While there are not shortages of IT publications out there on the Internet or in print, the current crop of products do have their shortcomings. Some of the broader publications that we all know by name--Computerworld, InfoWorld, InformationWeek, and so forth--provide decent news, but they tend to be unfocused in terms of talking about specific platforms. And even those publications that do zero in on particular IT platforms often tend to have a focus that is much too tight to be useful.

Not only do such publications not serve readers as effectively as they might--since they are too broad to deal with the strategic and tactical matters facing IT managers, system administrators, and programmers--but they do not serve their advertisers as effectively, either. Advertisers, like consumers of IT publications, still think in terms of specific platforms. We think by having publications that are targeted by specific platforms--and by specific areas of interest within those platforms, such as news and analysis, product announcements, tech tips and programming advice--we can better get advertisers' messages in front of readers who are most likely to be interested in their products and services.

The IT Jungle approach to IT publishing is not theoretical, but based on many years of experience by our staff as they worked at publishing companies that produced online newsletters and magazines in the OS/400 and general IT markets. We have seen the strategies that failed during and after the dot-com boom and we have created a set of products in the OS/400 market that have succeeded despite intense competition from much larger organizations. Our OS/400 newsletters succeed because we offer affordable advertising in newsletters that have exceptional content.

IT Jungle publishes newsletters Monday through Thursday. We have learned from experience that IT professionals tend to be very busy on Fridays, and that this is not a good time to publish.

IT Jungle is comprised of four different types of newsletters:

1. Flagship newsletter that tracks the major vendor announcements and culture of a particular platform. Our flagship newsletters also include guest columnists from prominent IT experts and professionals and provide analysis of complex pricing and performance issues related to the platform. Moreover, they provide strategic and tactical advice to IT professionals trying to make the best use of the platform:
   
   • OS/400 platform: The Four Hundred, edited by Timothy Prickett Morgan
     Frequency: Weekly on Mondays
2. Products newsletter that delves into the many products IT vendors announce each week. Our flagship newsletter is not big enough to do justice to the many good products out there in the market, which is why we havea products newsletter, which bears the Stuff moniker, dedicated to this task:
   
   • OS/400 platform: Four Hundred Stuff, edited by Alex Woodie
     Frequency: Weekly on Tuesdays
3. Technical newsletter to provide technical tips, programming advice, systems administration assistance, and other tactical help relating to the coding of applications and the management of the i. Many competitive newsletters mix this technical content in with their news, analysis, and products content, but we believe that technical readers want technical content separately and that specific advertisers want to place their ads against technical material.
   
   • OS/400 platform: Four Hundred Guru, edited by Howard Arner, Joe Hertvik, Ted Holt, Shannon O'Donnell, and Kevin Vandever
     Frequency: Weekly on Wednesday
4. Weekly wrapup newsletter for busy IT professionals who may have not had enough time to peruse the news and technical content in a particular interest area during the week. Our Monitor newsletter takes an agnostic view of content and points to the top stories for a particular platform, including our own content as well as that of our competitors. We are interested in providing a valuable service to our readers with Monitor, including top news stories as well as pointers to major product announcements and promotions, technical resources (such as white papers) published by vendors, and a calendar of future events (such as webinars, seminars, and trade shows) of interest to IT professionals.
   
   • OS/400 platform: Four Hundred Monitor, edited by Dan Burger
     Frequency: Weekly on Wednesday