The OS/400 Ecosystem, Part 2
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Last week, I could accurately blame the idea of trying to reckon the size of the OS/400 ecosystem on desperation (there was no hot news in the iSeries market) and on a fever induced by a pesky summer cold. But this week, as I continue to estimate the size and impact of the OS/400 market, I have nothing to blame but inertia and my desire to fill in a gaping hole in knowledge and market data with the best guesses I can come up with. READ MORE >

IBM's iSeries Rejuvenation Efforts Begin to Bear Fruit
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The AS/400-iSeries line of computers is approaching its 17th birthday this month, and that is as good a time as any to take stock of the iSeries Initiative for Innovation, which Big Blue launched in February as a multi-prong technical, marketing, and sales push to get independent software providers and tool makers fired up about the iSeries platform. IBM has been busy, just trying to get a handle on the key ISVs in the market and what they need. READ MORE >

ERP Market Grew Solidly in 2004, AMR Research Says
by Alex Woodie

The market for ERP software grew a surprising 14 percent in 2004 to become a $23.6 billion business, AMR Research said this week in a report detailing the health of the ERP software market and predicting its state over the next four years. The good times won't continue through 2005, as service-oriented architecture (SOA) technology becomes a disruptive force and the market's overall growth rate drops to 3 percent. But decent growth should return for 2006 and beyond, the Boston research firm predicts. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: If It Walks Like Sudoku . . .
by Hesh Wiener

They are number puzzles made of lesser but similar number puzzles. One kind is the spreadsheet (or mathematical model, if you prefer terms that give simple things undeserved dignity) sketching out the business of a conglomerate, of which IBM is a large and important example. Another kind is the increasingly popular recreation known as Sudoku. It's hard to say which example is more helpful, but for IBM's managers, investors, and customers, it's probably Sudoku, because there's a fair chance you can come up with a satisfactory result. READ MORE >

   But Wait, There's More

ASNA Customers Praise .NET Benefits at User Conference . . . LANSA Wins iSeries Innovation Award . . . Two IT Vendors Sitting in a Tree: Partnerships for Peregrine and IBM, IBM and Printronics, Magic Software and SAP, Sterling Commerce and Hitachi, MKS and Aspen . . . Seagull Acquires Oak Grove for BPM Wares . . . Wyse Brings Thin Computing to Developing Nations . . . PeopleSoft Ex-Chairman Sets Up Fund to Help Laid Off Workers . . . READ MORE >

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