Halcyon Announces Spooled File Manager 9.0 for IBM i

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) March 01, 2012

Systems management software provider, Halcyon Software Inc., today announced a major release of one of its key products – Spooled File Manager v9.0 for the IBM i platform.

Spooled File Manager v9.0 is a comprehensive spooled file distribution and archiving tool which offers real-time spooled file monitoring, filtering and fast retrieval of archived spooled files. It performs actions on spooled files without the need for program changes such as automatically emailing the summary page of a report or converting them into PDFs or HTML web pages.

Major enhancements

The capability of archiving files has been substantially enhanced so that archived spooled files can be retrieved in sub seconds. There are no limits to the number of spooled files that can be stored within an archived file.

The new version now has the capability of defining Subset Templates, for example by department, type, user or any combination, so that spooled files or archived spooled files can be viewed according to defined categories.

New authorization features within the software give security administrators the ability to define by default or individually permit which subset templates members of staff can use, thereby restricting the spooled files they can view at the user level.

Other changes have been made to the software to significantly improve performance by using smart caching techniques.

A further enhancement in the new version enables system administrators to use report types to identify spooled files and define the archive and retention periods.

Tom Skillman, Data Processing Manager of City of St. Louis Water Division said, “Spooled File Manager archives and compresses hundreds of thousands of spooled reports to immediately save me disk space, but gives me very flexible and powerful search tools to enable easy retrieval later.”

John Dominic, VP of Sales at Halcyon Software, said, Automated report distribution and archiving are extremely critical to our clients, some of whom are generating spooled files over one million pages long. We worked with clients to ensure that the new version has all the scalability they need and provides them with efficient authorization, reporting and retrieval methods.

Pricing and availability

Spooled File Manager v9.0 is available immediately, either as a single utility or as part of Halcyons Level 3 or Level 4 monitoring software suites. Existing customers can upgrade to Spooled File Manager v9.0 free of charge.

Product pricing is tiered and based on IBM processor groups. In addition, Halcyon have published a fair pricing policy so that if customers increase the Commercial Processing Workload (CPW) rating of their IBM hardware they will not incur software upgrade fees giving long term reassurance on costs.

For more information about Spooled File Manager visit:

http://halcyonsoftware.com/sfm

About Halcyon Software

Halcyon Software is a global leader in multi-platform systems management software. With more than 20 years of delivering proven solutions and first class customer support, Halcyons products proactively monitor, manage and automate IT operations to significantly reduce costs. Large IT outsourcing companies as well as small to medium sized corporate and public sector data centers rely on Halcyon Software to ensure their mission-critical systems, core applications and services are available 24/7.

Halcyons solutions support IBM

Halcyon Announces Spooled File Manager 9.0 for IBM i

Halcyon Announces Systems Operations Suite v4.0 for IBM i

PHILADELPHIA, PA (PRWEB) May 07, 2012

Systems management software provider, Halcyon Software Inc., today announced a major release of its monitoring and automation solution for the IBM i platform Systems Operations Suite v4.0.

Halcyon Systems Operations Suite v4.0 enables organizations to continuously monitor critical processes and core applications running on the IBM i platform so that operations run without disruption and business continuity is maintained. The technology also allows System Administrators to automate all routine tasks, essential system saves and manual check lists as well as configure appropriate responses to common issues to eliminate human error and reduce IT costs.

IT staff can be notified of unexpected events or problems, including security breaches via email, cell phone, or opt to have alerts displayed on a management dashboard, the Enterprise Console, which is included in the software package. With the new release IT administrators can now access the management dashboard to remotely manage alerts through smart phones and tablets such as iPhones, iPads and Android devices by downloading a free smart app developed by Halcyon.

Other key enhancements include an extended library of rule-based templates for monitoring critical applications such as ERP and high availability solutions as well as shipped examples of best practice auditing rules for managing IBM i security. This new release also includes an automatic upgrade facility, and an import settings function so that customers can easily duplicate their Halcyon environment for back up purposes or during high availability role swaps.

John Dominic, Vice President of Sales, Halcyon Software Inc. said, We recognize that System Administrators need a quick and effective way to implement monitoring to suit their particular application environment. The expanded set of templates for monitoring ERP, business applications, high availability and security meets this requirement. Rules can be easily switched on from day one and this provides immediate value to the business. It also means that urgent issues with applications, processes or security breaches are immediately flagged up and correction processes can be automated to eliminate repetitions of the same issue. A free smart app written for smart phones and tablet devices increases efficiency so that our front-end dashboard can be remotely accessed when IT staff are not at their desk or are off site. The new automatic upgrade facility ensures that customers can seamlessly upgrade and are always using the latest version of our software.

