PowerTech Acquired by Help/Systems, Private Equity Firm
by Alex Woodie

The consolidation of the midrange continued last month when The PowerTech Group, a leading developer of i OS security software, was acquired by Help/Systems and Audax Group, the venture capital group backing the i OS utility developer. Few details of the deal are being released, as the companies are privately held and therefore under no obligation to spill the nitty gritty. What is known is that PowerTech will continue to function as a completely independent entity. READ MORE >

JDA Ponies Up $346 Million to Buy i2 Technologies
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

If there is any rule in the latter stages of development in any market, it is that the big get bigger. So it has been in the market for application software for businesses of all sizes, and last week JDA Software continued to exert its gravity in the software space by acquiring sometime-rival supply chain software specialist i2 Technologies for a net cost of about $346 million. The move not only makes JDA that much more of a player in supply chain software--and for many companies, positions JDA up above SAP and Oracle--but also puts to rest years of speculation about what would happen to i2. READ MORE >

SMBs Are Sensibly More Concerned with Biz than Tech
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

This bit of news will come as no surprise to any IT Jungle readers who have run their own businesses or who work for small companies where money is a lot tighter than at larger enterprises, which always seem to have a lot more dough to spare for IT projects that may or may not pan out. According to research performed recently by IDC, SMB shops, which have IT budgets that are growing at least twice as fast as spending among larger companies, are more worried about the state of the economy than all the latest gadgetry or hot buzzword ideas. READ MORE >

As I See It: Lessons from Robben Island
by Victor Rozek

Richard Stengel describes him as 'the closest thing the world has to a secular saint.' And Stengel is in a good position to know. For two years, the managing editor of Time collaborated with Nelson Mandela on his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. How better to describe a man who endured 27 years of hellish captivity, emerged unembittered, and rejected vengeance in favor of creating a more perfect union. READ MORE >