In this webinar, attendees will learn more about KVM as an enterprise-grade solution from industry leaders IBM, Red Hat and thought leader, Gary Chen, IDC analyst.

Choosing the right virtualization foundation is critical whether you are virtualizing for the first time or transitioning to a Cloud computing model.IBM System x enterprise servers represent the best of IBM X-Architecture technology, leveraging decades of mainframe server design to deliver an open and affordable, industry-standard server platform that can help tackle virtualizing your most demanding workloads. The combination of KVM, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, and IBM System x systems provide performance, scalability, low cost, and - most importantly - choice for both Windows and Linux operating environments.

In what it is described as the largest update to its systems portfolio this year, IBM introduced 55 new and updated server and storage technologies that can help clients gain actionable insights from data, increase IT capacity and deliver new services faster to create profitable business opportunities. The new offerings include affordable business analytics systems, automated tools for implementing security and compliance standards, and starter kits for establishing private clouds.

IBM's Watson, which bested Jeopardy!'s two most successful contestants, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, continued its winning streak during a recent exhibition game played against teams of students from Harvard Business School (HBS) and the MIT Sloan School of Management.

At the first-ever LinuxCon Europe held in Prague, Czech Republic (co-located with the Linux Kernel Summit and GStreamer Conference), the 3.1 Linux kernel was launched.

UC4, a provider of IT process automation solutions, announced it is shipping a new version of its Application Release Automation (ARA) solution, intended to provide greater visibility into the end-to-end release processes through cross functional planning, tracking and reporting. The solution is designed to automate the deployment of complex applications from development through production.

Unisys Corporation recently reported third-quarter 2011 net income from continuing operations of $78.6 million, compared with third-quarter 2010 net income from continuing operations of $21.8 million. Revenue in the third quarter of 2011 grew 6% to $1.02 billion compared with $961 million in the year-ago quarter. Foreign currency fluctuations had a positive impact on revenue in the quarter of almost 6 percentage points, the company said. "This was a strong quarter for Unisys," said Unisys chairman and CEO Ed Coleman during a Unisys webcast announcing the quarter results. "We grew our revenue and tripled EPS from continuing operations as we benefited from the foundational work we've been doing to strengthening our competitive and financial profile."

Unisys has announced additions to its family of voice-messaging solutions that enable telecommunications services providers to host a greater number of services more efficiently and give mobile subscribers new options for reaching contacts and accessing their voice messages. Anchoring the solutions is the VSE Model 412 server, the newest member of the Unisys VoiceSource Express (VSE) 400 Series of messaging and converged user services platforms. Unisys also introduced new software-based solutions that make managing voice messages simpler for subscribers using smartphones and less fully configured feature phones.

DBTA had the opportunity to host a webcast this week featuring the Tableau application for big data running on Aster Data, delivered in part by Marc Parrish, vice president for Retention and Loyalty Marketing at Barnes & Noble. This was the most heavily attended webcast in the DBTA Webcast Series and includes one of the most cogent descriptions of the big data phenomenon you are likely to hear courtesy of Stephanie McReynolds, director of Product Marketing at Aster Data, during the question-and-answer session at the end of the event.

Schooner Information Technology, Inc., which develops and markets high-availability (HA) high-performance MySQL software for mission-critical applications, has unveiled SchoonerSQL v5.1, a full build of the MySQL database and its standard InnoDB storage engine, with additional Schooner enhancements.

How confident are you in your legacy application security? Determine your risk potential and learn proactive steps you can take to protect your enterprise applications. Register now for the next webcast hosted by SHARE and presented by IBM: Did You Know that Your Legacy Applications are at Risk on Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. CST. Speakers Karl Snider and Dave Myers from the IBM Corporation will discuss how new challenges for meeting application security and compliance have emerged as criminals are increasingly targeting applications.

Teleran Technologies, a provider of business intelligence (BI) and data warehouse management software, announced Release 4.2 of its flagship software for managing BI and analytical applications and data warehouses on IBM System z.

In what it calls the largest update to its systems portfolio this year, IBM announced 55 new and updated server and storage technologies - several of which incorporate the System z platform - that can help clients gain actionable insights from data, increase IT capacity and deliver new services faster to create profitable business opportunities. The new offerings include affordable business analytics systems, automated tools for implementing security and compliance standards, and starter kits for establishing private clouds.

SUSE has released an early development snapshot of its OpenStack-powered cloud infrastructure solution. SUSE Cloud powered by OpenStack, says SUSE, is the industry's first, fully configured, OpenStack-powered appliance based on OpenStack's latest version, Diablo. It is also the first public preview of SUSE's hypervisor-agnostic, operating system neutral, open source cloud infrastructure solution.