Business Application Monitoring

A Halcyon command has been created in the software for each of the commonly used ERP applications including JD Edwards, Infor, SAP, Lawson M3 (Movex), Misys Equation and Midas Plus as well as high availability (HA) solutions. By using the appropriate Halcyon command, the software is populated with the relevant templates which enables users to automate the monitoring of their business application and HA environments running on IBM i systems. The templates can be fine-tuned and customized to suit an organizations specific environment.

Halcyon Announces Systems Operations Suite v4.0 for IBM i

Halcyon Announces Document Management System v3.0 for IBM i

PHILADELPHIA, PA (PRWEB) May 07, 2012

Systems management software provider, Halcyon Software Inc., today announced a new product Document Management System v 3.0 for the IBM i platform.

Document Management System v 3.0 is a comprehensive software package which ensures reliable archiving, rapid retrieval, packaging and distribution of business information, documents and reports held in spooled files on the IBM i system.

Businesses can benefit by significantly reducing costs for what is traditionally a labor intensive activity for managing, finding, re-packaging and distributing the relevant information to users within the organization to allow them to do their jobs effectively. Cost efficiencies are also gained in the rapid retrieval and delivery of information in the right format to external contacts including customers and suppliers.

Key features include indexing of all archived files for rapid retrieval, an easy to use web user interface requiring no specialist IBM i skills, a sticky note that marks important information about a particular file that can be instantly viewed by assigned users, and an overlay designer for reports, print overlays to create invoices, orders, dispatch notes, etc. Document Management System v3.0 also has a segmenting and bundling feature that enables subsets of large reports to be created and distributed to pre-defined recipient lists.

The software performs actions on spooled files without the need for program changes such as automatically emailing the summary page of a report or converting them into PDFs or HTML web pages.

John Dominic, Vice President of Sales, Halcyon Software Inc. said, Halcyon has made a significant investment in the Document Management System software. Our development team has engaged with IBM i sites to create a business solution which offers automatic archiving, indexing and superfast retrieval of important information. The new web-based interface modernizes and simplifies a traditionally labor intensive activity and saves significant cost.

Indexing

The indexing functionality eliminates the need for staff to search for spooled files or wade through large reports to find specific information important to their business or job function. Indexing can be applied to archived files for fast retrieval of detailed information and IT administrators can search for archived files using combinations of 15 definable indexes such as invoice numbers. The technology also has a powerful search function through linking indexes across different archived files. For example, indexes for Invoice Number could be cross linked to indexes for Customers, Orders and Depots.

Web Based Interface

A web-based graphical user interface (GUI) provides an easy way for staff to access or handle indexed spooled files, assign notes, apply print overlays and export data without the need for specialist skills or training. All documents can be viewed securely and remotely through a web browser. Using the appropriate security settings organizations have the option to allow their customers to carry out their own searches.

Sticky Notes

Users can create a sticky note or a line item which appears on the GUI and at the same time on the IBM i green screen, which can highlight key information to all members of their team. Any changes to notes or items are also simultaneously updated on the GUI and the green screen. For example, a note could be created against a customer account containing information which is vital for other team members to know. Security features within the software prevent non-authorized staff or teams being able to view or change information.

Overlay Designer

The new overlay designer enables businesses to easily customize their reports or create print overlays for typical documents such as invoices, dispatch notes, orders, pick lists and customer statements.

Segmenting and Bundling

Organizations can create subsets of large reports, and distribute bundles of information as hard copies or email documents in PDF, HTML and TXT format to a pre-defined recipient list. For example, staff in a distribution company could extract information from reports which identifies depots that only stock certain products, or depots that have residual supplies of an individual item, or customers which reside in particular territories or those that receive regular deliveries of a specific product, etc. Considerable resources can be saved by eliminating the need to manually extract this information from reports often hundreds of pages in length. Another benefit of segmenting and bundling is that the software does not need to use specialist scripts to slice and dice the data from spooled files and deliver it efficiently and quickly to the people that require it.

Pricing and availability

Document Management System v3.0 is available immediately. Product pricing is tiered and based on IBM processor groups. In addition, Halcyon have published a fair pricing policy so that if customers increase the Commercial Processing Workload (CPW) rating of their IBM hardware they will not incur software upgrade fees giving long term reassurance on costs.

