IBM's July iSeries Announcements, Part Deux
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

IBM made some iSeries announcements on July 12, and I outlined the major ones in last week's issue of Four Hundred Stuff, which included a new i5 520 Solution Edition, new models in the i5 520 line, more sensible pricing for i5/OS licenses on the i5 570, and new per-processor pricing on Software Maintenance for the i5 line. IBM did a lot of little things, too, which I will discuss below. READ MORE >

Mike Smith, iSeries Chief Architect, Speaks Out on SOA
by Mary Lou Roberts

Three weeks ago, The Four Hundred took a look at Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), the application development methodology that makes use of reusable components that contain application logic to perform a single business function. We talked with a variety of iSeries software developers that are employing SOA in their applications. They all touted the benefits--flexibility, agility, decreased cost, and platform independence--of SOA and some predicted that SOA will give new life to those aging iSeries boxes and increase the odds that new i5s will find their way into the enterprise. READ MORE >

Oracle's Multicore Pricing: Right Direction, Not Far Enough
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

As we all know, the processor industry has been in the middle of a transition, and one that has software vendors like Oracle in a quandary. Chip makers can add performance by shrinking chip transistors every 12 to 18 months and jacking up clock speeds and adding features such as cache. But chips are getting too hot, which burns users twice: once with the electric bill for running the chip and again for the air conditioning bill to get rid of the heat the chip creates as it runs. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: Live Gates
by Hesh Wiener

On July 2, Bill Gates appeared on stage in London at the Live 8 concert, a massive publicity stunt aimed at drawing attention to the plight of poor Africans. Gates and his wife, Melinda, are probably the greatest philanthropists in history. Gates' company, Microsoft, made him the richest person in the world; Gates' character, however, is what makes him so generous. Microsoft is big on giving, too. Just a day earlier, in fact, it gave $850 million to IBM. That payment wasn't charity, though. It was hush money. READ MORE >

   But Wait, There's More

IBM Utterly Demolishes iSeries 825 HA Server Prices . . . Two Flaws Found in Kerberos Authentication, iSeries Impact Unknown . . . It's All About the Cooperation, ASNA Says . . . Signs of Life Noted in Market for Supply Chain Software . . . Lawson Nearly Doubles Profits Despite 13 Percent Drop in Revenue . . . IBM Positions Linux in Better Light . . . READ MORE >

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