WebSphere Is Not the Only Game in Town, and That's Good
by Dan Burger

The importance of taking legacy applications to the Web is not lost on iSeries shops. It may be that the decision about how to accomplish this task is causing problems ranging from perpetual postponement of the decision to making bad decisions and having to explain them. But that is just the dark side. There are ample e-business success stories, from customers using a variety of middleware and tool vendors. One thing is for certain: For iSeries shops, it's more than a WebSphere world. READ MORE >

IBM's New PowerPC 970: Just What the iSeries Needs
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

IBM's Microelectronics Division quietly announced, at COMMON two weeks ago, a new single-core variant of the Power4 processor that it hopes will begin shipping sometime in the second half of 2003. So what, you say? This could be an important development, and no one seemed to notice last week. This new Power4 chip, called the PowerPC 970, is a hot little chip, and it could just turn out to be the salvation of the iSeries line. READ MORE >

VP of iSeries Biz in the Americas Explains His Plan
by Dan Burger

IBM is giving Paulo Cavao the business--the iSeries sales business in the Americas, that is. Cavao, based in IBM's White Plains, New York, offices, is the newly promoted vice president responsible for growing iSeries sales. The profit and loss statements for the Americas market, which is 90 percent dominated by sales in the United States, will be his tea and poison. We sat down with Cavao at COMMON and asked where he is going to take this business. READ MORE >

Admin Alert: Deciphering Group PTF CD Labeling
by Joe Hertvik

Little things make--or break--iSeries ease of use. Take PTFs, for example. Last June, IBM made a minor change to its group PTF distribution scheme that makes applying PTFs more difficult to organize and administer. I am, of course, referring to the way IBM changed its PTF CD labeling and the extra hassle it causes iSeries administrators. While it's a simple change, the new labeling can confuse administrators and create more work in keeping PTFs straight. READ MORE >

The iSeries Can Compete in an Intel Iron Age
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Every time the economy slows, the companies that sell the cheapest servers see a surge in sales, while the stalwart established vendors see a decline. These economic cycles have driven the acceptance of server platforms as much as technological advances--plug compatible mainframes in the late 1960s, minicomputers in the mid-1970s, Unix servers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And now Wintel and Lintel iron, in the early 2000s, is getting a push from bad times. READ MORE >

Coglin Mill Connects RODIN to Other Databases, Shows iSeries Performance
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

One of the hardest things about building a data warehouse is finding the right tool to extract the information from various databases, transform it, and pump it into that data warehouse. On the iSeries platform, Coglin Mill has long since taken advantage of parallel database technologies built into OS/400 to provide a fast ETL (extraction, transformation, and loading) tool for data warehouses. With RODIN V4R1, the ETL tool can now interface with non-OS/400 databases, which should broaden the appeal of this tool among companies with heterogeneous database platforms. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: The GUI Lag Archipelago
by Hesh Wiener

Crichton was merely a servant of the Lasenby family in Victorian England. But when the Lasenbys were marooned on a desert island, it was Crichton whose gifts came to the fore. Before long, Crichton was in charge, respected by the men and admired by the women. Then the Lasenbys were rescued. They soon reverted to their former places, geographically and socially. Will this be the story of Linux in IBM's Proprietary Empire? IBM seems to think there's an alternate ending to the tale. READ MORE >

But Wait, There's More. . .

Duncan to iNation: Interactive Pricing Needs to Change . . . RedStreak Program from BCC Cuts 15K RPM Disk Prices in Half . . . IBM Announces New WebSphere Portal Software for OS/400 . . . Get the Latest OS/400 PTF Guide . . . Microsoft, Siebel Sign .NET Alliance . . . IBM Cuts Prices on Some Soon-To-Be-Withdrawn iSeries Features . . . Project Eliza Gets Its Own Unit at IBM . . . READ MORE >

Reader Feedback and Insights

We value your feedback and your insights into the OS/400 market. Feel free to send a letter to the editor. We will consider your letter a candidate for the reader feedback column associated with this newsletter, but we will contact you before we make your email public. READ MORE >