For more information about Document Management System v3.0 visit:

http://www.halcyonsoftware.com/dms

About Halcyon Software

Halcyon Software is a global leader in multi-platform systems management software. With more than 20 years of delivering proven solutions and first class customer support, Halcyons products proactively monitor, manage and automate IT operations to significantly reduce costs. Large IT outsourcing companies as well as small to medium sized corporate and public sector data centers rely on Halcyon Software to ensure their mission-critical systems, core applications and services are available 24/7.

Halcyons solutions support IBM

Halcyon Announces Document Management System v3.0 for IBM i

Halcyon Software Partners With Metropolitan Community College, Donates Softare to Educate Next-Generation of IBM i IT Professionals

PHILADELPHIA, PA (PRWEB) May 07, 2012

Halcyon Software Inc., a global provider of systems management software, today announced an education initiative to help IT college students learn how to manage IBM Power Systems technology. Halcyon has donated $ 30,000 in software licences for managing IBM i (iSeries), AIX, Linux and Windows servers to the Information Technology department of Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska.

Halcyons systems management software enables businesses to achieve fail safe control of their core applications, processes and systems and reduce the costs of IT through automation. The software will enable students to obtain real-world, hands-on experience in all aspects of multi-platform systems management including monitoring, scheduling, automation, SLA reporting and performance monitoring. The donation includes two of Halcyons flagship software packages, Operations Center Suite for monitoring IBM i systems and Network Server Suite for managing AIX, Linux and Windows servers.

Our monitoring software is used by companies throughout the world that have IBM technology at the very heart of their business, said Lorraine Cousins, CEO of Halcyon. We are very pleased to be working with Metropolitan Community College to help students in the Information Technology department gain valuable industry skills. It is vitally important that future generations of students are educated with the specialized IT knowledge they need to support IBM technology-based businesses and organizations.

Metropolitan Community College has a long history with IBM Power Systems technology and IBM COMMON. The university offers IBM i course work and through Halcyons software donation its students can now use real-world technology on their IBM hardware. As the first generation of IBM i professionals are coming close to retirement, we believe its critical to educate the next-generation of professionals to learn this critical technology — ensuring continued growth and vitality of our industry niche, said John Dominic, Vice President of Sales, Halcyon Software.

Founded in 1974, Metropolitan Community College is a comprehensive, full-service community college. The College serves more than 49,000 students annually and offers 175+ degrees. Professor, Ted Tucker, Metropolitan Community College said, We are honored that Halcyon is supporting us with this generous donation of software licenses of their systems management technology. Our students — who are working toward Information Technology degrees will now have the opportunity to gain practical experience on our IBM i hardware. I am confident that this technology will help inspire our students as they develop their studies and begin to work in the technology industry.

Halcyon has future plans to work with Metropolitan Community College to create a scholarship program.

For additional information about Halcyon Software, visit: http://www.halcyonsoftware.com

About Halcyon Software

Halcyon Software is a global leader in multi-platform systems management software. With more than 20 years of delivering proven solutions and first class customer support, Halcyons products proactively monitor, manage and automate IT operations to significantly reduce costs. Large IT outsourcing companies as well as small to medium sized corporate and public sector data centers rely on Halcyon Software to ensure their mission-critical systems, core applications and services are available 24/7.

Halcyons solutions support IBM

Halcyon Software Partners With Metropolitan Community College, Donates Softare to Educate Next-Generation of IBM i IT Professionals

Halcyon Announces Advanced Job Scheduler v9.0 for IBM i

PHILADELPHIA, PA (PRWEB) May 07, 2012

Systems management software provider, Halcyon Software Inc., today announced a major release of one of its flagship products Advanced Job Scheduler v9.0 for the IBM i platform.

Halcyon Advanced Job Scheduler v9.0 enables organizations to schedule highly complex job streams and track these across different IBM i systems or across other servers to ensure that business processes are running smoothly, at the optimum time and at maximum efficiency.

Key enhancements to this new release include a migration utility for rapid importation of jobs from other standard or third party job schedulers, a command list to check appropriate conditions before jobs are processed, improved reporting and an FTP error trapping feature to detect any issues with file transfers.

Importing jobs

A new feature allows jobs from other third party job schedulers to be imported into Halcyons Advanced Job Scheduler using a migration utility specifically designed for this task.

John Dominic, Vice President of Sales , said, In talking to companies, we recognized the need to make it very easy for businesses to change their scheduling software as in many cases there is clearly a resource challenge in moving thousands of existing jobs over to an alternative solution.

Halcyons technical team discovered that there were two main reasons why companies want to change from their existing job scheduling software.