HP has introduced new services and solutions based on HP Converged Infrastructure to enable service providers and enterprises to more quickly deliver cloud services. With the new offerings, HP is responding to the increasing pressures that business of all sizes are facing to deliver IT services on-demand, Frances Guida, manager of HP Cloud Solutions and Infrastructure, Enterprise Servers, Storage, and Networking, tells 5 Minute Briefing.

UC4, a provider of IT process automation solutions, announced it is shipping a new version of its Application Release Automation (ARA) solution, intended to provide greater visibility into the end-to-end release processes through cross functional planning, tracking and reporting. The solution is designed to automate the deployment of complex applications from development through production.

Clerity Solutions, a provider of mainframe modernization solutions, announced a statement of direction for its newly designed Windows- and .NET managed-code version of the company's UniKix Mainframe Rehosting software. It will include migrating mainframe applications to the Windows Azure cloud. Based on UniKix technology, Veryant's vCOBOL Enterprise software, and Microsoft Visual Studio, this new solution is planned to be delivered in two phases, starting in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Maintec Technologies Inc., an IT infrastructure support vendor, says it is now equipped with IBM System z9 Business Class Mainframe environment, serving entry-level to midsize capacity needs. With IBM z9 BC and latest z/OS version 1.12, Maintec says it can deliver improved performance, availability, security, efficiency, simplified administration, and enhanced service to smaller firms or larger enterprises seeking additional capacity.

Schooner Information Technology, Inc., which develops and markets high-availability (HA) high-performance MySQL software for mission-critical applications, has unveiled SchoonerSQL v5.1, a full build of the MySQL database and its standard InnoDB storage engine, with additional Schooner enhancements.

At Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco earlier this month, Oracle users groups were out in force hosting SIG meetings, providing educational information, and presenting sessions by subject matter experts. User group presidents were also onsite, outlining ambitious plans for the year ahead.

Quest International Users Group (Quest) for Oracle PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and Oracle Utilities users is laying out an ambitious roadmap for the year ahead, incorporating new in-person product-focused events directed specifically at the needs of the JD Edwards and PeopleSoft communities, as well as expanding its offering of online learning opportunities. Michael L. Whitmer, president of Quest, joined by Jonathan Vaughn, Quest's executive director, talked with 5 Minute Briefing at Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco about strategies for supporting members in 2012. There is a shift going on in IT and being technically competent is simply not enough anymore, says Whitmer. "The IT organizations that are going to be successful going forward are those that really move out of being the order-taker organization to being a true business strategy organization, in partnership with the business, and deliver IT in a way that provides business value."

Alchemy Solutions, Inc. has announced that NeoKicks, its CICS modernization tool, can now push CICS applications to Windows Azure, Microsoft's cloud environment. NeoKicks V3.1 runs on Windows servers and is the first CICS migration framework to run natively on Windows Azure without the use of virtual machines.

IBM unveiled what it calls the industry's most advanced cloud services and software designed from the ground up for enterprise clients. New IBM SmartCloud services and capabilities provide greater choice, security and portability for cloud implementations, the company says. IBM also says it plans to support about 200 million users by the end of 2012 as clients shift core applications and processes to the IBM SmartCloud.

IBM has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Platform Computing, a privately held company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Platform Computing is a provider of cluster and grid management software for distributed computing environments. The acquisition is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2011, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Red Hat, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Gluster, Inc., a provider of open source unstructured data storage solutions, for approximately $136 million in cash. With this acquisition, Red Hat says it will improve how enterprise IT manages the explosion of big data, whether on-premise or spanning into the public cloud; and expand into a critical part of enterprise infrastructure, delivering open storage solutions that protect customer investments as they approach the new era of computing.

UNICOM Systems, Inc., a provider of IBM mainframe, System i, Unix and Open Systems management solutions, has acquired the Boston-based international software company, iET Solutions, LLC from Platinum Equity, LLC. The acquisition will boost UNICOM's reach in the IT Service Management (ITSM) and software asset management market space. New solutions coming out of the acquisition will complement UNICOM's existing ITPowerPac sites.

Motorola Solutions, Inc., a provider of enterprise communication products, software and services, has announced the availability of a web-based application framework designed to enable businesses to develop and deploy web-based applications on existing Motorola Windows Embedded Handheld (formerly known as Windows Mobile) and Windows Embedded Compact (Win-CE) mobile computers, as well as Motorola's recently announced ET1 Android-based enterprise tablet. Motorola RhoElements is the first of several product releases targeted at developers within Motorola's customer base and PartnerEmpower ecosystem, the vendor says.

SmartBear Software announced two toolsets designed to provide software development and QA teams with more granular control over agile test management and release management activities, while enhancing test reuse. ALMComplete 2011 is a SaaS-based and on-premise application lifecycle management tool, and QAComplete 2011 is a QA and test management tool.