23
Sat, Nov
1 New Articles
  1. You are here:  
  2. Home
  3. News
  4. Programming News
  5. Other Industry Solutions
  6. IBM Expands Software Line for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses

IBM Expands Software Line for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses

Other Industry Solutions
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times
IBM has announced new software and resources to help mid-sized customers more effectively manage the quality of their software and network infrastructures, just like their counterparts in large enterprises. The new software underscores IBM's expanded focus on providing small and mid-sized businesses with the solutions necessary to remain competitive in the market, according to the company.

Typically, IT departments in small and mid-sized businesses lack resources or a formalized IT department to support their operations. These businesses also face many of the same basic challenges as large enterprises, and as their businesses grow, their reliance on technology increases. Whether it’s creating a scalable and flexible infrastructure that manages and monitors IT resources and tasks, securing data, effectively evolving their application assets and meeting regulatory compliance regulations, IT is critical to supporting the client's needs. Software delivery teams are also under pressure to accelerate the pace at which they conduct software upgrades and releases.

IBM Rational Build Forge Express Edition represents the first IBM software delivery technology that has been specifically developed, priced and marketed to meet the IBM Express criteria for small and mid-sized businesses. The introduction of IBM Rational Build Forge Express Edition, in conjunction with IBM's Rational software delivery platform, provides a software delivery process management solution that enables small and mid-sized companies to standardize and automate end-to-end software release processes and better govern compliance implementation.

Small and mid-sized businesses are examining their IT investments to help them compete and be successful in today's global market. Access Markets International (AMI) Partners forecasts the worldwide IT spending by small and mid-sized businesses will grow by 10 percent in 2007, fueled by continued high double digit growth in Brazil, Russia, India, and China. IBM is capitalizing on this growth and investment with a network of business partners, dedicated offerings, and customer tools developed specifically for this market.

"A recent IBM survey of 1,200 mid-market companies revealed that two-thirds will make more than one change to their business model over the next 24 months," said Jeff Lechleiter, vice president, Small and Mid-Sized Business Software Sales, IBM. "Together, with our global team of experienced business partners, IBM is delivering unmatched technology and expertise to help mid-sized businesses succeed."

Expanded IBM portfolio helps mid-sized businesses deliver quality software

IBM's software portfolio helps organizations deal with customizing and deploying packaged applications, managing outsourced development, maintaining deployed applications on various platforms and modernizing existing systems. IBM also offers growing mid-sized businesses an entry point to deploying enterprise-strength software in a modular and cost-effective way.

IBM Rational Build Forge Express Edition is the first IBM Express offering to help IT managers and software engineers inside small and mid-sized businesses gain control of their software development and delivery processes. This new software helps standardize and automate repetitive tasks, manage compliance mandates, and foster information-sharing. The result is improved overall software release efficiency, quality, and lower project costs.

When IBM acquired BuildForge, Inc. in 2006, its signature large-enterprise offering was only available through resellers and direct sales. The new IBM Rational Build Forge Express Edition features an easy installation wizard, Web access for easy deployment, and, for the first time, it will be sold through www.ibm.com. IBM Rational Build Forge Express Edition became available on October 23.

Additional new IBM resources and software available for mid-sized businesses include:

 

  • New customer sitelets www.ibm.com/tivoli/smb and http://www.ibm.com/rational/smb with easy access points for customers to address challenges in managing their IT infrastructure. These sites also host a live-chat feature that quickly connects clients to IBM reps or local solution providers based on their needs.
  • Watchfire AppScan and Watchfire WebXM—acquired by IBM in July 2007, helps small businesses with managing security and compliance by identifying vulnerabilities to mitigate risks associated with data breaches and reducing costs by automating manual processes. Watchfire AppScan is also sold via the software as a service model for companies that want to take advantages of Watchfire's security expertise and outsource application security testing.
  • IBM Maximo software—from IBM's acquisition of MRO, the powerful Maximo software helps organizations increase productivity, optimize asset performance and service levels, reduce costs and better enable asset related sourcing and procurement across the entire spectrum of strategic assets.
  • IBM Rational Team Concert, Beta 1—the first offering developed on the Jazz technology platform, IBM Rational Team Concert is a collaborative portal designed to improve team productivity by enabling real-time collaboration across a software delivery team optimized to enable smaller, more agile teams which are prominent in mid-sized businesses.
  • IBM Rational Performance Tester 7.01 and IBM Rational Functional Tester 7.01 —new software to help mid-sized companies test the scalability, reliability, and quality of applications before they are released into production. Also available are Performance Tester and Functional Tester Extensions to improve success of software deployments using leading packaged applications.
  • IBM Tivoli Consul Insight Manager—from IBM's recent acquisition of Consul, this software offers inclusive "auditor-in-a-box" capabilities that allows a company to test IT systems compliance from a single dashboard console.


For more information on how IBM software helps engineers in small and mid-sized businesses, visit http://www.ibm.com/expressadvantage/.

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service.

For more information, visit: www.ibm.com.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: