VAI Software ERP Solutions for IBM i

I found an interestng document on the ERP solutions for the IBM iSeries proposed by VAI

ERP solutions from large-scale software vendors are not always the right choice for those midsized organizations. “Many midsized companies need ERP solutions that can address their particular business needs without extensive in-house software customization,” says Kevin Beasley, CIO of
VAI. “They also need solutions that can be deployed quickly. And of course, cost is a prime factor. Companies need to reduce the costs of acquisition and ensure a rapid return on their investment.”

VAI provides targeted ERP solutions

In a very competitive marketplace, VAI has remained successful for more than 30 years by delivering targeted solutions more rapidly and cost-effectively than the competition. Designed for the mid-range market, VAI S2K ERP solutions have been adopted by businesses throughout North America and increasingly across the globe, in the Middle East and Europe.

You can read the full document at:

==> VAI Software for IBM i

IBM i Pops Up on eHow.com

Just when I thought I'd seen it all (well okay, not everything), a Google Alert shows up in my inbox with an IBM i article from, of all places, eHow.com. You know, that website that pops up when you Google "how to make paper mache" (don't even ask—or at least, don't try to hurry the drying process by putting it in a warm oven!).

Seriously, in regards to IBM i (or more commonly on eHow.com, the iSeries) you can learn:

How to Install, Upgrade or Delete i5/OS & Related Software, which really looks like an article on how to connect to a server running IBM i from a PC.

How to Create XML From an iSeries File, which describes how to turn data files stored on an i system into XML files.

How to Restore an iSeries on Another System, which looks like how you might put the contents of a single database stored on an i system onto a diskette.

How to Restore From an iSeries Tape, which sounds like it might really work, except that the author's maple syrup has won awards in competition, leading me to believe that then again, maybe it won't.

How to Remove an iSeries Password Cache, which sounds like few too many instructions to do something complex, but the author has a degree in computer science.

How to Print From iSeries to Ricoh, which seems like basic info.

At first I thought this was a totally cool phenomena, that IBM i had claimed a decent presence on a mainstream website. But now I'm not so sure. Most of these instructions are written in 3 to 5 steps and most are by authors whose backgrounds have nothing to do with technology, which leaves me wondering:

Are there SMBs (or dare I say, enterprises) out there that have some form of an i system sitting amongst their Wintel servers with no clue about what to do with it? And suddenly a day comes when they want to take some data off it and put it on a Wintel system but have no one in-house who knows how to do that and so ventures to the web where they find these instructions on eHow.com?

Naw.

Seeing as how most entries are written by self-proclaimed writers, and that eHow.com offers $15 to $20 per hour to folks willing to write 3 or so entries in that hour and offers fame and glory on a website with high hits as a benefit, I'd have to guess that these writers are covering everything and anything to make a buck.

—Rita-Lyn Sanders, Senior Industry Editor

The article was originally published on the SystemINetwork website

Zend Gently Nudges Customers to New PHP Runtime

I noticed an interesting article on PHP for the IBM iSeries on the IT Jungle website and I copy it below for your attention.

by Alex Woodie

There has been some confusion in the marketplace regarding Zend Technologies and its IBM i offerings. To summarize, Zend is moving away from Zend Core and Zend Platform offerings, and encouraging all IBM i customers to start using the new Zend Server, or at least begin planning the migration, because Zend will stop supporting the Core and Platform runtimes this July.

Zend announced Zend Server 5.0 for Linux and Windows in October 2009, and launched the IBM i version of that product in April 2010. At some point, the Cupertino, California, company announced the end of life for Zend Core and Zend Platform, which for years have been the primary PHP runtimes for Windows, Linux, and IBM i servers.

Zend has already stopped distributing Zend Core for i5/OS, which was free, as well as Linux and Windows versions of the free PHP runtime. And it has (mostly) stopped selling Zend Platform, which was the enterprise-strength version of the PHP runtime that added things like performance optimization and application monitoring capabilities. (The company will still sell a Zend Platform license in special circumstances, it says in its end of life statement. But this probably only relates to Windows and Linux.)

