1. Frank Soltis, Father of AS/400, Retires from IBM

Soltis' views on system architecture and his unique approach to protecting business software assets led to the most successful commercial computer platform in history. By Chris Smith The man known as the father of the System i and tod

2. The Top Ten Things to Watch Out for in Midrange Technologies in 2009

Can anyone really predict the future? By Ron Exler This time of year brings holiday cheer--parties, days off, time with family, gift exchange. It also brings out the prognosticating pundits who want you to believe they know what will ha

3. Dick Bains, IBM S/38 Giant, Dead at 64

One of a team of three that included Frank Soltis and Roy Hoffman, Bains helped design the S/38 and subsequent IBM architectures. By Chris Smith Dick Bains, one of the original team of three engineers to develop the IBM S/38, has died.

4. It's Still a See-Saw Economy

As the economy wanes, IBM Global Financing serves up good year-end news for the SMB sector, while jobs decline and fraud plagues H-1B. By Maria A. DeGiglio While the topics covered in this article could not be more disparate, they do de

5. IT Spending in an Uncertain Economy

Do you think it's time to cut back? Maybe a different approach makes better sense. By CJ Rhoads MC Press Online Editor's Note: The following article was previously published by Klee Associates, Inc., publisher of JDEtips Journal

6. Reading Between the Lines of IBM's Third-Quarter Report

Though reported revenues of older System i servers are down, the replacement Power Systems servers are doing well. By Chris Smith IBM announced new hardware and software offerings this month just before it released its third-quarter fin

7. On Becoming Indispensible

IT employees must develop multiple strategies to protect their jobs during this economic upheaval. By Maria A. DeGiglio Cathie Black--media mogul, president of Hearst Magazines, and author of the book Basic Black: The Essential Guide fo

8. IBM Focuses on 'Engaging' Business Users with Latest Version of Cognos 8

New V4 is all about supporting better decision-making by supplying timely and more accurate information in a personalized way. By Chris Smith IBM Cognos last week released a new version of IBM Cognos 8 business intelligence software tha

9. Software as a Service (SaaS): Cloudy in SMBs

A recent survey shows limited awareness, constrained usage. By Ron Exler Small and midsize business (SMB) executives have significant challenges in today's economy, including finding and keeping customers, controlling costs, and pos

10. The World of Enterprise Content Management May Be Shaking

But it's not due to colliding protons in Switzerland. By Chris Smith IBM announced last week that it has been working with Microsoft, EMC Corp., and several other companies for the past two years to develop a specification using Web

11. Are Old Workplace Paradigms Obsolete?

While each generation has left its imprimatur upon the workplace environment, the old workplace paradigms are arrantly still in effect today. By Maria A. DeGiglio Remember the 1990 movie Joe Versus the Volcano with Tom Hanks and Meg Rya

12. IBM Releases Lotus Symphony V1.1 as Users Begin Considering the Linux Desktop

Development teams continue to enhance Symphony as IBM bundles it with Lotus Notes and Sametime in a move to edge Microsoft off the desktop. By Chris Smith IBM Lotus released V1.1 of Symphony last week, a release that runs significantly

13. Microsoft Sleeper Silverlight Scores Olympic Knockout

Battle lines form around who will dominate emerging rich Internet applications. By Chris Smith As the 2008 Summer Olympics fade into memory and the athletes bring home the gold from what is being dubbed the "great haul of China,&qu

14. Will Google's Android Cure iPhone-Envy?

The emerging open mobile platform promises a wealth of opportunities for developers and may quench longings for Apple's tempting touch-screen device. By Chris Smith Psychologists this summer have identified a new emotional syndrome sp

15. As IBM Reaches Out to Business Partners, Will They Reach Back to IBM?

A new marketing initiative hopes to stimulate a dialogue with Business Partners and ultimately strengthen ways that IBM can support increased sales to the SMB market. By Chris Smith IBM has announced it will spend $1 billion this year o

16. OSCON 2008 Highlights

News and highlights from the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, Oregon. By Max Hetrick The tenth O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) kicked off on Monday, July 21, in Portland, Oregon, at the Oregon Convention Cent

17. Laptop Technology Comes of Age

Dell's announcement this week of new laptop designs marks the state of the art in a long and arduous road toward building the ideal portable computer. By Chris Smith This week's announcement by Dell that it's introducing a n

