Database Tool Maker Joins the System i Market
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

They say you learn something new every day. But when you have been in the AS/400, iSeries, and System i market for 6,732 days, as I have been, you don't necessarily learn big new things every day. But when a vendor called Resolution Software, which makes database design and maintenance tools for other platforms, said last week that it was coming to the System i space, the company's tools made me aware of database issues I had not really known existed before. READ MORE >

State of the System i: Other Software Makers Weigh In
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

As we wind down 2007 and get ready to take on 2008, now is a good time to take stock of the state of the i5/OS and OS/400 ecosystem. So for the past several months I have been talking to companies large and small in the ecosystem who peddle hardware, software, or a mix of the two to see how business has been in 2007, what they are hearing from i5/OS and OS/400 shops in terms of products and budgets, and what they expect their own businesses to do in 2008. READ MORE >

IDC Says Server Buyers Weigh Economy and Power in Q3
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Everybody, with the possible exception of the head bean counter at the company, likes shiny, new servers. New servers have more bandwidth to support larger workloads, which makes transaction volumes go up and response time go down; they also tend to be more energy efficient these days, which is a good thing. But whenever the economy is not roaring along, people get concerned and they do not want to shell out money for new iron. Right now, the economy is doing OK and the desire to have more powerful and efficient machines is offsetting the jitters among server buyers. READ MORE >

As I See It: What's Past Is Prologue
by Victor Rozek

Just beyond the holiday season lurks 2008, carrying the prospects of a fresh start and the baggage of past performance. New years are like that; full of hope and promise, but tempered by what went on the year before. For IT professionals, 2008 will be shaped by the confluence of powerful forces themselves molded by the recent past. The most critical of those forces, as always, is the economy, and how it will fare depends on who you believe. READ MORE >