Hello, New York? Buy IBM
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

While the end of the calendar year is often when we look back and examine what we have done in the prior 12 months and even further back through the years, spring is actually a time for renewal. It is when the sap starts to run, when the juices get flowing, when the earth warms, and the sun can reach your bones again to warm you. It is perhaps fitting, then, after a warm spell here in New York followed by a cold snap just after Passover and just before Easter that I ponder the future of IBM. READ MORE >

Security Still an Issue in 2007 for System i5 Shops
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

If you need an example of why having all the great security features in the world doesn't make your computer systems safe, look no further than TJX, the parent company behind the TJ Maxx and Marshalls department stores. Last week, the publicly traded company was horrified to have to announce that a hacker had broken into its systems and had stolen at least 47.5 million--and possibly more--credit card and debit card numbers used by its customers. If you are an OS/400 or i5/OS snob and you are laughing right now, and if you think the legendary security of the box will somehow save you from a similar disaster, it won't. Only diligence will. READ MORE >

A Trained IT Staff Is A Happy and Competitive One
Hey, Brian:

I know that there have been many new and exciting capabilities added to the iSeries and System i platform, especially over the last five years. But I am at a loss to really know what they are in detail or how to use them. Along with the things IBM puts in the System i, there have been many other advances in technology from networking to e-commerce. Yet our management team does not find it worthwhile to encourage, authorize, and fund any of our team to attend any form of off-site professional or technical education. Are they just bad managers? READ MORE >

As I See It: The Legacy
by Victor Rozek

An accomplished man, perhaps a great one, died recently. Certainly he was a man who exerted great influence on the computing industry and the people in it. He had one of those rare minds whose contributions helped shape the future, in his case by domesticating what was previously a primitive collection of magnetic drums, cathode-ray tubes, tape units, and card readers. By putting the power of a wizardly but cumbersome and elitist device into the hands of the many, he literally accelerated human progress. Yet most people don't know his name. READ MORE >