A New Year, A New IBM Systems and Technology Group
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

IBM's desire to get a much larger share of IT sales to small and medium businesses (SMBs) and the company's heavy reliance on the financial sector for core software and system sales has compelled the company's top brass to reorganize its Systems and Technology Group. Bill Zeitler has managed IBM's server and systems unit for so long that no one can remember his predecessor--hint: there wasn't one--and last Thursday he told STG employees about the final phase of a year-long transformation that has been underway in the group. READ MORE >

Top Mainframe Stories from Around the Web

(IT Jungle) Build or buy is a question put to many companies in need of business applications. It also applies to the software companies that create applications. Just before the lights dimmed on 2007, Rocket Software, a maker of mainframe and System i tools put itself in position to purchase NetManage, a move that will allow Rocket to neatly and quickly expand its product catalog and its customer base. READ MORE >

(eWeek) Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be mainframe programmers. I think you know the tune, but would you follow the advice? There are no guarantees in life, but for a young person with a brain full of mainframe skills, the future looks bright. At least some would argue that it does. READ MORE >

(Virtual IMS Connection) IBM's Information Management System (IMS) is in use at practically every one of the top 1000 organizations in the world. So where to do IMS professionals go to share information and ideas and find resources? How about this independently operated, vendor-neutral site? READ MORE >

(CIO) Ralph Crosby has a pretty good daytime job as the chief technology officer at BMC Software. As such, he is an expert in the topic of business continuity. In this article, Crosby writes about his choices for key components of business service management and what is necessary to move beyond "reactive" disaster recovery plans to a "proactive" approach that includes change and configuration management, service impact and event management, incident and problem management, and infrastructure and application management. READ MORE >

(Channel Register) In case you haven't already noticed, PSI has a gripe with IBM and Big Blue's refusal to support mainframe customers running IBM software on PSI's systems. Not only have the two companies crossed swords, they are dueling it out in the courts. At one time this was confined to the United States. Now it has spread to Europe as well. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

See our full calendar of events at
http://www.itjungle.com/big/big-calendar.html

February 24-29, 2008 -- Orlando, Florida - The SHARE mainframe user group will be hosting its spring event in sunny Florida, and will be focusing on two areas that are affecting mainframe shops in a big way these days: Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) application software design and server virtualization and consolidation. As usual, SHARE will also include the Technology Exchange Expo, where vendors can hawk their mainframe wares and attendees can try to find the tools to solve their IT woes. LEARN MORE >

April 6-11 Las Vegas, Nevada Impact 2008, IBM's "Smart SAO Conference" is a showcase for WebSphere as the foundation, the tools, and all the materials needed to create a service oriented architecture. Technical experts from IBM, analysts, and companies that have implemented SOA solutions are taking the starring roles in this production. In addition to educational sessions and keynote addresses, there will be a solution center expo area. LEARN MORE >