• RVI and Quadrant Debut Remote Signature Capture for iPads

  November 15, 2011 Alex Woodie

  Real Vision Software (RVI) and Quadrant Software this week are unveiling a new iOS and IBM i-based signature capture solution that dramatically reduces the time it takes to log a signature–such as proof of delivery–into an IBM i application. The offering, which combines RVI software that turns an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch into a signature capture device and Quadrant’s IBM i-based document management software, enables users to send bills electronically within minutes of capturing a signature. RVI employees looked into signature capture technology at the urging of a couple of customers who use its IBM i-based document imaging software,

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• NGS Updates IBM i-Based BI Suite

  November 15, 2011 Alex Woodie

  New Generation Software last week unveiled a new release of NGS-IQ, its suite of reporting and business intelligence tools for the IBM i server. The vendor has enhanced several aspects of the NGS-IQ suite with version 7.l, including better formatting of reports for mobile phones and tablets, new charting and drill-down capabilities, and a new query search feature that should make it easier for developers to find stuff they’ve already built in NGS-IQ. NGS-IQ is a large suite of IBM i- and Windows-based BI and reporting software that’s used by a reported 25,000 IBM i users around the world. The

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• Quantum Boosts Disk Array and Tape Library Capacity

  November 15, 2011 Alex Woodie

  Quantum today announced it’s boosted the capacity of its largest DXi-Series disk array and de-duplication device to 320 TB, giving customers a 60 percent increase in total storage. The company also unveiled an upgraded iScalar tape library that features dual robotics and a secret compartment for hiding tape archives that won’t get customers dinged on application license fees. Quantum’s latest stuff is available to IBM i shops through its recently renewed partnership with Tributary Systems. Quantum is battling market leader Data Domain for a share of the data de-duplication market, which is valued somewhere between $2 billion and $3

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• Best Buy to Acquire IBM i Cloud Provider mindSHIFT

  November 15, 2011 Alex Woodie

  Electronics retailer Best Buy is about to get into the IBM i cloud business. Last week the $50 billion company announced its intent to buy mindSHIFT Technologies, a Massachusetts-based managed service provider (MSP) that has hosted IBM i servers for several years, and launched a public IBM i cloud offering in 2010. The $167 million deal would give Best Buy entry into the burgeoning MSP market for small and midsize companies–and give the Geek Squad some green-screen cred. mindSHIFT Technologies provides cloud services, data center services, and professional services to more than 5,400 clients and 25,000 desktops in the

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• Crossroads to Debut StrongBox, an LTFS-Based Archive

  November 15, 2011 Alex Woodie

  Crossroads Systems next month will begin selling StrongBox, a new storage solution that combines the large capacities and long-term storage capabilities of tape with the quick accessibility of disk. The solution, which is built on the linear tape file system (LTFS) technology that debuted with LTO 5, doesn’t support native IBM i data, but could still make it into the data centers of IBM i shops. LTFS was one of the pleasant surprises that debuted over a year ago when the LTO Consortium released the specs for the fifth generation of the Linear Tape-Open format. LTFS is a self-describing tape

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• Food Distributor Taps DSC for IBM i HA Service

  November 15, 2011 Alex Woodie

  Hispanic food distributor Diaz Foods is protecting the uptime of its IBM i-based applications through SafeData HA, a high availability hosting solution offered by Data Storage Corp. Diaz Foods began 21 years ago as a Hispanic food distributor serving a chain of five Diaz Foods stores in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. Over the years, the distribution company has expanded its coverage, and today Diaz Foods imports and distributes approximately 6,000 different products to 5,000 customers in 25 eastern states and Sweden. In support of Diaz Foods’ business is a fleet of semi trucks, a quarter of a million square

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• IBS Opens Product Roadmap to Customers

  November 15, 2011 Alex Woodie

  IBS last week unveiled a new initiative called the Enterprise Vertical Leadership Program (EVLP) that’s aimed at giving customers more say in the development of the company’s enterprise software, as well as creating standard versions of the software for major vertical markets. IBS, which develops ERP software for IBM i and Windows servers, is remaking itself in the wake of being bought by Symphony Technology Group in June for $35 million. The Swedish software company’s strength is distribution-focused ERP software for midmarket customers, and its new EVLP initiative will seek to make the most of that. Each customer admitted to

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• Lawson Software Smoothes Employee Exits

  November 15, 2011 Alex Woodie

  Getting new employees registered and situated with IT systems is critical, but perhaps just as important is the process of offboarding employees who are leaving the organization because they quit, were fired, or were laid off. Lawson Software, which is now an affiliate of Infor, last month unveiled Enwisen Offboarding, a new cloud-based solution that automates administrative tasks associated with the departures of employees. Lawson acquired Enwisen for $70 million late last year, just before Infor swooped in with an acquisition offer ($1.83 billion) that Lawson couldn’t refuse. The deal brought Lawson Enwisen’s cloud-based human resources suite,

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• Linoma: DMZ Gateway Tightens File Transfer Security

  November 15, 2011 Dan Burger

  File sharing among business partners is a common practice. Unfortunately, being careless about it is also a common practice. Security is often imagined to be better than it really is and sometimes not thought of at all. Even companies that are paying attention to this topic–perhaps because it is mandated by one of the regulatory compliance laws–may not have discovered the best practices for secure transfers. Linoma Software recently released a white paper report on the topic of DMZ gateways that provides solid advice on file transfer security. The DMZ (demilitarized zone), also known as a perimeter network, is found

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• A Radical Idea For IBM i Software Pricing

  November 14, 2011 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Lately, I have been thinking a lot about IBM‘s pricing for the IBM i operating system and database. With Big Blue having long since converged its Software Group and its Systems and Technology Group, you would think that the heat would be off in some ways to upgrade hardware and for the company to focus on getting customers current on software. But IBM likes to sell new systems as well as operating systems to customers, and it needs to make money as much as midrange shops don’t like to spend it. I decided to take a look at OS/400,

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