Weekend M and As don’t offer IT teams enough time to analyze security threats, competing systems and integration synergies, or figure out how to consolidate enterprise applications. But even in today’s tumultuous financial landscape, IT needs to ensure due diligence is done and make the deals work.

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By James Niccolai

October 08, 2008 — IDG News Service —

IBM on Wednesday reported a 20 percent increase in net income for its third quarter and said its profit outlook for the full year remains on track.

The preannouncement came one week before IBM is due to report its full financial results on Oct. 16 and may help calm technology investors, who have been pummelling stocks amid fears of a spending slowdown caused by the U.S. financial crisis.

On Monday, software vendor SAP said concern about the financial crisis among its customers led to a “very sudden and unexpected drop in business activity” at the end of its third quarter.

IBM suggested that the broad scope of its business will help it to better weather the crisis.

“Our results demonstrate that the combination of a steady base of recurring revenue and profits, investments for growth in emerging markets, a range of products and services that deliver value to clients, and a strong and flexible financial foundation give IBM a competitive edge in good times and tough times,” Sam Palmisano, IBM’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. “We remain confident in our full-year outlook.”

IBM reported revenue for the third quarter of US$25.3 billion, up 5 percent from the year before, including 3 percentage points from favorable exchange rates. Net income climbed 20 percent to $2.8 billion, with earnings per share up 22 percent to $2.05.

The earnings beat the expectations of financial analysts by $0.03 per share, but the revenue figure is considerably lower than the analyst forecast of $26.5 billion.

IBM reaffirmed its full-year outlook for earnings per share of at least $8.75, which would be an increase of 22 percent over fiscal 2007 and one penny short of the analyst forecast. IBM didn’t provide a revenue estimate for the full year.

Shares in IBM were down 5 percent at the close of normal trading Wednesday, at $90.55. They had climbed 4 percent higher in trading after hours at the time of this report.

Copyright © 2008 IDG News Service. All rights reserved. IDG News Service is a trademark of International Data Group, Inc.

Sprint launched its first WiMAX market last week, but the long-awaited Baltimore roll-out was followed by two other interesting bits of news related to the company. First, it seems as though Sprint is looking to establish, or perhaps re-establish, its wireline identity at the same time that AT&T is looking to blur the lines (pun intended) between its wireline and wireless units. Last week, AT&T announced a management shuffle and structural revamp intended to to help it address the converged services evolution, but on the same day as that move, Sprint announced a new wireline unit aimed at offering IP-based converged voice, data and video services to businesses.

So, are these efforts two different takes on the future of convergence? Not exactly. Sprint is still in recovery from its post Nextel acquisition tailspin, and the company’s wireline efforts have been an area of strength. It appears that the one-time long-distance upstart is trying to leverage that strength, while also marketing the wireline unit as an organization offering more than just basic wireline business services.

The second interesting bit of news came late last week, as The Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint is finally giving in and looking to sell the Nextel unit. New Sprint CEO Dan Hesse once said the company was committed to improving the Nextel unit and network, but subscriber leakage has continued.

By Dan O’Shea FierceTelecom

By James Niccolai

October 01, 2008 — IDG News Service —

Google’s leadership on the Web stems partly from its powerful data centers, which allow it to provide lightning-fast search results while keeping energy costs to a minimum. The company has been mostly secretive about what goes on inside these giant computing factories, but on Wednesday it offered a peek at what it has been able to achieve — on the energy side at least.

Google has published results from internal studies showing that its data centers are “the most efficient in the world,” according to a blog post from Urs Hölzle, its senior vice president of operations. While some of what it does, like designing its own servers, isn’t practical for most businesses, other tricks could be replicated by other companies, albeit for an upfront capital cost.

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By Nancy Gohring

October 01, 2008 — IDG News Service —

Enterprises can now buy a networking appliance from Cisco Systems that runs basic Windows Server 2008 functions, a product designed for use in branch offices, Cisco and Microsoft announced Wednesday.

The companies said in February that they were working on a way for enterprises to run Windows Server 2008 services locally at a branch office on Cisco’s Wide Area Application Services networking appliance. The alternative for many companies is either to use a full Windows Server at every branch, which could be overkill, or run all functionality centrally, which could result in slow performance for branch workers.

With the new product, called Windows Server on WAAS, branch offices can host services locally including Active Directory, Microsoft Print Services, Microsoft Domain Name System Server and Microsoft Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Server. That can improve performance for branch workers and reduce costs related to wide area network connectivity and branch systems management. An IT administrator can remotely manage the Windows Server functions using Microsoft System Center.