The vendor announced that, as of July 1, it will no longer support Zend Core or Zend Platform on any environment. However, there are some caveats to that as it relates to the agreement it has with IBM, which for years has been distributing copies of Zend Core for i5/OS with the i5/OS and IBM i operating system and paying for its customers to get full year of technical support from Zend. IBM has taken these steps to encourage i5/OS and IBM i shops to adopt PHP for application modernization, and it has worked pretty well, by most accounts.

One of the caveats is this: If an existing IBM i customer has just begun the one year of free technical support from Zend that IBM offers to all customers adopting Zend Core for i5/OS, then Zend will abide by that agreement and continue to support that customer on Zend Core for i5/OS, according to a Zend Server FAQ on the Zend Web site that discusses the options for Zend Core and Zend Platform for i5/OS customers. Similarly, Zend Core for i5/OS customers who are under contract, and who need extra capacity, will be allowed to buy additional licenses up until their support contract runs out. After that, they'll need to upgrade to its replacement, Zend Server (Community Edition) for IBM i.

While Zend will (grudgingly) support the old Zend Core for i5/OS product for the full 12 months for customers who have already started their year of tech support (or sell them extra capacity), Zend says it "strongly recommends" that customers instead move to Zend Server CE for IBM i.

Any new IBM i customers who want to start taking advantage of their free year of tech support from Zend will not be allowed to get support on the old Zend Core product. Instead, they will be required to move to the new Zend Server CE for IBM i product if they want to get support. (Or, they could just use Zend Core for i5/OS, but they won't get support from Zend.)

All IBM i customers, including those in the middle of their free year of tech support, have the option of upgrading from Zend Core for i5/OS to Zend Server CE for IBM i. When IBM i customers get to the end of their one year of free technical support, customers who desire tech support will need to migrate to Zend Server CE or the full Zend Server or IBM i product, which starts at about $5,000 per year on a Power System Model 520.

The Zend Server CE and Zend Server for IBM i products are basically the same product, the only difference being that customers who have upgraded to Zend Server for IBM i get a key that unlocks additional features.

So, why would an IBM i shop want to move to Zend Server, aside from the fact that it's the only way to get technical support? According to Zend and IBM, the Zend Server product family is a big improvement over the Zend Core and Zend Platform products, in a number of ways.

Perhaps the biggest enhancement is the fact that Zend Server for IBM i requires only a single Apache Web application server instance. Thanks to IBM's FastCGI technology, the need to have two Apache instance--one in IBM i and another in AIX accessed via PASE--is eliminated. This boosts performance, and simplifies installation and maintenance, the vendors say.

Customers moving up to the full Zend Server for IBM i product will benefit from other new features, such as integrated code-tracing that enables developers to build faster, more efficient apps; new job queue functions that enable PHP apps to better control the execution of application and maintenance tasks; and new page- and data-caching functions that boosts performance and scalability.

For more information, see http://www.zend.com/en/products/server/zend-server-ibm-i-faq.

Linoma Adds Enterprise Features to MFT Offering

by Alex Woodie

Linoma Software last week unveiled a new release of GoAnywhere Director, its managed file transfer (MFT) solution. Version 3.5 brings a number of enterprise-level capabilities, including support for message queue (MQ) technologies and CIFS file shares, auto resume features, and file locking capabilities. New IBM i-specific command shortcuts were also added.

Transfer Anywhere debuted about three years ago as Linoma's do-it-all data movement utility for IBM i and other platforms. The Java-based software, which grew out of Linoma's earlier Transfer Anywhere product, allowed users to do all kinds of things with their data, including distributing it via SFTP and FTPS; translating among different file formats; replicating data among databases; encrypting data via OpenPGP; compressing data via ZIP and TAR; and managing all this from the comfort of Web browser interfaces.

In 2009, Linoma rolled out GoAnywhere Director as it simultaneously introduced a version of the product called GoAnywhere Services that was primarily designed as a "data storefront" to make it easy for customers to share data with their customers or partners over the Web, without requiring a formal client installation of the full MFT product on a supported server.

Organizations that do a lot of heavy lifting with their data movement activities and need a centralized solution for ease of management and compliance are better off with the full GoAnywhere Director product, which installs on IBM i, Windows, Unix, and Linux servers.

Linoma has fleshed out the product with GoAnywhere version 3.5, which features various enterprise-level features. For example, support for fault-tolerant MQ technologies like WebSphere MQ (MQ Series), SonicMQ, and ActiveMQ (via the Java Messaging Service, or JMS, standard) makes the software applicable to these high-volume, business-critical environments.