18. Microsoft Sleeper Silverlight Scores Olympic Knockout

Battle lines form around who will dominate emerging rich Internet applications. by Chris Smith As the 2008 Summer Olympics fade into memory and the athletes bring home the gold from what is being dubbed the "great haul of China,&qu

19. Let the Games Begin! (But Let's Watch Them on PCs)

The two hallmarks of the 2008 Olympics are that all TV broadcasts will be in high definition and that all events will be streamed live to our computers. By Chris Smith The 2008 Summer Olympic Games begin in Beijing today, and the event

20. Power Systems Off to an Impressive Start

While users may have gasped when they read that System i server revenues plummeted during the second quarter, it's all business as usual, according to the group's GM. By Chris Smith IBM Power Systems had a "great quarter,&qu

21. The Business Relevance of Virtual Worlds

The worlds may be virtual, but their future is real. By Ron Exler (Ptolemy Jacobus in Second Life) IBM and Linden Lab, creator of the virtual world Second Life (SL), recently announced that they demonstrated virtual world interoperabili

22. Mobile Business Intelligence Gains Traction

After a tepid response a few years ago, mobile BI products now appear ready for prime time as larger companies look forward to benefiting from their implementation. By Chris Smith In the march toward smaller, lighter, and more portable

23. Open-Source Software: Evolving Toward Broader Acceptance

Businesses are more seriously considering open source for all layers of the software stack. By Ron Exler Open source is assessed for more than half of businesses software acquisitions, according to Saugatuck Technology, a research and c

24. Collaborative Web Site Invites Users to Help the Visually Impaired

IBM Labs comes up with novel idea to make the Web more accessible. And we can help. By Chris Smith For some reason, when I think of the size of the World Wide Web, I think of that scene at the end of The Perfect Storm where fisherman Bobb

25. OCEAN Technical Conference Gets Users Pumped About Power Systems

The 15th annual conference drew more than 200 people for a day of educational sessions and IBM presentations. By Chris Smith The OCEAN User Group held its 15th annual Technical Conference last week and hosted in excess of 200 people who att

26. Personal Health Records May Be Dangerous to Your Privacy

Many entities are offering consumers a way to store their healthcare information, but are these pie-in-the-sky offerings anathemas to privacy? By Maria DeGiglio  Many entities--from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to many

27. Rochester Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of AS/400

The event presents an opportunity for reflecting on the success of a unique platform and gives rise to the question of whether it will last another decade--or perhaps longer. By Chris Smith IBM workers in Rochester, Minnesota, and their

28. IBM Enhances Social Networking with Lotus Connections 2.0

The new release focuses on improved customization, interoperability, and enhanced management of the user's most relevant information. By Chris Smith IBM this week released Lotus Connections 2.0, an enhanced version of what is now th

29. IBM Rational Software Development Conference 2008: A Recap

IBM promotes collaboration within and between teams as critical to successful application development in enterprises. By Ron Exler Over 3,500 IBM customers and partners convinced themselves that Walt Disney World might be a good place t

30. To Be or Not to Be: The State of IT Jobs

Recent news articles are rife with confusing--and often conflicting--reportage on the state of the IT job market. by Maria DeGiglio On Friday, May 23, I participated in the commencement ceremony at Sarah Lawrence College. I was awarded

31. IBM's Project Big Green, Big Green Linux, and VMware Help Consolidate Data Centers

IBM and its Business Partners provide technologies to help companies achieve a green and eco-friendly status, proving their commitment to energy conservation. By Max Hetrick Everywhere you go these days, you hear the hype about turning

32. Major SaaS Deal Marks Tipping Point in Software Industry

As on-demand service providers get ready for the upcoming Amsterdam conference, SaaS ERP provider Workday signs a large deal to serve 200,000 employees. By Chris Smith There's a sea change taking place in the software industry, and

33. iDataPlex Server Expected to Help Fuel Growth of Web 2.0 Technologies

Based on readily available components but sporting an efficient new rack form factor, the  x86-based scalable server running Linux will also save companies thousands on energy bills. By Chris Smith As I see the direction that compu

