• Kisco Solidifies Self-Service Password Reset Tool

  August 19, 2014 Alex Woodie

  Kisco Information Systems has significantly improved its self-service password reset tool for IBM i, iResetMe. With version 2, unveiled this month, Kisco has made the tool more automated and easier to use. And by adding support for stronger passwords and by encrypting challenge questions, it has made it much more secure as well. iResetMe is designed to allow users to reset their own passwords, thereby alleviating the IT help desk from the oft-requested task. The Kisco tool, which debuted in January of this year, lets a user establish a new password after verifying his identify by successfully answering up

  … Read more

• Townsend Looks to Spread 2FA Far and Wide

  August 19, 2014 Alex Woodie

  Under normal circumstances, user authentication products don’t attract a lot of attention. But thanks to Russian hackers, the Heartbleed vulnerability, and Target’s security breach, millions of people are wondering if their passwords are safe (newsflash: they’re probably not). With these security fears as a backdrop, Townsend Security is looking to accelerate the adoption of its new IBM i two-factor authentication (2FA) software. Last month, Townsend made two announcements that demonstrate its plans for Alliance Two Factor Authentication, the IBM i-based 2FA software that it introduced in January. The 2FA offering prevents a user from logging onto the IBM i

  … Read more

• VAI Gives Berk Enterprises a New Analytic View

  August 19, 2014 Alex Woodie

  Berk Enterprises, an Ohio-based distributor of paper goods and disposable cutlery, is getting good dividends with S2K Analytics, the Cognos-powered line of business intelligence tools from VAI. The folks at Berk cite the ease of use of S2K Analytics and the capability to make modifications as the biggest draw, followed closely by the polished look and feel of reports. Berk serves a country-wide base of nearly 5,000 customers from its headquarters in Warren, located about halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburg. The company distributes a variety of food service disposables to stadiums, festivals, and other outdoor venues. It imports the

  … Read more

• Manta Continues To Take The IBM i To School

  August 18, 2014 Jenny Thomas

  After 25-plus years, it might be surprising to some that there are still new things to be learn on the IBM i platform. But to Bill Hansen, president of Manta Technologies, continuing to learn about IBM i is just good business. Hansen created his first computer-based training courses for IBM systems in 1985, eventually turning his focus to the AS/400 marketplace when he launched Manta in 1994. There are already an impressive 117 courses currently in Manta’s training catalog, but Hansen believes there’s always room for more. “We always had a rule that first we were going to cover

  … Read more

• IBM Bolsters Security Wares With Lighthouse, Crossideas Acquisitions

  August 18, 2014 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  With a few notable exceptions, IBM does not like to make big bang acquisitions. Rather, the company prefers to buy smaller companies that are onto a niche and are poised to grow and could use the help of Big Blue’s 140-country reach and massive salesforce and partner channel. The company has made two such small acquisitions in the security field in recent weeks. At the end of July, IBM bought a small security software company based in Rome, Italy called Crossideas, which was founded in 2011 and which sells a suite of identity management software called Ideas. The Ideas

  … Read more

• Dell, HP Chase Upgrades From Windows Server 2003; Whither IBM?

  August 18, 2014 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  It is less than a year before Microsoft pulls the plug on Windows Server 2003. Why should IBM i shops care? Because most of them are Windows shops, too, as it turns out. And many of them are likely running old releases of Windows. Microsoft is pulling support for Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 in July 2015, and frankly, now is even a little late for a lot of IBM i shops to start planning for the transition to Windows Server 2012, which presumably is the jump that most customers will make. According to Dell, Microsoft

  … Read more

• Agilysys in Transition; Revenue Falls Short of Goal

  August 18, 2014 Dan Burger

  Building revenue growth continues to be a struggle for Agilysys, a developer of enterprise software for the gaming and hospitality markets with large portion of IBM midrange customers. In its most recent financial reporting, the company reported first quarter fiscal 2015 revenue of $23.7 million, which was less than its estimated target of $25.7 million. Support, maintenance, and subscription revenues brought a 7 percent increase in revenue, however, the transition to subscription-based software and a repositioned sales effort to emphasize new products combined to create a 19 percent decrease in overall product revenue. Proprietary product sales were the primary

  … Read more

• IBM HyperSwap And Vision Solutions: Another View

  August 18, 2014 Alex Woodie

  The new HyperSwap functionality that debuted with IBM i 7.2 left some folks a bit puzzled as to how it fits into the overall high availability stack. Notably, an executive with logical replication software vendor Vision Solutions openly questioned whether HyperSwap furthers the HA and disaster recovery (DR) discussion at all. A Four Hundred Stuff reader weighs in on the issue. HyperSwap is the new data resilience offering that became available this spring with PowerHA Express Edition. The technology, which IBM has been using in its System z mainframe for years, introduces a synchronous replication method that allows a production

  … Read more

• Coming Face To Face With An IBM i Recruit

  August 18, 2014 Dan Burger

  What might you expect to find at the COMMON Fall Conference, which is coming up October 27 through 29 in Indianapolis? How about college students searching for jobs with companies invested in IBM i? If all goes as planned, there may be 20 or more attending the conference with eyes wide open and expectations set high. IBM i shops, IBM i ISVs, and business partners could use this trip to Indiana as an opportunity for recruitment. If I may be so bold, let me suggest you make recruitment a priority. Not necessarily because you have an empty chair in the

  … Read more

• Mad Dog 21/21: On Whom IBM Now Depends

  August 18, 2014 Hesh Wiener

  IBM‘s success depends on its services business, notably cloud services. IBM’s cloud services operations depend on SoftLayer, a hosting company it bought about a year ago. SoftLayer depends on servers from Super Micro Computer, a 20-year-old $1.2 billion-a-year manufacturer based in San Jose, California. During the past year, Supermicro has grown by something like 25 percent. In its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, Supermicro reported significantly increased earnings. IBM is undoubtedly pleased by this. If Supermicro stumbles, SoftLayer will wobble. That, in turn, would send tremors throughout IBM. It might seem a bit odd for IBM

  … Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles