LANSA Data Sync Direct Chosen by Food Logistics Magazine for 2007

MELVILLE, N.Y., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Food Logistics, the only publication exclusively dedicated to covering the movement of product and information through all channels of the food supply chain, this week announced its fourth annual list -- the Food Logistics 100 -- which features top technology solution providers that serve the needs of a unique segment of the food service industry. The list is compiled through end-user nominations. Each company listed is top in their field for assisting food, beverage and consumer packaged goods' companies to transform their supply chains.

About LANSA Data Sync Direct

6 Good Reasons for Online Backup Services

6 Good Reasons for Online Backup Services


Please excuse the self promotion. I have written an article about why all of the LANSA shops should consider using online backup services that R&K uses and provides via VAULT400. They support all platform and are particularly strong with the iSeries online backup services (AS/400, System i).

Here is the teaser: Online backup is a method of offsite data storage in which files, folders, or the entire contents of a system are regularly backed up on a remote server or computer with a network connection. A number of companies provide online backup services for subscribers whose computers are connected to the Internet, automatically copying selected files to backup storage at the service provider's data vault. To read the article click here.

LANSA Partners Join Forces

LANSA Partner Futura Data of Denmark has become a partner of Rippe & Kingston Systems, Inc. They will be using the e.ssential Portal and the LANSA Portlet Generator to expand their LANSA business practice.

About Futura Data: Futura Data A/S has extensive experience with the IBM System i (iSeries AS/400). They have customers within several lines of business, with the main empahasis on wholesale dealers within the autombile spare parts. Futura Data has developed a Web trade system for spare parts, which is built on the international catalogue from TECDOC. They are both a IBM & LANSA business partner. http://www.futura-data.dk/

Rippe & Kingston's global footprint now includes:

Bermuda
Canada
Cayman Islands
Denmark
Germany
Great Britain
Philippines
Puerto Rico
Romania
Thailand

DB2 Web Query for System i

I just returned from a training class on the new DB2 Web Query offering from IBM, and am excited about using it with our Plant and Facility Maintenance application (METHOS). It shows great promise in both retrieval and analyzing vital data. You are able to add a more modern look to any existing Query/400 report as well as produce new, more graphical reports. Queried output can go directly to spreadsheets or PDF documents, and color coding or graphs can be added. These new options will greatly enhance the ability to highlight Preventative Maintenance Tasks and Work Orders that are in need of attention as well as assist in easier distribution throughout the organization.

Features like the Developer Workbench allow for the complexity of the database to be hidden from the end user (non-IT staff). The Power Painter (WYSIWYG) provides users the ability to easily design reports with the end goal directly visible. The On-Line Analytical Processing allows users to drill into data so they do not have to guess as to what makes up the numbers on the report. And using Active Reports allows you to take the queried data on the road for analysis; no server connection required.

If you have not seen this new tool in action, I highly recommend it.

New Weblets for LANSA WAMS?

We are looking for new weblets to incorporate into our packages...does anybody have any weblets for sale? We have created a few and would like to know what others have created. If you have any for sale, let me know. Thanks!

"Business Process Integration For The Rest Of Us"

October 16, 2007

LANSA announces the general availability of LANSA Composer, the first Business Process Integration (BPI) solution designed specifically for small and medium businesses. The first release of LANSA Composer is targeted to System i users, while a second release will expand to Windows and Linux users. BPI solutions are common in large companies, which can afford the cost and complexity involved. But today every business – large or small – is under pressure to automate their manual processes, better integrate their internal systems and securely share data with external parties. LANSA Composer is the first native System i solution to address all of these requirements and be packaged and priced for the mass market.

I personally believe this will be a rapidly embraced tool. My guess is that we will see plenty of demonstrations at the 2008 conference.

VAULT400 Awarded Value Add by IBM for System i (AS/400 iSeries) and other Platforms

For those of you that are now using our recommended method of Data Vaulting (Online Backup), you will be happy to hear that IBM has awarded VAULT400 with the Value Add Certification. This is further validation along with the IBM Server Proven Certification of what a great solution this has been for our clients. Just like LANSA, it will work support numerous platforms. All platforms that can run LANSA plus several others in your entire enterprise can be centrally backed up and managed with VAULT400.

For those of you that might not be familiar with VAULT400:
VAULT400 is a premier managed service for secure online backup and recovery. VAULT400 backs up an entire organization’s business-critical data to VAULT400’s secure data center. Safe and Off-site, the Encrypted Data is Available online at all times for Immediate, user-initiated Recovery. VAULT400 works seamlessly in an organization’s existing infrastructure with no additional hardware required.
Click here if you would like to learn more.

VAULT400 Press Release

Homebuilder Taps LANSA for Lead Management System

I read this article in Four Hundred Stuff:

Maronda Homes, a homebuilder that does business across the Midwest and the southern states, has installed a lead management system, based on LANSA Windows and System i application development technology, to help it sell new houses, LANSA announced last week. See the complete article

Thom Davidson joins IBM Advisory Council

R&K has been invited to participate in the IBM Advisory Council. Thom Davidson will be joining 20 companies selected nationally. The council will meet on July 24th & 25th in Chicago. I hope to bring back technology trend information compiled by IBM and their leading partners that we can share with our clients. LANSA will be a prominent topic in my discussions with IBM and the other firms that have been chosen.

