• Halcyon Gets Its Task On

  March 12, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Halcyon Software last week introduced new software that helps IT departments organize the tasks that must be executed on a daily basis. Whether it’s checking DASD consumption on an IBM i server, preparing Windows machines for backups, or checking the log for network errors, Halcyon’s new Task Supervisor will provide a central repository for storing and working with the various IT-related tasks performed by data center employees and products every day. Task Supervisor runs on a SQL Server database and delivers Web-based interfaces that IT employees can use to view lists of tasks that need to be performed. The software,

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• Retracted: PlanetJ Helps New York Cops Nab a Killer

  March 12, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Editor’s Note: This story has been retracted at the request of the Clarkstown Police Department.                      Post this story to del.icio.us                Post this story to Digg     Post this story to Slashdot

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• Anatomy of a (Successful) Cloud DR Test

  March 12, 2013 Alex Woodie

  You understand that it’s critical to test your disaster recovery (DR) plan on a regular basis. You also understand that a real disaster will bring surprises, and that practicing DR will increase your company’s chances of overcoming those inevitable challenges. The folks running the VAULT400 cloud backup and recovery service understand this, too. But according to VAULT/400, most companies don’t realize what it actually takes to successfully complete a full DR test, let alone do it in a real disaster. VAULT400 is an online vaulting and DR service started seven years ago by United Computer Group (UCG), a Cleveland, Ohio-based

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• Infor ION: More Than 900 Loosely Served

  March 12, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Infor says ION, its loosely coupled, XML-based integration platform, has been adopted by more than 900 customers around the word. In fact, Infor says the two-year-old product is selling so well that it’s currently the top selling and fastest growing product in the entire Infor lineup. To help drive ION’s growth going forward–especially with integrations to social and mobile solutions–Infor hired former Oracle executive Steve Moroski to manage the ION program. ION, which stands for Intelligent Open Network, is a middleware stack designed to help Infor customers integrate their Infor ERP systems with other Infor products, such as Infor’s mobile

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• ABL Takes a Fresh Approach to Modernization with RolePlay

  March 12, 2013 Alex Woodie

  ADVANCED BusinessLink (ABL) is close to shipping a potentially disruptive new modernization tool called RolePlay. The new software, which is in restricted availability, helps eliminate the menu-based system common to IBM i-based ERP systems, and present information to users according to the role they play within the organization. It’s a novel approach to the modernization dilemma, and it could help IBM i ISVs compete more effectively with the role-based ERP systems from SAP and Oracle, and Microsoft. There are many aspects of an IBM i business system that set it apart from the so-called “mainstream” X86 systems that

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• Enterprise IT Spending In The States To Improve In The Second Half

  March 11, 2013 Jenny Thomas

  It’s always nice to have something to look forward to. In the U.S., the recession we have been stuck in for what seems like forever has left us with a seemingly endless view of bad news including continued high unemployment rates, a failing housing market, skyrocketing gas prices, and a looming fear of the fiscal cliff among the many issues we had staring us in the face. But out on the horizon, the experts at IDC see a glimmer of change in our not-too-distant future. In its recently released United States Black Book 4Q12, IDC updated its forecasts for

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• IBM Picks OpenStack To Control Future SmartClouds

  March 11, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Big Blue’s Systems and Technology Group was working on clouds many, many years ago, and because there were no open source alternatives out there, it came up with its own SmartCloud Entry cloud controller, a program that can wrestle with X86 and Power servers and their hypervisors and boss them around as they move workloads around a pool of servers. But now that OpenStack, an open source cloud controller created initially by NASA and Rackspace Hosting more than two years ago is mature, IBM has decided it is time to put that tool at the heart of its future

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• Northeast User Groups Add iBelieve To Conference Format

  March 11, 2013 Dan Burger

  Like most people in the IBM midrange community, when taking the time to think about updating skills and learning new technologies your thought process automatically shifts into “when do I have time for that?” mode. It may take some mental wrestling, but the conclusion should be there’s no better time than the present. And if one, two, or three days devoted to education is unattainable, then the hole you’re digging may someday be too deep to climb out of. In case you were wondering, there still are companies that invest in IT training and education. They recognize the advantages that

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• Oracle Revamps Its Database Appliance Server For Midrange Shops

  March 11, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  If Oracle wants to take on IBM and others down in the midrange peddling database appliance servers–well, when you get right down to it, that is what an IBM i platform is–it has to do more than try to sell big and expensive Exadata parallel and flash-enhanced clusters. That is why Big Larry crafted the Oracle Database Appliance 18 months ago. Last week, Oracle put out an improved design with beefed up X86 processors and significantly expanded storage. And if IBM is paying attention, it will offer a similar configuration running IBM i designed specifically to protect its base of

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• Reader Feedback On Those 720+ and 740+ Boxes Are Gonna Cost Ya

  March 11, 2013 Hey, TPM

  The thing about the four-core processors in the 710+ and 720+ is that they are P05 software group machines. To keep them “small” IBM has fixed them so that they don’t support ANY external disk apart from SAN-attach and no external I/O towers either. This is clearly deliberate because–as we both know–most customers with a traditional IBM i workload don’t need more than four cores but they surely do need more disk space than you can squeeze into a single system chassis and more performance, too. Unless you go to SSDs, of course. 🙂 And there’s another kick in the

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