Power6 Blades Finally Come to Market from IBM
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

After something close to six years of waiting, customers who are used to supporting applications on full-blown Power processors from IBM are finally getting an enterprise-grade blade server for Big Blue's BladeCenter chassis. As previously divulged in this newsletter months ago, IBM last week has indeed launched the JS22 blade server, which crams two dual-core Power6 processors onto a single board and which supports AIX and Linux. The JS22 blade will support the i5/OS operating system early in 2008. READ MORE >

Power Systems Division: A New Unit, i5/OS and iCluster Included
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

When IBM broke the former System i division into two pieces in July, it did more than create two separate business units focused on different kinds of computing accounts. It also brought together a new stack of operating systems and related systems software that is the key to driving sales in both the Business Systems division--comprised of the entry System i 515, 520, 525, and 550 servers--and the Power Systems division--the result of the merger of the System p AIX server business and the high-end System i 570 and 595 machines. READ MORE >

System i VIP Initiative Boosts Sales, Says IBM
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

According to a statement released last week by IBM, the Vertical Industry Program (VIP) marketing effort, which Big Blue announced in late January to help target specific customers in specific markets that are well suited to buying System i servers and selected applications, is showing promising results in helping to boost sales of the venerable midrange platform. Exactly how much the VIP effort contributed to helping System i sales, IBM did not, as usual, say with any precision. READ MORE >

As I See It: The Paradox
by Victor Rozek

Someone once said that wisdom comes from seeing the paradox--a contradiction that is nonetheless true. Work is a paradox: It can be life's most pleasurable and fulfilling experience; or it can be filled with boredom and drudgery. For most of us, the truth lies somewhere between, and we navigate our careers longing for more fulfillment while searching for ways to minimize the drudgery--or at the very least, ways to anesthetize ourselves against it. READ MORE >