Web 2.0 transcends hype for business

You may not be ready to embrace concepts like "social computing" or "participative computing" in your organization, but the benefits of Web 2.0 can no longer be ignored. In fact, Web 2.0 figures prominently in Gartner's latest list of key actions IT leaders should take over the next three years to demonstrate value to their organizations. This article from 1105 Media gives you the 411. Read more»

Trend to watch: Manufacturing Job One: Improve information flow.

In a recent article published by Intelligent Enterprise on the Top Seven Trends to watch, one to focus on is found in Manufacturing's inherent need to improve information flow.

Manufacturing executives realize that if they can solve the problem of gathering information from their company's portfolio of data sources in the plant or value chain--and build that capability into a linked enterprise process--they will have a considerable competitive advantage. Here are some examples of what we mean»

Magically turn Excel pivot tables into Web reports.

Every day end-users across the globe spend a large amount of time pulling data into spreadsheet programs like Excel, and then using pivot tables and the like to analyze data. This wastes a lot of time, is insecure, inefficient, and often inaccurate.

But, there's a new way you can help your end-users save time, do away with security issues, AND create their own Web reports. Here's a short presentation on how»

What SaaS (Software as a Service) means for you

What is SaaS? Here's the simplest way to think of it: "The Web has become a solid application delivery platform, transforming the way we can deploy enterprise software." This CIO Magazine article gives you a better picture, AND names it as one of the top 5 major IT changes that you need to consider.

Whatever you choose to call it, it all amounts to becoming more flexible and nimble and saving money by not having to write code from the ground up for each application. Here's one manufacturer's story on how they created an enterprise-level executive dashboard tied to their enterprise software package...without having to write it from scratch.

Calling all System i Innovators

Individuals and organizations that have discovered innovative ways to utilize their System i platform are in luck.

Now is the time to nominate someone—perhaps yourself--perhaps your favorite Tool Vendor (hint, hint)—for one of the IBM System i Innovation Awards. The nomination deadline for the 2007 awards is end of day on Wednesday, February 28, 2007.

You've worked hard on your system designs, and development. Start reaping the rewards!

Check out the details here»

Dear Marcy, What's the deal with AJAX?

Dear Marcy,

I keep hearing about AJAX, but I don't really have a grasp on what it's all about, or why it would be helpful for a company like mine? (We're strictly B2B.) Could you give me a basic understanding in a nutshell, of why I should be interested in it?

--Curious in Canada

Here's her response»

Trend to watch: Business Analysts Step Up and Design for Agility

There are new factors changing not only Business/IT alignment, but also the role of the business analyst. This shift puts the business analyst in the role of application planning, and design in many cases--without any specific IT implementation required of them.

This renewed focus on "What is Needed" rather than "How it is built" is a paradigm shift similar to the IT equivalent of what manufacturers did to enable themselves to construct product simulations before ever cutting a single piece of material.

Here's a quick article that takes a look at the ins and outs of the Business Analysts changing role.

Curious about how PHP stacks up to Java?

You've probably been hearing a lot about PHP of late, but what's not so clear is how it stacks up against other languages like Java, and when it is best used.

This article (sign in as ID/password marcy/marcy) says this: "So how does PHP fare against Java? It depends on the application. If it's an enterprise application that requires integration with multiple applications, languages, and databases, Java or .NET beat out PHP."

PHP is easy to learn, and easy to use to create basic dynamic Web applications, but the article offers this caveat: "But the more sophisticated your PHP applications become, the more it makes sense to use Java."

(The nice thing is, using m-Power to develop those complex Java apps is even faster than using and executing simple PHP.) Try it out here»

Dear Marcy, Your competitors tell me they access multiple databases too, so what is the big deal?

Dear Marcy,
I’ve been looking at application development tools that can access multiple databases (I need to access SQL Server and Oracle 10g along with DB2). mrc is always talking about how m-Power can access any database, but I’ve been talking to two of your competitors and they both say their products do the same thing.

I don’t see why this is the topic of so much discussion if it’s something everyone else does too. --Comparing Apples to Apples?

Here's her response»