric grid, it’s notable that the Israel Electric Corp. (IEC) is using Valid Technologies IBM i-based VSSA technology to provide strong biometric authentication. The principals were not willing to part with much information about the IEC implementation, which Valid Tech announced back in 2009. That’s not surprising, as secrecy is one of the primary tenants of security. “Loose lips sink ships,” after all. But what has been disclosed paints a

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• Spinnaker Nabs More JD Edwards Customers, Unveils Siebel Support Service

  July 16, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Spinnaker Support recently announced two new customers for its third-party support service for JD Edwards World, including D+M Group, a manufacturer of speakers and stereos, and an unnamed Las Vegas casino. The Denver, Colorado, company also announced the launch of a new support program for Siebel CRM customers. Spinnaker continues to capitalize on the pushback against the expensive fees that Oracle and SAP charge for maintenance and technical support. Oracle charges customers an annual fee of about 22 percent to get support and upgrades, while SAP recently jacked its annual fee to 19 percent. Oracle has given JD Edwards World

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