The Power Systems-IBM i Road Ahead
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The Four Hundred has spent the past several weeks going over what the top brass and head techies at Big Blue say about how the IBM i platform running atop Power Systems iron is doing both economically and technically. This week, we close out this series of articles with a discussion with Steve Will, the IBM i chief architect, concerning the near-term future of the platform, by which IBM means the time between now and the end of 2013. READ MORE >

Help/Systems Buys Database Monitoring Tool from Innovatum
by Alex Woodie

Help/Systems has acquired the DataThread database monitoring tool from Innovatum, the companies announced last week. The deal puts Help/Systems and its security subsidiary, PowerTech, firmly in control of a product they have been reselling since last year. READ MORE >

IT Budget Relief from High Hardware Maintenance Fees
by Dan Burger

Certain companies thrive during a recession. Those that can tighten budgets, run leaner without killing productivity, actually put themselves in an advantageous position. Some try to do it with smoke and mirrors with short-term relief causing long-term pain. Sort of like deciding to save money by not paying the electric bill. That's not a good long-term plan. But as you shine a light on the IT department, what about an option to reduce hardware maintenance charges? What can you do and how dangerous is it? READ MORE >

Is Perception the Reality?
by Doug Mewmaw

On a recent training engagement, I visited a very popular American company. This company fit the profile of ones that I have visited before. In this case, the customer had a Power System 570; i5/OS V5R4 and IBM i 6.1; and had CPU running redline at 100 percent of utilization, using shared resources between LPARs. Support consisted of a help desk (Level 1 support) and a systems analyst (Level 2 or 3), and the entire IT support staff for the IBM i environment was four system admins. READ MORE >