SAP Plants Its Flag in Mid-Market Territory with SaaS Apps
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Application software giant SAP certainly is not the first company to bring hosted applications to market on a subscription basis to the midrange market, but the German company's top executives made it clear at the launch in New York last week of the forthcoming 'A1S' product line, officially called Business ByDesign, that SAP intended to dominate the mid-market much as it currently does for applications aimed at the largest enterprises in the world. The stakes are high, and SAP took great pains to explain why it has moved slowly and deliberately as it chases the mid-market with a software as a service (SaaS) approach. READ MORE >

A1S Is to Applications What AS/400 Was to Systems
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Product demonstrations by IT vendors during product launches are by necessity short, sweet, and convincing to whatever point that the vendor is trying to make. Provided there is not a system or software crash, of course. Instead of going to Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week, which I would normally do, I decided to sit tight in New York and attend the launch of SAP's project 'A1S' software suite, the company's first Web-based, online, full application suite for midrange businesses. READ MORE >

EGL: At Least It's Not Java, But It Ain't RPG, Either
by Brian Kelly

As soon as I read the article, EGL: The Future of Programming for the System i?, from last week, I knew there is nothing I can do but complain. I am upset--very upset, in fact--that I have to use PHP and the other stuff that is used on other platforms in order to get my System i shops to the Web. It did not have to be this way. From years of observation, I know that IBM is very stubborn, often arrogant. And when IBM digs in, it is usually incorrect. In choosing to create a new language for RPG programmers to learn after the sound rejection IBM got trying to push Java, is EGL in my future? No way, Jose! READ MORE >

As I See It: Shocking
by Victor Rozek

This is a story about accidental discovery, inspired breakthroughs, resentful rivalry, and the execution of an elephant. It is also a story about what is arguably the prime driver of modern civilization and the life-force of computing. As with many significant achievements of western culture, it began in ancient Greece some 2,600 years ago. READ MORE >