Modernization strategies in the IBM midrange community are inevitable because the future is not exactly hospitable to those who cling to the past. At some point, the risk of doing nothing exceeds the risk of moving forward with new plans. Last week, Profound Logic and ARCAD Software announced a partnership that signals more activity in the modernization arena. It is not the first ISV action relative to modernization and it won’t be the last.

Profound Logic is one of the leaders in the application development tool business. ARCAD is a major player in the change management field. Both companies have

Last week, we ran part one of our IBM i predictions series. Most of the prophecies were positive, although there were a few pessimists in the bunch (some might call them realists). This week we have round two of our predictions, including some interesting hunches from the top honchos in Rochester, as well as more doses of (shall we say) “realism” from dedicated IBM i advocates.

Steve Will, Chief Architect–IBM i Operating System

“From a community predictions point of view, I do believe that conferences and user groups in the IBM i community are going to have a healthy year,

There is a pretty good chance that content management systems are not what you think they are. Preconceived notions and unwarranted conclusions are a dime a dozen. CMS, in the minds of most people, is about scanning and capturing reports. Or it is about going paperless and abandoning the old metal filing cabinets. But if that’s all you think it is, you are missing the big picture. Mobile and analytics technology have altered how data is captured and how it is used.

The shift that has occurred in content management is not insignificant. Mobile and analytics have converged at a

Long ago in simpler times, I read a novel in which one character kills another with a credit card. I remember being dismayed that something so trivial as a credit card could be used as a weapon. It seemed there was no end to human ingenuity when it came to dispatching other human beings.

By the time computers became militarized, I was no longer dismayed. It was obvious that a tool capable of amplifying human capacities would not be limited to the perfection of human nature. But with the growth of the World Wide Web, something unforeseen happened that sent

First, my disclaimer. I have worked my whole life in the S/3X space: 31 years as an IBMer, last 10 working for the (now) IBM i brand and Rochester, then nine years working for IBM Business Partners.

Next, my wish list (biased by the above):

1) I’d like to see graduated pricing for IBM i, regardless of software tier. One of the biggest impediments to sales of new footprints is Initial Purchase Price. P05 licenses of IBM i and its LPPs are very competitive. P10 is expensive and P20 and above are prohibitive. I’d like to see IBM make the