Cisco used embedded virtualization technology in its appliance to enable Windows Server 2008 to run on it.

Some companies that had early access to the product describe their experiences on a Web site set up by Microsoft and Cisco. Farm Credit Services of Mid-America had 180 Windows Servers companywide, including one in nearly every branch, said Jim Curtis, director of infrastructure. His goal with Windows Server on WAAS is to move most of the branch servers to the company’s data center to make better use of a small infrastructure support staff.

He currently runs Active Directory centrally, but once the appliance setup is complete he could move Active Directory to the branches as a read-only function, improving log-in times for workers and mitigating potential security issues, he said.

The product is one example of Cisco and Microsoft working together while they also compete in other markets, such as unified communications.

Pricing for Windows Server on WAAS starts at US$10,000, including the hardware and the software license. Other configurations with more storage are also available.

Copyright © 2008 IDG News Service. All rights reserved. IDG News Service is a trademark of International Data Group, Inc. Article From CIO.COM

Sep 30, 2008

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer still sees a “certain buoyancy” among technology and telecommunications customers worldwide, despite recent US economic woes.
“Our industry is not immune to what goes on in the global economy. And yet as I travel…given the current circumstances, people still see a certain buoyancy in the market,” Ballmer, quoted by a Reuters report, said.

“At least, for now, people are feeling, I won’t say optimistic, but better than you would be feeling if you are watching CNBC all day,” he said of the financial TV channel.

Ballmer, the leader of the world’s largest software maker, said he was speaking generally of industry demand rather than his own business. “We are one week from the end of the quarter, so I have nothing all that interesting to say,” he said

Wall Street analysts, on average, expect the Redmond, Washington-based company to generate an 8% rise in revenue to just under €1.04 billion (US$15 billion) during its fiscal first quarter ending in September, the Reuters report further said.

Article from America’s Network

Visa is developing mobile payment software for the new wireless phone powered by Google’s Android system, an Associated Press report said.

San Francisco-based Visa said Android users will be able to receive near real-time alerts about purchases via their mobile devices, Visa said. Users also will be able to use location-based mapping technology to find ATM machines and nearby stores where they can redeem special Visa offers.

The software will be broadly available to US consumers by the end of the year, starting with holders of Chase Visa cards, the Associated Press report said.

Visa’s announcement came two days after T-Mobile USA showed off the G1, the first phone harnessing Google’s ambition to make the internet easy to use on the go. The T-Mobile device is schedule to hit US stores October 22.

The nation’s largest payment network also signed a deal to give users of Nokia’s upcoming 6212 Classic-model cell phone the ability to make “contactless” payments in stores just by flashing their phone at an electronic scanner.

Similar “contactless” capabilities for Android users are still under development, Visa said.

Sep 26, 2008 Article from www.americasnetwork.com

As a person who grew up in Data Processing and Main Frames and morphed into the Network world, I have noticed how simple wording has morphed almost without notice.

Computers went from giant main frames to small servers that were screwed to a “rack mount” rail. Somehow, this has eased into one word “rackmount”. Many of you may be asking what is the big deal?

Well, you certainly did not have my english teacher! My poor english professor would be turning over in his grave if he saw the desecration of word merging. In fact if I had written a paper using the word rackmount several times, he would have failed me immediately!

So when did “space” become a “unit” and a unit a “U”? Who knows what will happen to the poor little “U” in a few years. Perhaps all the words I have known will ultimatley be reduced to those bits and bytes and I will be eating a weeks worth of food in a little white pill.

At least I have some comfort in knowing that for now, I have Rackmount Ranger at my side! (Penned by a network person who needs more sleep)

Have you ever noticed that when you need to mount or remove hardware on your rack the tools are never handy? I’ve seen many racks with extra cables and tools left on top of hardware just in case it may be needed. If this sounds familiar, you may be interested in a simple solution I have used many times. I suggest using a Rackmount Utility Drawer that can be put on any rack or cabinet. They are available from 2U and up. Putting a drawer where the techs are working has helps productivity big time. The drawer also keeps everything looking good as well. Your solution provider, Rackmount Ranger.

For those of you who use 10/32 rackmount screws, this is a great price. These screws also include washers. I know a lot of techs end up dropping screws and it is a good idea to have a nice reusable jar full of screws handy. Another nice feature is the pilot point. As far as I am concerned, this is one of the best features ever invented for a screw. I can mount hardware twice as fast with them. The regular price is 80.25 and is on sale for 68.21. The sale ends 9-24-08. Your solution provider, Rackmount Ranger.