Middleware Sales Continue to Grow in 2005, IBM Still the King
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The analysts at Gartner say that the market for application integration and middleware software is experiencing a lot of upheavals, with big architecture changes and lots of vendors entering and leaving the market, but that despite all that turmoil, the market managed to grow by 7.1 percent to reach a total of $8.5 billion in sales. READ MORE >

Top Mainframe Stories and Vendor Announcements

(SearchStorage) Are you using tape backups? Are they encrypted? In some shops, any written reference to encrypting backup tapes has a huge red exclamation point following it. Senior executives with their hair on fire can be pretty funny to watch until one is screaming across the desk at you! READ MORE >

(Mainstar) In the day-to-day battles with all the deadline pressure that is coming down on your head, do you have time to be doing manual audits? If you are thinking that automating your manual auditing and proactive recovery processes could clear the decks for other tasks and avert potential errors in your 24x7x365 world, then this is worth a look. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

June 22 -- San Francisco, California - The IDC Virtualization Forum is designed to explain how to effectively exploit computer resources. The Forum presents IDC's view of the many forms of virtualization and how the effective use of this technology can help IT and business executives address the need to cut costs, support a changing dynamic environment, and optimize use of IT resources. The program features end-user case studies that provide practical information that can be put to use. Areas of focus include the commoditization of hardware, virtual environment software, and the deployment of distributed applications. LEARN MORE >

July 8-12 -- San Diego, California - The 2006 Enterprise Security Solutions & RACF Users Training Conference emphasizes technical education for current and future data security challenges in business and government. The event features more than 140 classes taught by leading security practitioners, professional instructors and experts. It includes a vendor expo and offers the opportunity to network with industry experts and peers. Continuing education credits can also be garnered throughout the conference. LEARN MORE >

August 13-18 -- Baltimore, Maryland - The SHARE User Events feature IBM technical training tailored for enterprise-class IT professionals. Educational sessions focus on real-world solutions that meet business challenges and influence future IT product development. In addition to the first-class training, SHARE presents a great opportunity for networking with other professionals who work at some of the world's leading organizations and have insights into the technology and products that companies and jobs are depending on. All SHARE User Event sessions and events will take place in the Baltimore Convention Center. LEARN MORE >

October 20 & 21 -- Chicago, Illinois - The Network and Systems Professionals Association annual conference, NaSTEC, features educational tracks on large systems/mainframes, distributed systems, and professional development and includes 24 total sessions. Topics include IT compliance, TCP/IP network health checks, and security, as well as others. LEARN MORE >