• Oracle Changes Course in SAP Case, Opts for Appeal Over Retrial

  September 10, 2012 Alex Woodie

  Oracle is moving ahead with an appeal of a district court’s 2011 decision to reduce paid damages by $1 billion in its patent infringement and corporate theft case against SAP and its defunct TomorrowNow third-party ERP maintenance operation. As part of that legal maneuvering, Oracle entered into a $306 million settlement agreement with SAP in early August, and then promptly appealed it. It would seem strange, at first glance, to plan to appeal a settlement before actually signing the settlement agreement. But nothing moves linearly in the legal world, and this little case of “yes I do, no I don’t”

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• Attachmate Add Features with MFT Update

  September 6, 2012 Alex Woodie

  Attachmate recently updated two members of its FileXpress family of managed file transfer (MFT) products. The new version 7.2 releases of FileXpress Internet Server and Command Center deliver new data integration, authentication, and administrative capabilities that are intended to streamline MFT functions. Attachmate has been selling the FileXpress product line for about three years. The software, which was based on technology it OEMed from Proginet (now part of TIBCO), includes four components, including the core MFT engine, called the Platform Server; a Web portal for customers and trading partners called Internet Server; a central, Web-based management console called Command

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• Future Coding

  September 5, 2012 Paul Tuohy

  One of my favorite benefits that comes from speaking at conferences is the great questions that get asked of me and other speakers. Even if we can answer the question, be assured the next time we’re gathered with colleagues over a cup of coffee (or other beverage of choice), one of us will say, “I was asked an interesting question at my last conference. . .” At the last RPG & DB2 Summit, I was having coffee with Susan Gantner and Barbara Morris, when Susan uttered those intriguing words. The ensuing conversation didn’t result in a change to the answer

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• Checking IBM i OS and PTF Level Status for Sarbanes-Oxley Documentation

  September 5, 2012 Hey, Joe

  I have to write a quarterly procedure for our Sarbanes-Oxley manual that details how we make sure our IBM i operating system and PTFs are current. Our auditors want us to prove that we are up to date on upgrades and fixes. Any ideas on how we can do that? I’m on i 6.1.1. –Bill Here are my thoughts for doing this on a 6.1.1 system. Note: The process I’m describing here can be used to provide operating system and PTF review documentation for any auditing requirements, not just SOX. Review your PTF and upgrade status at least twice yearly

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• Admin Alert: Two Useful PC5250 Parameters In IBM i Access For Windows 7.1

  September 5, 2012 Joe Hertvik

  With IBM i Access for Windows 7.1, IBM offers some valuable parameters for customizing Personal Communications sessions (PC5250) to connect to your IBM i partitions. This week, I’ll look at two of these features–setting a default path for PC5250 configuration files; and storing PC5250 window and font information–that can be useful for IBM i administrators trying to provide better control over their user installs. For this article, I’ll discuss two valuable PC5250 configuration parameters that are available with IBM i Access for Windows 7.1. These features are configured through the IBM i Access for Windows Properties screen, which is accessed

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• Security Bundle Blocks Unwanted Web Traffic from Reaching IBM i

  September 4, 2012 Alex Woodie

  IT professionals who are concerned about hackers pinging their exposed IBM i Web or FTP servers for security holes and configuration problems may be interested in a new security solution from KDP Software. The English firm is in the process of rolling out Perimeter Security for IBM i, a bundle of security tools that almost immediately blocks unwanted traffic at the network firewall, helping to shield not only the IBM i server but any other server sitting behind the firewall. Perimeter Security for IBM i, which is still in beta, is composed of several pieces. At the center of

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• IBM i Excel Spreadsheet Generator Now Unicode Compliant

  September 4, 2012 Alex Woodie

  iDATA Development recently delivered a new release of iEXL, its Excel spreadsheet generation software that runs on IBM i. With V3R2, the software is now Unicode compliant, which will enable Asian IBM i shops to take advantage of iEXL. iEXL is an IBM i program that generates Excel spreadsheets directly from DB2/400 files. The software is used by employees and managers who prefer to see and work with company data within the comfort of Microsoft Excel, as opposed to any of the other myriad ways of getting at the data, such as canned reporting tools, ad hoc query tools, or

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• Maxava Taps Baseline to Resell HA in the Cloud

  September 4, 2012 Alex Woodie

  Baseline Data Services, an Indiana IT services firm that specializes in disaster recovery and data storage, has partnered with IBM i high availability software developer Maxava. Baseline will use Maxava HA to replicate customer data to the IBM i backup servers it runs in its data center. The cloud land grab is in full swing in the IT world. While non IBM i customers appear more willing to run production apps in a cloud provider’s data center, few IBM i customers appear willing to make that jump. There is one area, however, where the cloud has generated a

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• Trimble to Buy Trucking Software Firm TMW Systems for $335M

  September 4, 2012 Alex Woodie

  Trimble Navigation Limited, a publicly traded provider of positioning solutions used by government and industry, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire trucking software developer TMW Systems for $335 million. The deal will net Trimble several IBM i-based enterprise trucking software systems, and hundreds of IBM i customers. TMW had consolidated much of the market for dispatching and fleet management solutions since being acquired by two private equity firms, Wachovia Capital Partners and Peppertree Capital Management, back in September 2005. At that time, TMW was just one of the players in the trucking ERP business, and peddled two core

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• Indigo Chooses CNX’s Valence to Modernize RPG App

  September 4, 2012 Alex Woodie

  Indigo Software, a British provider of software and services to the System21 ecosystem, has selected the Valence toolset from CNX to modernize its RPG application. Since 1988, Indigo has served the community of System21 users throughout Europe and beyond. The company, which was formerly called JBA North East, is an Infor reseller for the System21 product, which has its heritage in the U.K. In addition to selling, installing, and supporting System21 environments, Indigo also develops several packaged add-on products aimed at enhancing the venerable ERP system. These include barcoding and RFID automation solutions and an IBM i-based warehouse management

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