Dominic continued, The first reason was purely based on cost. Some companies have been faced with additional fees from their software vendors when they have increased the Commercial Processing Workload (CPW); that is the CPW rating of their IBM hardware. The objective of this new release was to automate the capture and import of jobs from other schedulers, saving companies significant labor and cost, provide a reliable methodology for migration and, as our software isnt charged on a CPW basis, protect their business from software or maintenance hikes in the future whenever their IBM i systems CPW rating is increased. The second reason is that the business may have outgrown their existing job scheduler or the standard one shipped with the IBM i system. Todays businesses have a need to handle more complex job streams which requires a solution capable of dealing with multiple job dependencies and running processes across different platforms.

Command List

The software is shipped with a command list function which allows system administrators to easily set a sequence of commands which can be run within or outside of the Halcyon Advanced Job Scheduler. For example, users may want to run appropriate checks to ensure that their usual conditions have been met (such as their high availability process has been shut down, users have all successfully signed off, all printers are off-line etc.) before running the first job of the end of day processing.

Improved reports

Reporting has been enhanced so that system administrators can easily demonstrate to the business that the IT department is meeting service level agreements.

Users can run reports on historic jobs and can also view a schedule of future jobs to see what is about to be run across a defined time period. For example, reports on specific jobs show how many jobs have run successfully and provide information on average run times. This allows IT staff to detect jobs which have over run the expected time slot so that this can be investigated and appropriate action can be taken to rectify the situation.

FTP error trapping

An intelligent FTP Scripting Language has been developed by Halcyon so that, in the event of a problem occurring with any File Transfers, IT administrators can set up a pre-programmed sequence of actions, mimicking what a computer operator would do in any given situation.

Pricing and availability

Advanced Job Scheduler v9.0 is available immediately, either as a single utility or as part of Halcyons Level 4 monitoring software suite. Current customers using Advanced Job Scheduler can upgrade to Advanced Job Scheduler v9.0 free of charge.

Product pricing is tiered and based on IBM processor groups. In addition, Halcyon has published a fair pricing policy so that if customers increase the CPW rating of their IBM hardware they will not incur software upgrade fees giving long term reassurance on costs. To view the policy visit: http://www.halcyonsoftware.com/nocpw

Halcyon Announces Advanced Job Scheduler v9.0 for IBM i

Halcyon Announces Authority Swapper 10.0 with Security Forensics for IBM i Auditors

PHILADELPHIA, PA (PRWEB) December 06, 2012

Halcyon Software, the global leader in systems management software, today announced the availability of Authority Swapper 10.0, the latest version of the access control tool for the IBM i. The solution allows IT managers to grant higher levels of authority to users for temporary periods. In addition, it adds unique functionality by providing a visible forensic trace of user activity, which assists organizations to meet security compliance rules and regulations.

The major enhancement, Audit Replay, is a unique screen recording capability that visually captures all user activities during their temporary access to greater security privileges. Typically, users need higher levels of access for defined periods in order to complete specific tasks as part of their job role. By replaying the visual record of the screens visited and the users activity, compliance teams have a visible trace and can quickly see what has happened without having to have a technical understanding of the IBM i system. This new feature significantly reduces the time to audit user activities.

Additionally, Authority Swapper 10.0 logs, records and stores every activity carried out by users during such sessions, which can be automatically exported to a secure, encrypted file for internal and external auditing purposes.

This new release of Authority Swapper simplifies the audit process for compliance teams. In the past they would have needed to review all the IBM i commands a person had used as well as have an understanding of the command language to realize the implications, said John Dominic, Vice President of Sales, Halcyon Software. We are the first vendor to introduce this new feature which effectively provides a visual surveillance recording making the forensics much clearer to auditors without IBM i skills. This technology will help a wide range of organizations, including banks, insurance companies and the gaming industry, to meet their security compliance obligations.

Authority Swapper 10.0 is available as a standalone product for all organizations using the IBM i. Existing Halcyon customers of Authority Swapper can upgrade free of charge. The solution can also be cost-effectively integrated into Halcyon Softwares market-leading monitoring suites for IBM i systems to give real-time intrusion detection.

For more information about Authority Swapper 10.0 visit: http://www.halcyonsoftware.com

About Halcyon Software

Halcyon Software is a global leader in multi-platform systems management software. With more than 20 years of delivering proven solutions and first class customer support, Halcyons products proactively monitor, manage and automate IT operations to significantly reduce costs. Large IT outsourcing companies as well as small to medium sized corporate and public sector data centers rely on Halcyon Software to ensure their mission-critical systems, core applications and services are available 24/7.

Halcyons solutions support IBM

Halcyon Announces Authority Swapper 10.0 with Security Forensics for IBM i Auditors