Sun Merges Server Units, Taps Key Exec for Storage
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It has only been a few weeks since Jonathan Schwartz was named as chief executive officer at Sun Microsystems, and true to his word, he is already beginning to make changes. This week, Sun announced that it was merging its two server units and moving one of its key server executives over to take the top job running its storage business. READ MORE >

HP's Revenues Up 5 Percent in Q2, Profits Jump 51 Percent
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

While Hewlett-Packard has improved its sales and boosted profits in the past year, the second fiscal quarter shows that HP still has a lot of work to do. As he has done in the past two quarters in announcing HP's financial results, chief executive officer Mark Hurd once again started and ended his call with Wall Street analysts reminding everyone that he knows HP has issues and is trying to address them. Having said all that, HP's fiscal second quarter was not all that bad. READ MORE >

Infor to Buy SSA Global for $1.36 Billion
by Alex Woodie

Two of the largest vendors of ERP software announced plans to merge Monday, creating what will be the third largest ERP vendor in the world. If it clears regulatory hurdles and is approved by shareholders, which looks likely, Infor's $1.36-billion bid for SSA Global will create a company with 37,000 customers, nearly 7,000 employees, and annual revenues of $1.6 billion. The combined company would be one of the biggest players in the Unix and Windows ERP markets, the biggest ERP vendor dedicated to the OS/400 platform, and the third largest ERP provider outside of SAP and Oracle. READ MORE >

ERP Software: Its Effect on Human Performance and Impact on Productivity
by Jerome Peloquin

This is the first in a series of three articles that address the complex relationship between technology, in the form of ERP software, and enhanced human performance, as indicated by business performance. This article examines the history of technology-enhanced performance in the workplace and, specifically, explores the advance of technology in supporting management decision making. It also presents some fundamental behavioral principles that drive human performance and relates them to technology in general and ERP systems specifically. READ MORE >