The Uberating System
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

'Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?' A good question, posed by English poet Robert Browning. I don't know if the data center can qualify as a kind of heaven, though I do suspect that if there is a heaven, the temperature is always perfect, and I can imagine the faint humming of the workings of the Universe being audible. Anyway, you can't blame IT vendors for having their reach exceed their grasp, which happens all the time. This is, apparently, how progress is made--through stretching. Sometimes the truth, sometimes our minds. Sometimes both. READ MORE >

IBM Cuts Deals on CPU and i5/OS for 550, 570, and 595 Boxes
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

We're almost into the fourth quarter and just finishing up the last couple of business days in the third quarter, and that means IBM is looking to cut some deals on CPU cores and i5/OS licenses to make some dough out of the System i installed base. READ MORE >

Need to Cut Costs? Midrange Shops Should Do ERP Well
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

In a toughening economic environment, which many companies and individuals are facing these days in the Western economies, there are a lot of knee-jerk reactions to the stress. One of them is to look around to try to cut personnel, to streamline processes to try to cut costs for manufacturing or distribution of a product, or to argue harder for discounts from suppliers. While IT projects often are the first things to get cut, maybe the smart thing to do is to invest in a better ERP system. Or be grateful for the good one you might be lucky or smart enough to have installed already. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: You Can Teleworker, But Who Will Listen?
by Hesh Wiener

As you read this on your display screen, you are a potential (if not actual) teleworker. Maybe you're in the office, but you could as easily be far away. In principle, people in many jobs could work outside the office, and, with gasoline at a buck a quart, it's no longer hypothetical. These days, teleworking might be practical not only for employees but also for employers. It is a topic that requires fresh scrutiny, some new technology, and appreciation of its roots, which go back 2,500 years. READ MORE >