• Bulova Taps WebFOCUS for BI

  October 8, 2013 Alex Woodie

  The watchmaker Bulova has built a business intelligence application using the WebFOCUS tools from Information Builders, the software company announced last week. From its headquarters in Queens, New York, Bulova oversees the design, manufacturing, and delivery of luxury watches, clocks, and other timepieces. The 138-year-old subsidiary of the Citizen Watch Co., and is part of the largest watchmaker in the world. Bulova has been an IBM i shop for years. Its core ERP system is the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne application from Oracle. Other applications that Bulova has run on the IBM i platform include Manhattan Associates‘ PkMS

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• Get Your Quant On: IBM Updates DataQuant for IBM i

  October 8, 2013 Alex Woodie

  IBM last week updated DataQuant, a business intelligence tool that allows users to create and run queries on all IBM systems, including IBM i. With version 2.1 of DataQuant for Multiplatforms, IBM enhanced its ad hoc reporting capabilities and added a new text analytics feature for processing unstructured data sources. DataQuant is designed to be an easy-to-use BI tool for developing executive dashboards, information portals, and interactive data visualizations. The software includes dozens of pre-built charts, controls, and graphics that users can drag and drop on the screen to craft and customize dashboards and reports. The development component runs on

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• Shield’s HA4i Now Ready for PureFlex

  October 8, 2013 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops that are taking the PureFlex route have another high availability solution to choose from now that Shield Advanced Solutions has certified its HA4i software to run on Big Blue’s all-in-one server. The Toronto, Ontario, company worked with IBM to ensure that the software installation process for HA4i goes as smoothly as possible. HA4i is a logical replication high availability solution that uses IBM’s remote journaling technology to move data and objects between two IBM i servers. Shield initially rolled out a bare-bones release of the software in 2007, and over the years, it has fleshed out the

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• Attachmate Delivers iPad Emulator for 5250

  October 8, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Attachmate last month announced the availability of a new terminal emulator for iPad that will allow road warriors and other field workers to access 5250 and 3270 applications from afar. The new client sports an HTML5 screen and support for encrypted connections, which is a requirement in today’s corporate environment. The scramble to deliver mobile interfaces to existing business applications has been going on for several years. But for whatever reason, the iPad seems to be especially favored by business application developers, including those writing software for the IBM i server. The delivery of version 1.0.1 of the Verastream Terminal

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• Linoma Automates IFS Encryption

  October 8, 2013 Dan Burger

  Protecting sensitive information takes a well-developed plan and a variety of skills and strategies. Not only are the operators of IBM midrange computers learning more about tightening down the security of their systems, they are also deploying data encryption to provide another barrier between sensitive information and those who are coming after it. Linoma Software‘s CryptoComplete is an encryption product designed to protect sensitive information and its automation features should give more companies a reason to take a closer look. Encryption can be a hairy monster that adds complexity and manual processes to security efforts. Keeping things simple is

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• Help/Systems Delivers First Major Upgrade of CCSS Tools

  October 8, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Help/Systems last week unveiled updates to two of its products under the CCSS banner. This includes QSystem Monitor (QSM) version 13, which expands the breadth of IBM i operations that it monitors, and QMessage Monitor (QMM) version 8, which gives customers more automated responses to IBM i messages. QSM 13 and QMM 8 are the first new versions of the CCSS product lines in years, and, it goes without saying, the first new releases of the IBM i system management tools since Help/Systems acquired CCSS almost exactly a year ago. QSM gives administrators real-time performance data about their IBM

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• Disk Array Revenues Drop For The Second Quarter In A Row

  October 7, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Disk array makers are trying to make it up in volume, and they are not succeeding. This is the second quarter in a row that revenues have fallen. According to the latest statistics from IDC, disk array storage capacity shipments were up 21.5 percent in the second quarter ended in June, to a total of 8.2 exabytes. This disk array market was able to grow capacity shipments by between 30 and 40 percent a year, which kept revenues growing. But with thin provisioning, data compression, virtualization, and other technologies being more widely deployed on arrays, it is getting harder

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• IBM Gives Away Storwize V3700 Advanced Software Features

  October 7, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  If you are looking to install IBM‘s Storwize V3700 storage arrays, which are compatible with the IBM i -Power Systems platform and which are also the storage devices at the heart of the PureSystems modular systems, then IBM has a deal for you. In announcement letter 313-094, IBM is putting out the System Storage V3700 Advanced Function offering, and this gives customers who buy a minimum hardware configuration some freebie software that runs on the arrays. Specifically, you have to buy a dual-controller version of the V3700 array and a minimum of a dozen disk drives or flash

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• Large Enterprises Float Toward Hybrid Clouds

  October 7, 2013 Jenny Thomas

  Whether you are part of a large enterprise or a small business, it is inconceivable to think your company is not aware of the explosion in cloud computing in recent years. Even if a cloud deployment isn’t in your organization’s immediate future, keeping an eye on the trends can help you make a better decision about going cloud should the time ever come. The analysts at Gartner make it their business to follow what’s happening in IT, and there has been some movement in the cloud market that has caught their attention. In a recent report, Gartner says nearly half

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• IBM i Educational Grant Denied

  October 7, 2013 Dan Burger

  A Department of Labor grant application that would further the development of a standardized IBM i curriculum that could be implemented at participating colleges and universities has been rejected, sending the grant writing team of IBM midrange advocates back to the drawing boards. Jim Buck, who guides the IBM i educational curriculum at Gateway Technical College in Wisconsin, advised me of the setback last week. To bolster the grant application, 119 companies participated in a survey that prioritized skills that college graduates could possess that would make them candidates for job opportunities. An email was sent to the companies (78

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