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| Meet the new System i: Power Systems and i for Business |
| While
a lot of news and announcements came out of COMMON this year, none
could even attempt to rival IBM's big reveal - the announcement that
they are consolidating the System i and System p server brands into a
new consolidated brand, called "Power." The operating system name was
also changed, being simplified to simply "i," or "i for Business." It's
not all about the names, though. "The newly unified IBM Power Systems
product line brings tremendous value and investment protection to our
clients," said Ross Mauri, general manager of IBM Power Systems. "Over
the last few years we have been sharing more and more technology
between System i and System p in preparation to enable clients to
leverage the same platform," he continued. "This unification, embodied
in the first of a new generation of power systems, will create
additional opportunities for our clients to optimize their IT
infrastructures." In addition, Mark Shearer, vice president of
Marketing and Offerings, IBM Business Systems said, "As you know, the
System i has been capable of this for several years, but we're doing
this on a consolidated hardware platform now so there will be one set
of hardware products with one set of hardware prices, one set of terms
and conditions, one set of maintenance terms flexible enough to run any
combination of i5/OS (IBM i), AIX, and Linux, and it should be a lot
more affordable now for clients to virtualize these different operating
environments on a power platform." Read More |
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| New System, New Servers |
| Along
with the announcement that the System i and System p would be
consolidated, IBM also introduced three Power6-based servers from the
Power Systems line that will soon be available. In an article on
Search400.com, Mark Fontecchio details these new offerings. "The first
of the three servers is the JS12, a new blade that has a single
dual-core 3.8 GHz Power6 processor, up to 64 GB of RAM, and support for
AIX version 5.3 or higher, IBM i version 6.1 or higher, SUSE Linux
version 10 or higher, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version 4.6
or higher. It can fit into any one of IBM's five BladeCenter chasses.
This is in contrast to IBM's other Power6-based blade, the JS22, which
can fit only in the BladeCenter H and HT models (although there are
plans to support it on JS22 on BladeCenter S)." The other two servers
are the Power 520 Express and Power 550 Express. According to
Fontecchio, these new servers are "virtually the same machines as the p
520 and p 550 that IBM rolled out in January, the only difference is
they will now be able to support the i operating system." Read More |
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| Profound Logic Announces Public Availability for iData with Free Edition |
| Profound
Logic Software recently announced public availability of its newest
browser-based database editing tool, iData. Extensive changes have been
made since the pre-release in November that enables users to easily
access, search, organize, and edit their System i DB2 data. According
to the press release, "The tool itself provides users with a fast and
easy way to work with System i DB2 data using only a browser. It does
not require any desktop software, special plugins, Java Applets, or
ActiveX controls. Instead, iData uses advanced web technologies, such
as AJAX, and patent-pending data fetching techniques to give users
access to their databases." It is available in three editions - free,
basic, and professional. The Free Edition provides users with several
of iData's unique features, including viewing and scrolling through
massive amounts of data, editing records, resizing columns, and
exploring database libraries and files, all at no charge. Profound
Logic's CEO, Alex Roytman, explains, "iData Free Edition gives everyone
the opportunity to use the tool with no strings attached. You don't
have to purchase anything and it will never expire." Read More |
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| Looksoftware makes it a SNAP to plug System i applications into any leading front-end |
| Looksoftware
recently announced their SNAP solutions, designed to allow traditional
applications to be plugged into popular front-ends including
Microsoft's Outlook and SharePoint, IBM's Notes and Websphere Portal,
and open portals like Google. SNAP provides rapid integration of
back-end RPG and COBOL with the business user's preferred front-end,
thereby delivering streamlined business processes and reduced
operational costs. According to the press release, "The first SNAP
solution pack for Microsoft Office and SharePoint, allows entire
applications, or specific transactions from classic System i
applications, to be accessed seamlessly from within Office 2007 and
SharePoint. All this, with no changes required to the RPG/COBOL 5250
back-end. SNAP supports two types of connections - UI components and
web services - providing the flexible component-level support required
to integrate the front-end with the back-end to improve workflow."
Marcus Dee, Managing Director for looksoftware, said "We've built SNAP
to provide the System i marketplace with an easy plug and play
capability with all the leading front-ends, resulting in increased
acceptance of IBM mid-range back-end applications." Read More |
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| ProData Updates Database Utility |
| ProData
Computer Services recently launched version 8 of Database Utility
(DBU). In an article on IT Jungle, Alex Woodie details the benefits of
this new version, including, "using the tool in the latest
Eclipse-based development environment, several new search functions,
commands, and output options, as well as the capability to migrate DDS
source to SQL." While originally designed as a replacement for IBM's
native DB2/400 database utility, DBU is "a popular and handy utility
that makes it easy for programmers, administrators, and users to view
and access any file in DB2/400 without programming." New features in
the release include the capability to view database triggers associated
with physical files, new record duplication functionality, new key
field arrangement controls, and a new export field option that allows
users to create a new DDS or SQL source member from an externally
described file. Read More |
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| NGS broadly expands capabilities of a popular plug-in to its Concert Series financial solution |
| New
Generation Software, Inc. (NGS), has expanded the capability of
ConcertPro, a Microsoft Excel-based reporting module of NGS' Concert
Series financial management system, to include its accounts payable
(A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R) applications. According to the
press release, while using ConcertPro, accountants and other financial
users can download account distributions and invoices from their
Concert Series A/P and A/R data on the System i directly into Excel
spreadsheets. "With ConcertPro for A/P and A/R, they can produce
account distribution listings to locate invoices or checks that affect
a specific G/L account, identify incorrectly allocated transactions, or
track account activity," according to NGS. In addition, "ConcertPro
allows users to download open and history transactions by specifying
date ranges, account types, and accounts-all within or across
companies, in summary or detail information, and with or without
totals. The data presented includes general ledger account number, date
the transaction affected the account, transaction description, document
number, invoice and check dates, and vendor identification." Read More |
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| BCD's WebSmart Presto Instantly Web Enables System i 5250 Applications With No Coding |
| Business
Computer Design International (BCD) recently introduced a new solution
designed to accelerate and simplify 5250 application modernization.
According to the press release, WebSmart Presto is available in June,
and "uses advanced web enabling technology to instantly create a
browser-based interface over all RPG and COBOL applications. The new
modern look with improved UI meet the requirements users and management
are increasingly demanding." Presto is completely non-invasive to
existing green screen applications, and is out-of-the-box and installed
in less than an hour. Users can enhance their web-enabled screens at
their own pace, because Presto is extremely flexible. A component of
BCD's ClearPath Modernization Suite, Presto can be used with other BCD
solutions to get on the road to simplified modernization. Read More |
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