Small businesses communicating with a lot of Windows servers will be interested in the new support for the common Internet file system (CIFS) protocol. Linoma says support for the SMB/CIFS protocol will enable the software to manage, encrypt, and transfer files to and from network shares in Windows, Linux, and Unix environments.

Customers who have been stumped when large file transfers unexpectedly fail or timeout will be interested in the new auto-resume feature that debuts in version 3.5. This feature is commonly found in more expensive MFT solutions that use proprietary protocols to help ensure delivery. Linoma says the auto re-connect feature works with FTP, FTPS, and SFTP protocols.

Another enterprise-level feature in version 3.5 is support for file locking capabilities. Since GoAnywhere Director has the capability to directly connect to relational database management systems such as DB2/400, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, Postgres and others, the capability to lock data files on read and write operations will help to ensure data integrity and minimize any conflicts.

Linoma also added a new high availability feature that ensures GoAnywhere configuration settings can be recovered in the event of unexpected outage. This feature works with DB2/400, MySQL, and SQL Servers, and also stores log data collected by GoAnywhere. \r\nIBM i customers will also be interested to hear about the new command shortcuts that Linoma added. These shortcuts will streamline access to popular functions from the IBM i command line, including SFTP gets/puts, Open PGP encryption/decryption, ZIP and UNZIP.

File monitors have also been added that constantly scan for new or modified files in certain folders. When GoAnywhere detects a change, it can automatically execute a process workflow against the file. The product's scheduling and workflow functions have also been adapted with new templates that streamline the setup process for certain functions.

Linoma chief architect Bob Luebbe hopes his customers take advantage of the new functions. "As its feature-set continues to grow, GoAnywhere Director can be used to streamline even more data transfers while providing the audit trails and security needed for compliance," he states in a press release.

GoAnywhere Director 3.5 is available now. Pricing starts at $3,495. For more information and trial downloads, see the product website at www.goanywheremft.com.

The article was originally published on the IT Jungle

LANSA Introduces "Transforming IBM i Applications" eBook Trilogy

Paul Conte has been known as a Leading Technology Guru in the AS/400 market for many years.

I just read an interesting news from Lansa that I copy below for your convenience.

Leading Technology Guru Paul Conte Imparts a Transformational Strategy for Taking Applications Beyond Modernization

Downers Grove, Ill. USA — February 7, 2011 — For the past decade, modernization has been common water cooler banter among IBM i application developers and is still recognized as a high priority project for many CIOs and IT Managers. But recently the bar has been raised considerably as modernization projects are now expected to be more forward-thinking – they need the flexibility to quickly adapt to new business requirements and be hardware and software platform agnostic. To help these CIOs and IT Managers navigate a steady course beyond modernization, LANSA is introducing a “Transforming IBM i Applications” eBook Trilogy by well-known author, speaker and consultant Paul Conte.

This complimentary 3-part eBook addresses many common issues that IT managers are currently facing including:

• transforming (refreshing & reengineering) legacy applications so that they deliver efficient, integrated capabilities, including workflow, rich media and “anywhere/any device” access to business data and functionality
• helping their IT staff maintain the skills and tools necessary to deliver the level of application innovation and agility demanded by enterprises – especially in these tough, competitive economic times
• ensuring that their applications can be rapidly deployed with the same functionality in the event of business changes such as mergers or acquisitions

The complete Trilogy is comprised of the following books:

Book 1 – Prepare for Your Journey – Know your goals & chart a course – delves into the challenges faced by IBM i organizations as they strive toward success, providing insight into the major business and technological drivers behind the movement that forces them to transform their legacy applications and development strategies.

Book 2 – Be a Savvy Traveler – Plan your trip, step-by-step – lays out the steps to create an incremental transformation plan. The ultimate transformation goal is far reaching – to implement a comprehensive enterprise application architecture encompassing all your legacy and new applications. But the goal should be reached through a series of non-disruptive steps where each step produces immediate returns and minimizes risk. This book dives deeply into a variety of ways your enterprise can reuse, recycle and reengineer legacy applications, as well as providing advice on minimizing risk and other aspects of a sound plan.