34. SAP Touts SMB Progress, Allies with HP and IBM

Once the bellwether of large business enterprise resource planning (ERP), SAP is trying to show the world it can be all things to all people. By Ron Exler During the first week of May at its annual user conference SAPPHIRE 2008 Orlando, SAP

35. Software Piracy as Political Statement: Is Commercial Software Only for the Rich?

The fifth annual global software piracy study finds signs that enforcement is working, but emerging markets are getting their start on PCs with unlicensed software. By Chris Smith The Business Software Alliance (BSA) released its fifth

36. IBM Debuts Blue Business

Through the venture, Big Blue hopes to regain the companies that flocked to the AS/400 20 years ago. By Lee Kroon Last Thursday, IBM unveiled an initiative that could utterly change the way the company markets and delivers applications

37. IBM Reveals Plans to Simplify IT Delivery and Target Growth Markets

The company's emphasis on green IT is designed to lower users' energy costs while boosting sales of its valued technology. By Chris Smith IBM introduced a series of new business initiatives last week that will be a roadmap for t

38. Going Green May Mean Counting Calories, BTUs, and Kilowatts

Conserving energy is more than a slogan today; it's a way to affect the bottom line. By Chris Smith There seems to be some debate about whether it makes sense to develop green, or environmentally sound, business practices. I love it

39. Will IBM Power Servers Open System i Neighborhood?

"i for Business" is attracting community and vendor support. By Thomas M. Stockwell The announcement on April 2, 2008, that IBM has created the new Power Server brand, combining both the System i and the System p, took few ana

40. Is Al Barsa Jr.'s Passing the End of an Era or a Transition to the Next?

Though we're aging, embracing change may be a ticket to staying young. By Chris Smith The System i has attracted an interesting mix of individuals, a fact brought home only too clearly last week by the death of Al Barsa Jr. and the

41. IBM Combines System i and System p onto a Single Hardware Platform

The company announces three new POWER6 servers along with special financing. By Chris Smith IBM introduced a new generation of POWER6 servers last week at COMMON and consolidated the System i and System p brands onto one hardware platfo

42. IBM's Power Systems Announcement: An Analysis

By bringing two product lines together, IBM created exciting possibilities and a few short-term headaches for its customers. By Lee Kroon When IBM unified the System i and System p last week, it did much more than change the nameplates

43. New Products, Upgrades, and Enhancements Grace COMMON Expo

Many of the 1,800 attendees visit COMMON's 92 Expo vendors this year in Nashville. By Chris Smith COMMON 2008 by all standards was a very good show in the eyes of vendors who greatly help to support it. It didn't matter that Nas

44. Green IT, Networking, and Product Convergence Are Themes at CeBIT

Conserving energy is an IT movement developing tremendous momentum as people realize the wasted heat loss in yesterday's products. By Chris Smith I like to go to Germany in the fall when people are celebrating Oktoberfest, but this

45. Reliability and Simplicity Will Continue to Define the System i

IBM's Ian Jarman talks with MC Press Online editors and says that while the platform is enhanced to run three operating systems in a virtualized environment, many customers will continue to buy the more traditional solution.   B

46. IBM to Unveil High-End POWER6 Servers Next Month

While Big Blue plans a flurry of POWER6 server launches this year, its competitors stand ready to rain on its parade. By Lee Kroon From what sources inside IBM have been saying lately, it looks like we are in for several POWER6 server a

47. German CeBIT Show Ends, but International Offspring Abound

With attendance reaching almost the half-million mark, organizers this year will take their success to other shows around the world. By Chris Smith CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, experienced a modest rebirth this year as show organizers re

48. CeBIT May Be the Greatest Show on Earth

The largest technology and communications trade show in the world is being held in Germany this week and offers insights into future product trends. By Chris Smith The CeBIT trade show going on this week in Hannover, Germany, must be an

49. Vendors Adapt to a Changing IT Market

With companies getting cautious about their IT spending, vendors are launching new initiatives to keep the orders flowing. By Lee Kroon Over the last several weeks, most of the news items that have landed on my desk have been too small

50. System i and i5/OS Are Cornerstones in IBM's SMB Plans, Says Shearer

A guiding light in the evolution of the System i says i5/OS is the "secret sauce" in the simplicity formula to reach a larger share of the SMB market. By Chris Smith The System i operating system, i5/OS, is here to stay, and I