Jenny Thomas
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Large Enterprises Float Toward Hybrid Clouds
October 7, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreWhether you are part of a large enterprise or a small business, it is inconceivable to think your company is not aware of the explosion in cloud computing in recent years. Even if a cloud deployment isn’t in your organization’s immediate future, keeping an eye on the trends can help you make a better decision about going cloud should the time ever come.
The analysts at Gartner make it their business to follow what’s happening in IT, and there has been some movement in the cloud market that has caught their attention. In a recent report, Gartner says nearly half
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New Manta Training Combos Target New IBM i Hires
September 30, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreWe here in the Jungle have been among the voices who cry out for more attention for the IBM i. We echo the sentiments of many of our readers, who would like to see Big Blue put more emphasis into promoting and growing this platform that we all believe in.
There are people out there who have never let the IBM i platform fall out of focus, who have in fact dedicated their careers to it. One such person is Bill Hansen, who has been an advocate of education since he started creating the first computer-based training courses for IBM
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Age Does Not Divide Social Media Users
September 23, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreThere was a time when social media looked more like a teenage hangout and no place for proper grown adults. Times have changed and it looks like social media has conquered the final frontier: senior citizens. At least, that’s the findings of a recent report from Pew Research Center, which revealed people ages 65 and older have roughly tripled their presence on social networking sites in the last four years, from 13 percent in the spring of 2009 to 43 percent now.
We’ve been harping on social media for the last few years (just see the Related Stories section
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Stalled Budgets Stand In The Way Of IT Hiring
September 16, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreAfter years of cutbacks and doing more with less, there is no doubt that IT departments around the United States are ready to start growing again. But it seems many companies are still reluctant to start throwing money into IT as they wait and see whether the economy is truly stabilizing.
The analysts at Janco Associates have been deciphering the latest numbers in the IT slice of the job market, and although August did see a modest gain of 7,000 new IT jobs, many companies continue to wait for the green light from executive management to increase spending.
Victor Janulaitis,
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A Cloud Falls Over The U.S. Open
September 9, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreTennis fans might think of clouds as being a bad omen. Rain delays can put a quick stop to the action on the court. But clouds mean something different to those of us in computing circles, and fans of this year’s U.S. Open Championships might be surprised to learn that clouds actually had a big hand in creating a better tennis experience.
The USTA has been partnering with IBM for more than 20 years, and in that time the technology has changed a lot. Today’s tech savvy fan, whether part of the 700,000 crowded into the USTA National Tennis Center
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Manta Is Listening To Your IBM i Training Needs
August 26, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreIf you’re looking for IBM i specific training, one of the people you’ll want to talk to is Bill Hansen, president of Manta Technologies. He’s the right person to go to not just because he’s been in the training industry since the 1980s, but because he’ll listen.
Hansen has made a business of creating the training courses that people want. Just last year, he introduced a COBOL training series for programming students, which his customers had been telling him was at the top of their wish lists. Since then, he has been rolling out additional courses, and has just
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Summer Breathes A Little Life Into IT Jobs Market
August 12, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreThe U.S. is languishing in the dog days of summer, but soaring temperatures have not caused the overall jobs market to wilt. In fact, there are signs of life with the unemployment rate falling from 7.6 percent to a four-and-a-half-year low of 7.4 percent. That is still above the 5 percent or so typical of a healthy economy, by past standards, but it is good news nonetheless.
While July’s modest gain of 162,000 jobs was the smallest since March, the U.S. economy is continuing to steadily add jobs, just not fast enough to make much of a difference in the
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Working Vacations On The Rise For Americans
July 22, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreVacations are supposed to be a time to get away from it all to recharge your body and mind. But before you head out, don’t forget you won’t be the only one in need of recharging and grab all your cords and wires since all of your electronic devices will need to power up, too.
According to a new survey by TeamViewer, a provider of remote control and online meetings software, the definition of “vacation” continues to be redefined for a growing number of Americans.
In fact, 61 percent of employed Americans polled by TeamViewer say they will work
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June Brings Jobs To The IT Market
July 15, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreSummer is here, temperatures are rising, and jobs are in the air. That’s right, jobs. The analysts at Janco Associates have released their monthly report on IT job market trends, and the news is, dare I say it, encouraging.
The June numbers showed 9,900 IT jobs were added in the United States in June, finally surpassing January’s 9,800 jobs, which had been the best month for IT job creating in the country so far this year.
The numbers for IT jobs created in the United States for IT professionals in 2013 have been all over the place. January got us
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The Bad News Is Good For 2013 Worldwide IT Spending
July 8, 2013 Jenny Thomas
… Read moreSometimes the best way to deliver bad news is to try to say it so it seems like good news. That’s the approach the analysts at the information technology research and advisory company Gartner are taking with their latest projections on worldwide IT spending for 2013.
The Gartner analysts put on a brave face and released their latest estimate that worldwide IT spending will hit $3.7 trillion in 2013. Sounds great! And it is when you consider that this is a 2 percent gain over 2012, which Gartner also recently revised up from its original guesstimate to a final total