IBM Focusing on i5 Account Sales, Not i5 Sales
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Mark Shearer, the general manager of IBM's System i server division, gave the keynote address at the annual COMMON OS/400 and i5/OS user group meeting, which was hosted in Anaheim, California, last week. The fact that he attended his fifth COMMON event since taking over the division in January 2005--COMMON used to be held twice a year until 2007--and is architecting a stabilization of and maybe someday a recovery in System i5 sales have both been reassuring the OS/400 and i5/OS faithful. The AS/400, iSeries, and i5 line has seen some pretty big revenue declines and a revolving door of general managers in the 2000s. READ MORE >

Dr. Frank Soltis at COMMON: A Show Worth Watching
by Alex Woodie

Going to see Dr. Frank Soltis is a rite of passage for System i devotees. Like nobody else in IBM's System i division, the chief scientist embodies the dual spirits of intelligence and independence that the Rochester, Minnesota, organization is known for. Last week at the COMMON conference in Anaheim, California, Soltis wowed the crowd again with his tales of past technological daring, his ill-conceived marketing plans, and promises of IT riches to come. READ MORE >

i5/OS Curriculum Contingent on Job Prospects, Business Community
by Dan Burger

The experience of learning and the experience of being educated are not the same thing. That's why the IBM System i Academic Initiative is focused on bringing the business community into the program that is designed to fortify the ranks of college graduates with skills that will pay off for the users of System i. When the initiative got under way, the goal was reaching 20,000 students with a System i-related curriculum. That objective has been reached. Now, IBM wants to shift to building collaboration between students, colleges, and employers. READ MORE >

As I See It: Education--the Other Dysfunction
by Victor Rozek

"For the cost of 15 B-2 bombers, we can give three million teachers real incentives to raise student achievement and stay in the classroom." Now hold on. Before our more hawkish readers get their knickers in a bunch and accuse me of a commie liberal, weak on defense, America hating bias, it wasn't Jane Fonda who made that observation, it was Louis Gerstner. READ MORE >