Migration RPG: Another Option for RPG II Shops
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

I bet I can make you laugh. As you are aware from reading this newsletter, IBM has warned customers that it is planning on removing support for the System/36 RPG II and System/38 RPG III compilers in the next release of i5/OS, which presumably will be called i5/OS V5R5. The plan is to charge customers for a special, unwarranted version of the RPG II and RPG III compilers in cases where they need to make changes to their RPG II and RPG III applications. READ MORE >

AttachmateWRQ Pays $495 Million for NetIQ
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The consolidation continues apace in the software industry, and last week privately held AttachmateWRQ announced to its customers that it has acquired public company and security software provider NetIQ for a tidy sum of $495 million. This marks the third big acquisition that a group of venture capitalists have teamed up on together, beginning with WRQ in December 2004 and Attachmate in April 2005. READ MORE >

IBM and Partners Target Casinos with the System i
by Mary Lou Roberts

There was a time when the casino industry was the exclusive turf of the OS/400 platform, thanks to a number of strong and established application providers who provided the hotel and gaming industry with the core solutions they needed to turn the key with software on a secure and reliable platform. To be sure, the industry is still dominated by OS/400 applications, although Microsoft has been blasting some holes in the fortifications of one of the iSeries' biggest strongholds. IBM and its partners are fighting back. READ MORE >

The Hardware Foundry
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Sometimes in life, you have to put up or shut up. You have to put your money where your mouth is. You have to lead, even if you don't have the time. You have to try something that you think is right--or, might be right, but you're not sure--even if a lot of other people say you are crazy, or if they listen quietly and are not enthusiastic about the idea because they don't see what you do. This happens a few times in a good life, and that is what I face as I launch something I have called Hardware Foundry. READ MORE >