LiveTime Service Desk Now Supports i5/OS
by Alex Woodie

Developing enterprise-strength service desk software is not an easy task. Just ask Microsoft, which recently delayed the roll-out of System Center Service Manager to 2010, a two-year setback. Luckily, there is an established alternative for System i shops looking for ITIL-certified software to help them run their IT service desks: LiveTime Software, which recently received verification from IBM that its J2EE-based software is good to go on the i5/OS server. READ MORE >

Modernizing the RPG Reputation
by Dan Burger

RPG development is not what it appears to be. Or maybe it is. There are at least two ways to look at it, and whether the glass is half full or half empty depends on where you sit and perhaps what you are sitting on. For some people it's like sitting on a comfortable old sofa. They don't want to get up. For others, it's more like sitting on a tack. They don't stay seated for very long and they have a lot to say. READ MORE >

The Fallacy of Automated Testing, and an Original Solution
by Alex Woodie

The state of automated testing in the IT industry is so laughably bad, it almost makes you want to cry. According to statistics provided by testing tool specialist Original Software, organizations that bought automated testing tools have only managed to automate, at most, the testing of 20 percent of their applications. The other 80 percent is done the old fashioned way: by hand. While Original doesn't have a silver bullet for this problem, it claims its blended approach to testing could provide a solution. READ MORE >

IBM Unveils New Storage Products
by Alex Woodie

IBM unleashed a torrent of new storage products last week. Big Blue had a little something for everyone, including new USB-connected tape drives for X64 servers, new policy-based data management features in its popular DR550 archiving array, a major upgrade to its high-end SAN switch, and significant enhancements to its N Series SAN arrays. READ MORE >