Server Ecosystems: Take a Ride on
a Slide
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

I was asked recently by Ben Reitzes, the information technology analyst at brokerage house UBS, to host a teleconference call with institutional investors in the high tech market about the server business. I was terrified at the prospect of public speaking, but I am also adventurous enough to want to conquer a fear and learn a new (and perhaps marketable but definitely useful) skill. So when Ben asked me to do it, I said yes. That presentation is where many of my ideas about server platform ecosystems started to crystallize. READ MORE >

Java Turns Ten, Still At Odds with .NET, Aloof About PHP
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

As we were going to press with this issue of The Four Hundred just before the July 4th holiday in the United States, Sun Microsystems had finished up its 10th annual JavaOne summit for Java developers. A year ago, I was still complaining about Sun not opening up Java as an open source program and I was suggesting that Sun and Microsoft merge their Java and C# languages and JVM and CLR runtimes to create a unified programming environment.
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iSeries ISVs Make Big Investments in Regulatory Compliance
by Mary Lou Roberts

You're probably read enough stories by now on the giant gray--nothing black and white about it--Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) elephant in the compliance corner. Whether you're sitting in a Fortune 1000 company or in a mid-tier private corporation, you've presumably already gotten the message that SOX compliance, mandatory for you or not, is just plain good business practice. Depending on your industry, you've also been wading deep in HIPAA (healthcare), Gramm-Leach-Bliley (financial institutions), 21CFR Part 11 (Food and Drug Administration), Basel II (credit card industry), environmental protection laws and standards, and more. READ MORE >

As I See It: Declining Fortunes
by Victor Rozek

As a career path, has programming lost its snob appeal? Is high tech suffering from low luster? It certainly happens in other professions. At one time, being an airline pilot was thought to be glamorous work. But bankrupt airlines, falling salaries, looted pension funds, the threat of hijacking, the grind of globe hopping, and a life of chronic jet lag and bad food have made the profession much less romantic and desirable than it once was. The more common air travel became, the more pilots were viewed as glorified airborne taxi drivers. READ MORE >

   But Wait, There's More

Sun's Schwartz Dreams Big About Buying Big Blue's Server Biz . . . IBM Appoints New Head of iSeries Sales . . . Giovanni Perotti, Creator of Easy/400, Leaves IBM . . . Java Coders Like Open Source Software . . . Enterprise Management Software Market Grows 11.4 Percent to $6.2 Billion . . . Oracle Numbers On the Up Despite PeopleSoft Merger Costs . . . Microsoft Settles OS/2 Antitrust Lawsuit with IBM for $850 Million . . . READ MORE >

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We value your feedback and insights. Feel free to send a letter to the editor. Letters may be printed, unless otherwise specified, and edited for clarity or length. READ MORE >

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