IBM doesn’t think i5/OS is an appropriate platform on which to develop a radio frequency identification (RFID) application, but that doesn’t mean there is no demand for such an application. In fact, CYBRA and Solzon, by their account the only two software companies developing RFID software that runs under i5/OS, announced earlier this month that they are joining forces, and combining their respective strengths in i5/OS product development and real-world implementation to give System i customers the strongest option for native RFID deployment.

CYBRA and Solzon have been partners for the last two-and-a-half years, during which time Solzon has

There are several ways to access remote databases from the System i. They range from complex and expensive to simple and inexpensive. One of the least expensive and easiest to use methods has been developed by ProData Computer Services. Its Database Utility (DBU) is used by thousands of System i shops to access relational database systems, and earlier this year DBU Remote Database plug-in (DBU RDB) opened up cross-platform database access. This week ProData is releasing Remote Database Connect (RDB Connect), a new access avenue for RPG, COBOL, and CL programs.

The difference between RDB Connect and DBU Remote

Real Vision Software is now shipping a major new release of Real Vision Imaging (RVI), its document scanning and content management solution for OS/400 and i5/OS users. With version 8.0, Real Vision has made a number of enhancements, including more indexing options, better scanner support, enhancements to the Web interface and HATS support, more mark-up capabilities, new “system linking” capabilities, and other new features.

RVI is an image capture and retrieval system designed to help iSeries and System i users reduce their dependence on paper-based processes. The software enables users to capture and index documents from various sources, including i5/OS

Vision Solutions is best known as a provider of high availability software for the System i server. After all, since it has purchased three of its former competitors, Vision pretty much now owns that market. But thanks to its acquisition of OS Solutions two-and-a-half years ago, the company is also designing and marketing i5/OS performance management tools, and last week it shipped a major new release of its key offering in that arena: Vision Director 7.0.

Vision Director, which evolved from OS Solutions’ old OS Director product, is a systems optimization and performance utility that’s geared toward freeing up DASD,

BOSaNOVA, a provider of thin client and security solutions for System i shops, has joined the PCI Security Vendor Alliance, an industry group devoted to helping members understand and comply with the new Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security standards, the company announced last week.

PCI has become one of the most feared (and respected) data security regulations enacted over the past couple of years. Unlike Sarbanes-Oxley, which has vague requirements for IT and affects only public companies, PCI introduced very specific minimum requirements that all parties to credit card transactions–including merchants, software makers, and device manufacturers–must meet

Kisco Information Systems has added the capability to convert i5/OS spool files into the Excel format with the latest release of WebReport/400, its utility for transforming i5/OS output and distributing it via e-mail and the Web.

WebReport/400 is a versatile utility aimed at allowing i5/OS shops to make more effective use of the spool files and reports generated by their applications. The software allows output to be automatically e-mailed to recipients, posted to a Web site, or sent to another machine via FTP, enabling wider and more effective communication.

Launched in late September, WebReport/400 version 9.15 brings support for the

First Option, a provider of System i server and application hosting expertise, has picked Invision, which runs a big data center near New York City, to house the iSeries and System i servers it runs for its clients, the companies announced last week.

First Option has been running i5/OS servers and applications for customers since it was founded in 1995. Today the company, which is based in Mansfield, Massachusetts, provides i5/OS expertise to customers like Consolidated Communications, a telecommunications company serving rural Illinois and Texas, and DAPREX, a developer of i5/OS accounting software that’s based in Stamford,

Solimar Systems reached a milestone in its quest to optimize high-volume print output (including System i output) for Xerox printers earlier this month when it announced that Solimar’s Print Director Enterprise (SPDE) software has achieved the “Optimized for FreeFlow” designation by Xerox.

Solimar, which is based in San Diego, California, achieved the Xerox designation by incorporating elements of the FreeFlow Digital Workflow Collection into SPDE, which is a collection of Windows-based products aimed at centrally managing the production print environment, including enabling practically any printer to support practically any host, including proprietary environments like IBM mainframe and midrange servers.

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Ricoh Americas recently launched a new color multifunction printer, the Aficio MP C2000. Designed to support the document workflow needs of office workers, the C2000 laser printer provides a full range of paper handling features and prints at the rate of 20 pages per minute, for a price around $10,000.

As the New Jersey subsidiary of Ricoh, the Japanese electronics giant that bought IBM’s printing division earlier this year for $725 million, Ricoh is suddenly front and center at many iSeries and System i shops these days. When it comes time to buy new workgroup or production printers, Ricoh,

AEI Corp., a Southern California distributor of propane and natural gas grills, lights, and heaters, has tapped i5/OS ERP juggernaut Infor to upgrade its aging OS/400-based DMAS ERP system to the more modern i5/OS-based ERP A+ application, the former Daly.Commerce product.

Since it started selling its original Charmglow Gas Grill in 1966, AEI has been selling a variety of gas grills and accessories to wholesalers and retailers in the western states, Mexico, and Europe. About 20 years ago, the company installed DMAS, one of the original distribution packages developed for the S/36, which AEI relied on to keep track of