ProData's Allen Hartley, a longtime supporter of all things i, has thrown his weight--and financial resources--behind both the U.S. and EMEA iManifest initiatives.

"We appreciate the efforts of the System i community to continue to build the ecosystem and tout the values of the midrange system to the entire business world," said Hartley. He said ProData will contribute financial support to both the U.S. and EMEA iManifest organizations and will promote the initiative both within ProData and across the company's large customer base.

ProData's DBU database utility and the company's other products are in widespread use in IBM midrange shops throughout the world and have been for nearly 30 years.

Hartley noted that iManifest supporters now have groups set up on LinkedIn and said that he would be joining them too in order to keep up on the latest activities.