Have a little fun during your coffee break--go boxing!

Just before COMMON, LANSA released RAMP Mania, an online boxing game that pits the speed of the Web against the quick wit of System i users. Simply put, you “box” your way to a score by eliminating unwanted function keys, green screens and dead-end modernization alternatives and, if the score doesn’t meet your personal goals, you can play again and again. RAMP Mania is a way to poke fun at those legacy components that annoy us. If you can’t beat them in the real world, at least you can in RAMP Mania’s virtual world!

Box your stress away at www.rampmania.com

LANSA RAMP Modernization Workshops

Spend 1/2 day and attend a RAMP Modernization workshop and discover how to modernize your System i applications using a business application framework for improved extendability, navigation and presentation, including isolating and reusing the best parts of your legacy applications.

We just held a couple of sessions at Rippe & Kingston. The reaction was Fantastic! Reading the literature, seeing Power Points and looking at some before and after pictures doesn't cut it!

You need to have that tactile experience that only a hands-on workshop provides.

If the schedule or location being offered by LANSA is not convenient...send me a request for a FREE Workshop. We will be happy to schedule one that meets your calendar so that the word will get spread. LANSA definetly got this one right!

LANSA Accepted into IBM's SOA Specialty

LANSA has been accepted into IBM's SOA Specialty, a certification program created to highlight software products that can further the creation and adoption of service oriented architecture (SOA). LANSA's primary tool for SOA development, called LANSA Integrator, was accepted into the program.
There are a myriad certification programs housed deep within Big Blue's PartnerWorld program. You've probably heard of the ServerProven and StorageProven certifications. Well, here's another: IBM's SOA Specialty, which is administered by the IBM SOA Foundation.

LANSA Releases Upgrade To RAMP Modernization Tool

"Among the new features shared with me are improved performance and enhanced productivity." Thom Davidson

LANSA has announced a new release of RAMP modernization tool for the System i platform that provides users with key features to improve performance and productivity, including multiple sessions, favorites folders, and 5250 screen wrappers.

A leading feature is the end user's ability to open and control multiple application framework windows at the same time. A framework window contains a new instance or a subset of the framework, for example, a specific application, a specific view of an application, or a specific business object. The ability to open and work within multiple windows naturally increases the user's productivity.

With the new release, users may also create personalized favorites folders, that is, a selection of application components containing only the business objects they use most frequently. By extension, an application designer may elect to allow multiple favorites folders (for example, order-entry favorites, end-of-month favorites, etc.) for different users or different periods of use to further simplify navigation and usability.

The third main feature is screen wrappers, that let developers put a graphical interface replacing one or more 5250 screens without having to analyze, rewrite, and retest the business logic within. These wrappers are graphical components that provide a fully functional and extendable user interface without having to change the server-side code.

"This new release provides features and functions that our early users of RAMP have been asking for," said John Siniscal, president of LANSA Inc. "As the RAMP customer base grows, we are learning and responding to the requirements that will make RAMP even more powerful and flexible for large-scale, real-world modernization projects. Customer feedback from both end-user organizations and ISVs has so far been enthusiastic and encouraging."

Learn More About RAMP and RAMP Services

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LANSA: A great developer tool

I've been a LANSA developer since 1990 and I have to say that it is one of my favorite development toolsets. I've done LANSA green-screen applications, reports, Lansa for the Web, and LANSA Integrator applications. I've found that I really like the repository and many of the tools and leverages that it brings to the table. Now, I'm even more excited as I just finished some LANSA WAMS training that was really great. The "bang for buck" that the LANSA IDE and development toolsets bring to the table is just incredible. I've coded in other languages, but never found either the satisfaction or the productivity that I get from using the LANSA toolsets. After using LANSA, I simply cannot imagine going back to using any other toolset as my mainstay for getting business applications developed and deployed rapidly. - Robert S. Sweney rsweney449@gmail.com

R&K Expands LANSA Client Base with 1SYNC

Weidenhammer Systems Inc. (WSC) and Rippe & Kingston Systems, Inc. (R&K) have merged our 1Sync Managed Services under R&K. This merger provides benefits for our valued clients. There are a number of 1Sync network infrastructure enhancements and modifications that are planned for implementation in 2007. As a result of this merger, all accounts will be transitioned together without interruption. The consolidation allows us to expand the resources dedicated to 1Sync.R&K will be incorporating our essential Portal to the 1Sync Managed Services practice which will provide new capabilities including access to our 1Sync Knowledgebase, 1Sync's membership site, various retail news feeds for current industry information, as well as links to major retailers sites.

The 1Sync software is a LANSA based solution.

Looking ahead: Tech trends 2007

As we gaze toward the vista of 2007, we find our e-mail inundated with IT predictions.

With fanfare, Microsoft Corp. will garner headline early in the year as it realeases its Vista operating system. The release splash will give way to headlines that enterprises are following through on comments from wary IT administratrors are waiting to upgrade. Then will come the security-risk headlines, followed no doubt by the patch headlines. No doubt, this will keep the LANSA support people very busy trying to keep up with all the changes from Microsoft.

Year of the WAM. Yes, LANSA released LANSA 2005 a couple of years ago. However, it takes time for people to catch up with their technology. It is predicted this is the year that it explodes.