Sirius Gets Equity Investment from Thoma Cressey
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Well, when Thoma Cressey Equity Partners takes an interest in something, the private equity firm doesn't waste much time moving. After having acquired two high availability software makers in the System i market within the past several weeks, last Friday the company announced that it would be making an equity investment in another prominent System z and System i vendor: Sirius Computer Solutions. READ MORE >

Top Mainframe Stories and Vendor Announcements

(VARBusiness) Most of you know that IBM's third quarter financial report showed nice gains for the System z division. That may be the silver lining, but don't forget about the dark cloud that is the vendor channel. The channel doesn't put much of the System z money in its pocket. Reportedly, Sam Palmisano, IBM's chairman and chief executive officer, has plans to change that. READ MORE >

(SearchDataCenter) Everyone loves a good rivalry, right? Well, up until the point where it gets over hyped. A good example will be the Ohio State/Michigan football game Saturday. Great rivalry, but waaaay too much hype. So it is with old school IT pros and the young guns. What can each side learn from the other? READ MORE >

(Mainstar) Recovering quickly from any type of downtime circumstance is critical for all organizations. Of course, quickly is a relative term. Automating manual tasks plays a big role in centralizing the backup and recovery efforts. READ MORE >

(GoldenGate) The combination of providing users with access to real-time data transactions and keeping application environments highly available is a high priority for almost every global enterprise. Because of the broad range of database platforms, the widest scope of accessibility is an advantage. READ MORE >

Chats, Webinars, Seminars, Shows, and Other Happenings

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 >

December 7 - Webinar - Here's a list of problems that may sound familiar. You have more data than ever before and you have increased demands for uninterrupted access. But that's not all. You also have stricter requirements for data protection, retention, recovery, and security. And, you have fewer people to handle it. This Web-based session, hosted by Mainstar Software, examines what you can accomplish with z/OS. The Webcast begins at 9 a.m. PST. LEARN MORE >