Activant Solutions Inc. announces the availability of Activant Prelude™ version 20.

In addition to supporting IBM's SBClient 5.4.2, which supports the new Microsoft Vista OS, Prelude version 20 has more than 300 new or enhanced features, including a customer merge feature, which allows you to take an account and merge all its activity with another existing account.

"With all the activity around mergers and acquisitions - in the last six years, we've purchased five companies - when you merge with another company, you will have some of the same customers. Now, when we import their accounts, we will be able to take that data, merge it all together, and have a complete history of the account in one place," said David Kyles, system coordinator, EPKO Industries, Inc. of Elk Grove Village, IL.

Many of the new features in Prelude version 20 are a direct result of customer input. For example, users expressed the need for the ability to create sub-level work orders, which is now part of the work order module. Other enhancements include:

Additional reporting capabilities, including increased ability to export reports to Microsoft Excel Within the shop repair module, equipment inquiries can be made based upon maintenance, model, customer, and more Scheduler enhancements include the ability to link the jobs option so that one scheduled job will not start until a previous job has been completed Improvements to the rental module include the addition of rental kits

And much more "Prelude gets better with every iteration, and this one's the best yet," said Mark Vining, president and CEO of Roberts Supply Inc. of Winter Park, FL.

SAPUG - Seattle Area Pick User Group

http://www.sapug.org
Date: Thursday, Aug 21
Time: 05:30pm
Location: TBD
SAPUG goes to the Ball Game - Oakland at Seattle

TEXMUG - Texas MultiValue User Group

http://www.texmug.org/
Date: Thursday, Sep 25
Time: 04:00pm - 08:00pm
Location: Balck Eyed Pea, 1400 N Colins St, Arlington
Speaker: Fred Owen - MITS

CMUG - Colorado Pick Users Group

Http://cmug.plaxogroups.com/
Date: Tuesday, Aug 12
Time: 05:30pm - 08:00pm
Location: IBM Offices

SoCalRUG - Southern Calif Revelation UserGroup

http://www.srpcs.com/rev_socalrug.aspx
Date: Wednesday, Jul 16
Time: 09:00am - 12:00pm
Location: SRP Computer Solutions Office
Speaker: Steve Botes - RetailWare

Atlanta Area Pick Users Group - AAPUG

http://www.aapug.org
Date: Tuesday, Sep 16
Time: 06:30pm - 09:00pm
Location: Aldo's Italian Restaurant

MITS(r) , provider of Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) business intelligence and operational reporting solutions, and Asynchron Systems, a technology solution provider specializing in development for PICK MultiValue databases, today announced a new reseller agreement aimed at providing business intelligence capabilities to the markets served by Asynchron Systems .

The MITS Discover OLAP Business Intelligence System dominates as the business intelligence market leader for MultiValue platforms. The company's newer product, MITS Report , enables enterprises using a wide range of technology platforms-including MultiValue and relational systems-to quickly launch complete operational reporting environments.

Asynchron Systems , which serves the large PICK installed base in greater Toronto, specializes in helping customers renew their legacy systems. "We have a lot of customers that we've done from the ground up," says President Seth Blumenstein. "And, for many companies with PICK systems that have been neglected for years, we've helped to bring them into the modern age."

Part of that modernization-and an important component in many newly developed systems-focuses on decision support, analytics, and business intelligence. Blumenstein expects MITS Discover to become an important tool in meeting his customers' needs in this area. "The Toronto area has a huge installed base of PICK users, and I think there's a good opportunity here," he adds.

Asynchron Systems also knows the value of bringing proven tools to bear. "Today you do what has to be customized, and then find the best-of-breed tools where it makes sense," says Blumenstein. "With business intelligence, rather than reinvent it, we believe in finding the best tools out there to add value to our client relationships. This kind of tool serves as an introduction into some potential new clients, and lets me deliver quickly when my existing clients have the need."

The company strongly prefers to have complete control over the solutions it delivers to customers, and the MITS partnership will facilitate that control. "I serve, essentially, as the IT department for many of my customers, and I expect to develop customized cubes for some of them." Cubes, or hypercubes, are the analysis-tuned data collections used by MITS Discover .

MITS will provide product support primarily to Asynchron Systems, which prefers to service its own clients directly-and making the company an ideal fit for the MITS marketing strategy, according to MITS President Fred Owen. "Part of our go-to-market strategy at MITS includes customers like Asynchron Systems: companies who want to use our products to meet their customers' needs, and as a means to stay in front of those customers, providing opportunities for additional services."

That potential for additional business, says Owen, is real-and a frequent occurrence with MITS solutions. "Many MITS users start with an initial single application such as Sales Analysis, or even just one facet of Sales Analysis. That drives the initial adoption, but then people get excited about how the tool works, and usage grows across the organization."

Those additional opportunities to use the technology, according to Owen, make for tighter relationships between providers like Asynchron Systems and its customers. "That's precisely what we want," echoes Blumenstein, citing his first MITS sale as an example. That client has purchased MITS Discover plus security and dashboard add-ons.

"It's a typical story. Our client has a full-time person who does sales analysis reporting. Even though we provide all the data in our applications, she would re-key it into Excel, sort it, slice and dice it, doing it all by hand-and, in the process, making many errors." MITS Discover will solve that customer's problem, "and obviously gives them a lot more," adds Blumenstein.

Owen sees the new relationship as a win-win. "Asynchron Systems can identify its customer's needs-needs we at MITS might otherwise never know about-and apply MITS technology to help meet them. We bring the technology, while Asynchron Systems brings its business expertise, its customers, and its market. Together we can make happy customers."

The University of DC curriculum includes a database programming course that utilizes the OpenInsight development environment. Carl Friedman, an associate professor in the Computer and Information Systems department at UDC decided to use OpenInsight in the classroom because when his students are finished with his class, they will have marketable skills, regardless of what they encounter.

Total Computing Solutions

Full-time career position with Total Computing Solutions in American Fork, UT.

Salary is negotiable depending on experience.

Applicant must have at least 2 years experience with Pick, and be proficient in Windows, and Linux.

Analytical skills are essential as well as the ability to multi-task.

For additional information contact jobs@total-computing.com

DeveloperWorks Article: UniData Recoverable File System (RFS)

Database and system administrators who are responsible for a UniData system that has the Recoverable File System (RFS) feature enabled will find this article most helpful. All RFS status and error messages are recorded in the $UDTBIN/sm.log file. You will find examples to help you find and decipher the messages to determine the appropriate actions needed to keep your system running smoothly.

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/db2/library/techarticle/dm-0512terhune/?S_TACT=105AGX11&S_CMP=LP