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 mobile devices, are we taking more with us or leaving more behind?

The answer could be, "a little bit of both" as the mobile hardware manufacturers lurch ahead of the software providers, who scramble to catch up. Meanwhile, both experiment with new products while the majority of us wait for the build-out of faster wireless cellular networks capable of handling video.

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 consulting firm. A CIO.com survey conducted in April showed that 53 percent of respondents were already using open-source applications in their enterprises and that 44 percent considered open-source applications equally during acquisition processes with proprietary applications. While this may surprise some, most businesses no longer carry the negative perceptions once associated with open-source solutions. The software is in use in some of the world's largest corporations and governments, in some of the most intensive application environments.

Are IBM profiles making your system vulnerable?

By John Earl

When performing an audit on IBM i, a common concern is identifying and auditing IBM profiles. Depending on your software makeup and configuration, IBM will install no fewer than 20 (and possibly 50 or more) user IDs on your system in support of the operating system and licensed program products (LPPs). From an auditing and compliance perspective, you need to ask yourself some questions: