Rocket Software Bulks Up i Biz with Aldon Acquisition
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Over the past couple of years, Rocket Software has quietly built up a tidy business related to the OS/400 and i, thanks to its acquisitions of application modernization tool maker Seagull Software and terminal emulation software maker BlueZone. With the addition of Aldon, which Rocket Software acquired on March 22 just as IT Jungle was going on hiatus, the software conglomerate is adding application lifecycle management to its IBM i toolbox. READ MORE >

AS/400 i Mystery Solved--Again?
by Pat Botz

I read with much interest the January 31 article, AS400 i Mystery Solved written by ITJ editor-in-chief Tim Prickett Morgan in response to a question posed by a reader of The Four Hundred. Reader Dan had a very good point and may well be partially right. However, after working with numerous i shops in the last 15 years or so, I have come to a somewhat different conclusion. I believe the biggest problem with the declining use of the AS/400 has been the fact that it was too far ahead of its time! Let me explain. READ MORE >

Oracle to Take a Run at Lawson Software?
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Larry Ellison has probably never met a software company that he hasn't at least thought about owning. With a newfound love for systems--servers, storage, networking, and operating systems--in the wake of its $5.6 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems last year, Oracle, the company that Ellison co-founded and is still chief executive officer of, is looking for a way to expand its software business to pay for its systems aspirations. If the rumor mill has it right, then Oracle is thinking about trying to buy Lawson Software. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: Boiling the Ocean
by Hesh Wiener

General Electric, a company nearly twice the size of IBM, is in an Obamic situation, a position so deeply disappointing that it makes one's heart break. Its Mark I nuclear reactors lie at the heart of a catastrophe in Japan. Its agility at tax avoidance has become a target of the New York Times, which trims its taxes the old fashioned way, by not making money. Meanwhile, GE's chairman, Jeffrey Immelt, is trying to help run the USA. IBM is pointing out, with a straight face, that we need a smarter planet. Who would want a stupider one? READ MORE >