Is the Smart Cube the New i?
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

While I have been watching IBM for longer than I have done just about anything else in my life except watching Penn State football and marveling that I can get paid to do the job I do, even after all these years, sometimes Big Blue does something that surprises me. Sometimes, the surprise is caused by the company's utter stupidity, or incompetence. Sometimes, it is the genius of its engineering. Sometimes, it is just the way IBM puts something and then the coffee comes out my nose. READ MORE >

You Can Still Walk Upgrade Paths with Power Systems i
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

In the server racket, the term upgrade has a lot of different meanings. In general, it involves some means of boosting the processing capacity of a machine, be it from additional processors, memory, disk spindles, or I/O capacity. But when most people talk about upgrading their AS/400, iSeries, System i, or Power Systems i box, they are talking about adding processing capacity. And sometimes, that means a little change inside a server or swapping out most or all of the guts in a box to make a change to the system. READ MORE >

IBM Sues to Block Server Executive from Joining Apple
by Alex Woodie

IBM last week filed a lawsuit to prevent former executive Mark Papermaster from taking a job at Apple. IBM claims that, as its 'top expert' in the Power architecture and head of development for X64-based blade servers, Papermaster would use his knowledge to hurt IBM's server business as he helps expand Apple's fledgling server business, and thereby violate a non-compete clause along the way. READ MORE >

The i Gives Manufacturers and Distributors Cost Control
by Dan Burger

You make and distribute products. That's your business--one, the other, or both. But the pressure is on to squeeze more efficiency out of operations and drive more profits to the bottom line. You may have your choice of dragons to slay, but the decision to improve transportation planning, shipment execution, financial settlement, and tracking visibility are popular choices. Not coincidentally, this is one of those IBM System i strongholds. READ MORE >