• BlueZone Updates Terminal Emulation for i OS

  July 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

  BlueZone Software, which is now operating as a subsidiary of Rocket Software following Rocket’s acquisition of Seagull Software, last week launched BlueZone version 5, a new release of its terminal emulation suite for IBM‘s i operating system. The product update brings new features such as support for Windows Vista, new single sign-on features, and enhanced FTP functions. BlueZone enables users to access host computers, including i OS-based Power Systems servers, IBM mainframes, and Unix servers, via TN5250, TN3270, and VT emulation protocols. It functions as either a 32-bit Windows application (with a 10 MB download) or as a

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• Crypto Tool from Linoma to be Offered by Bsafe

  July 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

  i OS security software developer Bsafe Information Systems will sell Linoma Software‘s field-level encryption software for i OS, called Crypto Complete, as a component of its own Enterprise Security suite, the companies announced recently. Linoma launched Crypto Complete nearly a year ago to address the growing demand for database encryption software on IBM i5/OS (now referred to simply as i). Much of this demand has been driven by the PCI Data Security Standard, and the need to protect names, credit card numbers, and other sensitive data that is sent across the network during payment transactions and often stored on

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• Hitachi Updates Password Synchronization Tool from M-Tech

  July 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Fresh off its acquisition of the identity management company M-Tech Information Technology, Hitachi‘s ID Systems subsidiary announced P-Synch version 6.4.2, a new release of its password synchronization tool, and a component of M-Tech’s identity management suite. Hitachi, the $87 billion Japanese electronics giant, acquired a majority interest in Calgary, Alberta-based M-Tech in April, and subsequently renamed the company Hitachi ID Systems. Hitachi plans to integrate M-Tech’s identity management software into its information security solutions in preparation for an expected surge in spending in identity management, from $2.6 billion in 2006 to more than $12 billion in 2014, according to

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• Metafile Selling Monthly Subscriptions to Content Management System

  July 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Metafile, the Rochester, Minnesota, developer of content management and imaging software for OS/400 and other platforms, recently launched a new scaled-down version of its MetaViewer software that’s designed to appeal to smaller businesses. The new software, called the MetaViewer Startup Financial Automation Solution, also offers a fixed monthly subscription, thereby decreasing startup costs. Many AS/400 shops over the years have adopted Metafile’s MetaViewer software to speed the process of pulling up old files and reduce the paper chase. The Windows-based software automatically captures spool file output from OS/400 systems, indexes its contents, and then stores it in an archive,

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• Aerospace Manufacturer Taps Global for Reporting Tools

  July 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

  Teledyne Technologies, a $1.4 billion manufacturer of electronic components for the aerospace industry, has rolled out Global Software‘s Spreadsheet Server for analyzing data in its i5/OS- and Windows-based ERP systems. Teledyne, which is based in Thousand Oaks, California, deployed Spreadsheet Server to make it easier for employees to work with General Ledger data stored in its ERP XA (formerly MAPICS) and the Windows-based ERP Syteline applications from Infor. Spreadsheet Server allows users to view and update data from ERP systems within the friendly confines of Microsoft Excel. Ease-of-use is the main benefit of Spreadsheet Server. Without the product,

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• EXTOL Rolls Out Support for i 6.1

  July 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

  EDI and B2B software maker EXTOL International is the latest company to announce support for i 6.1, the landmark release of the operating system formerly known as i5/OS. Improved Java performance was highlighted by EXTOL as a benefit of the new operating system. EXTOL develops a series of software products aimed at enabling manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and other supply chain participants to exchange documents and data, using industry standard formats. Each of these EXTOL products, including Business Integrator, Business Collaborator, and EDI Integrator, have been certified to run on the new IBM i 6.1 operating system. i 6.1 certification required

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• The i Upgrade Cycle Seems Par for the Course

  July 14, 2008 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  As we go to press, IBM has moved into its third quarter and has sold whatever System i and Power Systems with i5/OS or i 6.1 machinery that it could in the second quarter. Hopefully, the news will be good when IBM reports its financial results this week on July 17. We’ll see. The thing to keep in mind, of course, is that you have to know what par is for the i course. If you don’t, you can draw some wrong conclusions about the market and have expectations that can’t be met. In early June, COMMON Europe released some

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• The Power Systems JS12 and JS22 Blades Versus Other i Boxes

  July 14, 2008 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Over the past several weeks, I have given you the detailed feeds and speeds of the new Power6-based Power Systems machines running i5/OS V5R4 and i 6.1 and shown you how the new entry and midrange machines compared to the Power5 and Power5+ generations of System i gear. This week, I will bring it all back together and throw the JS12 and JS22 blade servers into the mix–the first blades from IBM that can support an i operating system–inside the new BladeCenter S chassis for small businesses. Big Blue may have brought blade servers to the OS/400 and i5/OS platform

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• Gartner Revises HP’s Server Sales Downward for Q1

  July 14, 2008 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Back in May, the analysts at Gartner put out statistics for the first quarter of 2008 for sales and shipments of servers of all kinds on a global basis. And there was much jubilation over at Hewlett-Packard, which Gartner said knocked out IBM as the top server seller globally in the quarter; HP has long-since been the top shipper. But beating Big Blue on its home systems turf is a big deal. Pity then–and particularly for those HP executives who have bonuses pegged to market share gains–that it apparently did not happen. And hooray, I suppose, for those IBMers

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• IBM Tweaks Power System 595 Upgrades for System i 570 CBU Shops

  July 14, 2008 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The Capacity BackUp variants of the iSeries and System i kickers to the AS/400, which were initially launched in September 2003 to cut the price of a hot standby server in a high availability cluster, were one of the bright spots in the product line as HA software became gradually more commonplace among OS/400 and i5/OS shops in the past five years. Cutting the price on redundant hardware helped boost HA adoption, which is great. This is all good. But apparently there are some customers with i570 CBU machines who want to move to real Power 595s, not the Power

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