Inside IBM's i5/OS Porting Decisions
by Alex Woodie

We've all heard the adage that platform choices follow application choices, and for many of you, it was the initial application choice that led you to the AS/400. Now that you have a significant investment in this platform, you're likely looking for more applications you can run on the server, to further your investment. IBM is also actively hunting for more applications it can bring to the iSeries, but increasingly, they're not OS/400 or i5/OS applications. READ MORE >

HarrisData's Unconventional ERP Tune
by Alex Woodie

When it comes to picking a new OS/400 or i5/OS ERP system, don't be lulled into thinking you have to pick from one of the "Big Four"--Infor-SSA, Oracle-J.D. Edwards, SAP, or Lawson-Intentia. While those vendors have proven solutions and big payrolls, you might find software from a smaller ERP provider a better fit. One such vendor is HarrisData, a private company with a 30-year midrange pedigree, conservative views on new technology such as SOA, and very liberal licensing terms. READ MORE >

Power Like You Can't Believe
by Dan Burger

Witnessing two top fuel dragsters race a quarter mile in 4.5 seconds at speeds that top 300 mph is not like anything you've probably ever done in your life. Chances are pretty good that few Four Hundred Stuff readers have ever seen anything like it, but my recommendation is that you put this on your agenda. And it's easy to find someone to cheer for because Allen Hartley, owner of ProData Computer Services, puts on a show with one of these drag racing beasts in more than a dozen cities around the country each year. READ MORE >

IBM Creates Virtualization Dashboard, Merges Server and Storage Management
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Just about everyone in the server, operating system, and server virtualization hypervisor racket has come to the conclusion that hypervisors will be commoditized soon--if not already--and that the real differentiation in the market--and hence the money--will come from the tools that manage virtualized server and storage resources. This is why IBM is working on merging its Director server management tools and its TotalStorage Productivity Center, the equivalent tool for its storage arrays. The first product to come out of this united effort is a tool called the Virtualization Manager. READ MORE >