Software, Unix and Mainframe Servers Boost IBM's Profits in Q3
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The effect of changes in its hardware, software, and services product lines in the past year and layoffs last summer helped IT juggernaut IBM post a 5 percent increase in sales in the third quarter, hitting $22.6 billion in sales, and pumping up profits by 46.5 percent to $2.2 billion. Sales of software across its brands, exploding growth in emerging markets, and a resurgent market for mainframes and Unix servers were the key drivers in the quarter. READ MORE >

Top Mainframe Stories and Vendor Announcements

(IT Jungle) Forecasting IBM server sales is just about as difficult as keeping four plates spinning on the ends of long, pointy sticks. I wouldn't recommend you try to do either of these things at home. However, you can get a bit deeper into the third quarter IBM financial picture, as well as a prediction of the upcoming fourth quarter, by checking this out. READ MORE >

(Business Week) The U. S. Defense Information Systems Agency will soon switch to pay-per-use computing contracts. Included in the plan is an agreement that covers z/OS and z/VM operating systems. READ MORE >

(Reuters) After seven consecutive quarters of red ink and implementation of a restructuring plan, Unisys stock is on the rise as the mainframe manufacturer is poised to announce its latest quarterly financial reports showing long-awaited improvements. Don't expect net profits to be in the picture just yet, however. READ MORE >

(SearchDataCenter) Yes, the mainframe is quite capable of handling new applications and new workloads, but is that likely to happen given the distributed computing model that many companies are embracing? A less proprietary mainframe opens the door to new opportunities, but that open door could lead to a migration from the Big Iron just as easily. READ MORE >

(Micro Focus) Many organizations with substantial investments in COBOL-based applications are taking steps to reduce the costs associated with application maintenance and increase application functionality. This double-barrel approach to getting more out of existing systems is the aim of the latest release of the application analysis software from Micro Focus--Revolve Enterprise Edition 7.0. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

November 6-8 -- San Jose, California - The ECM West Conference and is an enterprise content and document management event showcasing the technologies and solutions that help align content and business processes. It focuses on data capture, storage, and management, with educational tracks on issues ranging from compliance and standards to information integration and accessibility. LEARN MORE >

November 28-December 1 -- Las Vegas, Nevada - Business continuity, disaster recovery, virtualization directions and technologies, server and storage consolidation trends, and how to run an effective 24x7 operation are in the spotlight at - these are the big four data concerns identified in Gartner's annual data center survey and will be headlining the agenda at the 25th Annual Gartner Data Center Conference. LEARN MORE >

December 3-8 -- Reno, Nevada - Performance and capacity management for enterprise computing systems is the focus for CMG2006 hosted by the Association of Systems Management Professionals. Session topics include software performance engineering, stress/load testing, benchmarking, BPM, BAM, and new technologies such as service-oriented architecture, and Web services. Specialized content is also provided for operating systems that include z/OS, Linux, Unix, and Windows. LEARN MORE >