Details Emerge on Project Prometheus System i Promotion Efforts
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Back in June, The Four Hundred provided some insight into a secret project to promote the System i platform, which is called Project Prometheus. There are many different people and organizations involved in this effort, since Prometheus is attempting to organize the members of the OS/400 and i5/OS community and focus their resources on promoting the unique value of the System i platform. Prometheus is a lot of things to a lot of people, but the first fruits of the labors of the people behind the scenes will be announced at the System i Town Hall meeting September 17 at the COMMON user group meeting in Miami Beach, Florida. READ MORE >

Windows Consolidation with the System i: Is It Happening?
by Mary Lou Roberts

Earlier this month, Forrester Research issued a brief report, "Windows on IBM System i--Short-List It?" The author, Brad Day, Forrester's vice president of computing infrastructure, notes the challenges faced by small- and medium-sized shops that often operate two different server environments--one for mission-critical applications and another for standard infrastructure software. While shops may have dedicated servers to support mission-critical applications, "these same customers have also deployed X86-based SMP and blade server designs to run infrastructure software like Microsoft Exchange, Web applications, or file-and-print facilities on Microsoft Windows Server." READ MORE >

You Have Life Jackets, But Have You Ever Put One On?
by Bob Butcher

The rain continued to fall heavily for the fifth consecutive day. I woke up the morning of June 28, and since I wasn't feeling well, I called in sick. I told my boss to give me a shout on my cell phone if there were any problems at work. I remember dozing off on my couch with the Weather Channel chirping in the background. A few hours later, I heard the beeping of the emergency broadcasting system on the television indicating that severe flooding was taking place in most parts of upstate New York. READ MORE >

Buyers Expect Softening in Server Spending in 2006
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

According to a survey released by market analysts at TheInfoPro, spending on servers could be softening this year. TheInfoPro conducted in-depth surveys with 133 IT shops in the second quarter, and has released a new report that compares server spending from last winter and the middle of this year. The survey respondents indicated that their projections for server spending for the full 2006 year have fallen sharply by the middle of this year compared to late last year, when these same shops were asked what their server spending plans were for 2006. READ MORE >