IBM Gives the iSeries Channel Incentives to Grow and Behave
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

There are two things that motivate any player in the server channel: volumes and profits. The two do not always go hand-in-hand. Often, high-volume servers with lots of competitors that are based on similar or exactly the same core technologies are things that companies can sell a lot of, but they go broke trying to sell. Conversely, some low-volume products (like the iSeries) can, in theory, have high margins because of the lack of direct competition and the uniqueness of the box. READ MORE >

The Possibilities of PASE
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

When I inadvertently misreported the demise of the PASE AIX runtime environment for the iSeries a few months ago during a bout with the flu, it got me to thinking. And thinking is always a dangerous--yet fun--thing to do. I have been thinking about runtimes and workload consolidation and how to get more stuff running on the iSeries, and I think IBM's PASE approach holds promise beyond the AIX runtime that it currently supports. READ MORE >

Vision Solutions Bolsters Network, HA Capabilities
by Dan Burger

For many companies, successful high availability and data replication projects depend on near real-time transfer of business-critical and time-sensitive data. And for implementations that rely on communication lines to remote locations, wide area network (WAN) links can be the bottleneck where the data replication traffic clogs the pipe. Dealing with problems relating to overloaded WANs led to the partnership of iSeries high availability vendor Vision Solutions and Peribit Networks, a company that specializes in boosting WAN performance. READ MORE >

Shaking IT Up: Meet That Date!
by Kevin Vandever

How many times have you been given an IT-related task and been told, "This has to be done by so-and-so date?" (Fill in "so-and-so" with your own unrealistic date). Wait! Don't answer that question. The easier question is: How many times have you been given an IT-related task that did not already have a date attached to it? READ MORE >

   But Wait, There's More

Gartner Says Midrange Companies Are Gun Shy About IT Investments . . . ProData Gets ServerProven for DBUnifier . . . IBM Tweaks Financing Deal for Server Buyers . . . looksoftware Joins Microsoft's Midrange Alliance . . . Jacada Gets Multi-Million Dollar Contract for Fusion Middleware . . . Vision Solutions Inks Reseller Deal with ERP Provider IBS . . . IBM Takes High Road, Starts Expensing Stock Options . . . READ MORE >

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