• Invader II: New Power7+ Machines Take On Entry X86 Iron

  February 11, 2013 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  It has been a long, long time since IBM both understood and did something dramatic about the competitive pressure that X86-based servers have put on its RISC-based systems. The last time I can remember Big Blue really going after X86 boxes was back when the AS/400 Model 170 “Invader” servers came out in February 1998. Although, to be fair, the Power 520 M15 and M25 models that came out a decade later were no slouches, either. This time around, we don’t have to wait a decade for IBM to get serious. With the entry Power7+ machines announced last Tuesday, it

  … Read more

• Liaison Widens Partner Role in Selling Cloud Integration

  February 6, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Liaison Technologies this week launched an initiative to attract more partners to sell its cloud integration products and services. The company already has a successful business selling integration services through its cloud, thanks to the acquisition last year of HubSpan. Now, the idea is to grow the cloud service brokerage (CSB) business in any way possible, including letting partners sell it as a product, or even as their own white labeled services offering. Even before buying HubSpan and its sophisticated CSB offering last year, Liaison had many irons in the integration fire. Its pre-HubSpan repertoire included Electronic Commerce Server (ECS),

  … Read more

• Admin Alert: When Was The Last Time That Library Got Backed Up And More

  February 6, 2013 Joe Hertvik

  This week, I’ll cover some new information about IBM i library backups, tell you how to specify which TCP/IP servers start whenever TCP/IP is started, and demonstrate a second technique for preventing unauthorized FTP access to your server. Let’s get started. Determining The Last Time A User Library Was Backed Up Checking the last time a user library was backed up is easy. You can check it from the green-screen by running the following Display Library Backup List (DSPBCKUP) command. DSPBCKUPL BCKUPL(*LIB) This command will display a screen that looks something like this. (Click graphic to enlarge.) This

  … Read more

• Don’t Clone That Printer File!

  February 6, 2013 Hey, Ted

  I have a program that uses an externally described printer file to create a report. I need to change the program so that it writes some information to one spooled file and the remaining information to a separate spooled file. I could clone the printer file, but that would mean I’d have to change two files instead of one when I modify the report file in the future. Do I have to clone the printer file? –Mark No, Mark, you can build two or more reports from one printer file definition. Here’s how it’s done. Let’s start with a printer

  … Read more

• What’s That Name, Again?

  February 6, 2013 Paul Tuohy

  One of the great things about writing articles and tips is that people will drop you a note to ask a question or tell you how much they liked (or disliked) what you wrote. But even better is when someone drops you a line to let you know they have taken what you wrote and extended it. Such was the case with my last tip, What’s That Name?, which described how to go about getting a “record layout” in Run SQL Scripts. I received an email from Lynne Noll, who said she had just written 128 stored procedures, and

  … Read more

• Quantum Launches ‘Pay As You Grow’ Dedupe Boxes

  February 5, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Quantum last week launched the DXi6800, a new deduplication appliance designed to allow customers to start small and gradually grow their investment over time. The new DXi6800 scales from 13 TB to 156 TB of storage, which Quantum says gives the device three times the scalability of comparable products from Data Domain, the market leader in data de-duplication. Quantum also claims that its DXi6800 line, which uses 3 TB drives that are self-encrypting, consumes half the power and data center floor space as the Data Domain boxes. For example, a DXi6802 equipped with 3 PB of storage capacity requires

  … Read more

• QualiTest to Provide QA Test Services for Magic xpa Customers

  February 5, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Speed has always been an essential element of Magic Software‘s development tools. With its metadata-driven development and runtime framework, called xpa, Magic enables customers to quickly roll out modern, multi-channel business apps that run on a variety of servers, including IBM i. Thanks to its new partnership with QualiTest, Magic customers won’t have to short cut QA in their quest for application awesomeness. QualiTest bills itself as the second largest independent provider of application testing and quality assurance (QA) services. Its focus is not making and selling testing software, but providing testing services, which are carried out by

  … Read more

• ACOM and Bally Hook Up to Automate Casino Environments

  February 5, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Document management software provider ACOM Solutions and Bally Technologies, a developer of slot machines and casino management systems, have partnered to provide ACOM’s automation solutions to Bally’s IBM i customer base in the gaming industry. Bally’s ACSC is used by many of the world’s largest casinos to automate their gaming activities. The IBM i-based solution includes modules, such as Slot Management System (SMS) and Casino Management System (CMS), which are critical for tracking play and integrating with hotel and lodging systems, also running on IBM i. As a result of the partnership, ACOM’s form and document management systems will

  … Read more

• VAULT400 Called On to Protect Distributor

  February 5, 2013 Alex Woodie

  Berjé, a New Jersey-based distributor of aromatic chemicals, has selected United Computer Group‘s online backup solution, VAULT400, to protect the data residing in its IBM i ERP and WMS systems, UCG announced last week. Berjé is a global distributor of essential oils and aromatic chemicals to companies in the food, fragrance, and pharmaceutical industries. The company maintains more than 3,000 items in inventory in three distribution centers, located in New Jersey, Illinois, and California. In support of Berjé’s unique business are IBM i applications from VAI, including a manufacturing-focused ERP system installed in 1997 and a WMS package

  … Read more

• Cloud and SaaS ERP Surges, Along with Tier II Providers, Panorama Says

  February 5, 2013 Alex Woodie

  We are constantly bombarded with hype about the cloud and software as a service (SaaS) business model, but all too often, the data backing up the tall claims is slim. But according to a recent study by Panorama Consulting Solutions, the market share of cloud- and SaaS-based ERP systems grew from 6 percent in 2011 to 18 percent in 2012, which spells trouble for traditional, tier-one ERP providers. Panorama is an ERP consulting company that does market research, training, and conferences as well. The Denver, Colorado-based company was founded in 2005, and has been putting out its annual ERP

  … Read more

Previous Articles Next Articles