Book 3 – Embark with Confidence – Be well-equipped and follow this guide – completes the trilogy by examining specific technologies and practices that support a non-disruptive, low-risk transition process from an organization’s current application portfolio and practices to a “new generation” of applications and an architecture-based approach to development. This book concludes the series by specifying a set of “best practices” for a successful transition process.

Steve Gapp, president of LANSA Americas, said, “Paul has put together a compelling series of eBooks, which really gets to the heart of the matter when it comes to the challenges facing the majority of IBM i IT shops today. The best practices, steps and guidance offered towards transforming these shops to implement agile, innovative applications that prepare them to face both current and future needs is a must read for any IBM i software developer or manager who is looking for a strategy for success – and some peace of mind!”

You can download a complimentary copy of the eBook Trilogy at www.beyondmodernization.com

GoAnywhere Director for Managed File Transfer

As you know I am always on the lookout for interesting news on the AS400 market and today I found an interesting article about systems integration that I copy below for your convenience:
Linoma Software has released version 3.50 of GoAnywhere Director, a Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution which will automate and secure the exchange of data with your customers, trading partners and enterprise servers.

“GoAnywhere Director allows customers to eliminate custom scripts and the numerous tools that were typically needed for transferring, encrypting and translating data.” says Bob Luebbe – Chief Architect

Omaha, Nebraska (Vocus/PRWEB) February 08, 2011

Linoma Software has released version 3.50 of GoAnywhere Director, a Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution which will automate and secure the exchange of data with your customers, trading partners and enterprise servers. New features in GoAnywhere Director 3.50 include:

• Message Queues - Connects to enterprise message queue (MQ) services including Websphere MQ (MQ Series), SonicMQ and ActiveMQ using the JMS standard. Both MQ Topics and Queues are supported for exchanging data between customer applications and GoAnywhere Director using this fault-tolerant communication model.
• Network Shares – Provides access to files and folders on almost any system within a customer’s network including Windows servers, Linux/Unix servers and IBM i (iSeries) file systems using the SMB/CIFS protocol. GoAnywhere Director can be used to manage, encrypt and securely transfer files from/to these Network Shares through scheduled and automated work flows.
• File Monitors – Includes new wizards to set up monitors that can scan for new, modified and/or deleted files in targeted folders, which can then execute predefined workflows to process the files.
• Auto-Resume - Automatically reconnects and resumes file transfers when server connections break for FTP, FTPS and SFTP protocols. This feature is critical in helping to guarantee delivery.
• File Locking – Allows locks to be obtained on data files on read and write operations, which is important for ensuring the integrity of files and eliminating conflicts between applications.
• Command Shortcuts – Provides new IBM i (iSeries) command shortcuts to popular functions including SFTP gets/puts, Open PGP encryption/decryption, ZIP and UNZIP.
• High Availability (HA) – Allows GoAnywhere Director configurations and logging data to be stored in customer database systems including SQL Server, MySQL and DB2 for IBM i. This allows customers to manage and replicate this data using in-house database and HA tools.

GoAnywhere Director allows for remote administration from any Web browser, including iPads and smart phones. The latest release includes improved styling and organization of the screens, along with more on-screen help to enhance usability. Additional templates have also been added to make it easier to create more variations of project workflows. For instance, in just a couple minutes, a user could utilize a template to create a project that extracts data from a database, converts it to CSV format, encrypts it with Open PGP and sends it to a FTP server.

“GoAnywhere Director allows customers to eliminate custom scripts and the numerous tools that were typically needed for transferring, encrypting and translating data,” says Bob Luebbe – Chief Architect. “As its feature-set continues to grow, GoAnywhere Director can be used to streamline even more data transfers while providing the audit trails and security needed for compliance.”

GoAnywhere Director installs on most platforms including Windows, Linux, IBM i (iSeries), AIX, UNIX, HP-UX, Solaris and Mac OS X. A fully functional trial of GoAnywhere Director is available at http://www.GoAnywhereMFT.com. Pricing starts at $3,995.

The document was originally published on the PRWeb Website

Goto400 – AS400 Freeware, Software and Other Services

I found an interesting site which provides AS/400 Freeware, Software and Other Services.

I have written a short presentation on my blog AS400SoftwareDowanlods