Issues

New Year's resolutions

There's a role for you in our 1995 game plan.

Making a resolution can be like betting on a long shot. Often, the chances of it coming in are slim, and the downside risk is high -- sometimes painfully so. For 1995, our strategy is to reduce the risk for you when you place your technology bets.

We've been reading the tea leaves of the marketplace and our reader surveys, and we plan to emphasize these four topics in reviews: hardware (meaning servers and workstations); systems management (broadly defined); software development tools; and enterprise applications (such as Lotus Notes, e-mail, and document-management products). Our reviews and testing gurus will be stuffing even more products into the magazine, providing more in-depth information on line.

You'll like our readable mix of big-think overview (such as network-management innovations) and in-depth pragmatism (like this month's feature on several methods to connect PCs to Unix) that editor Bill Kennedy draws out of our feature writers.

And we've put together what I think is the industry's best stable of columnists: Hal Stern working behind the tactics of system administration; Harris & Randy teaching about the real world of the Unix enterprise; Chuck Musciano and Brian Fromme making it easier to bring your software tools to market; Bill Rosenblatt preaching revolution about client/server products; Ed Saadi cutting to the chase in career development; IDC giving us a peek at their latest research. Now welcome PC connectivity expert Rawn Shah, whose new column starts in February.

Our news editor Shalini Chatterjee is out talking with vendors, digging up more news, more new products, and more sources.

Role for the reader
It will be a busy year for those of us who live but to serve the information needs of you, our demanding Advanced Systems reader. We'd like you to play a role in this drama, so let's check your New Year's resolution list, shall we?

• Give the magazine a close look first thing each month.
• Fill out the FaxBack Reader Survey without fail, even if you're not interested in the topic. Remember to put your name on it and you've got a chance at winning a free computer book from market leader IDG Books.
• If you get a reader survey in the mail, please fill that out, too.
• Don't keep your light under a bushel. If you like what we're doing, don't be bashful. If you're mad, or you wish we'd cover your favorite topic, don't keep it to yourself.
• Robots, we've got robots -- e-mail robots, that is. Find 'em, use 'em: Send a blank e-mail message to robot@advanced.com for an index of information and data available free on line -- including more test results, additional news details, and expanded reviews.
• Send a blank e-mail message to info@advanced.com for information on solving subscription problems, a subscription form, our editorial calendar, or contact information for editors or sales staff. If you have access to Internet e-mail, this is convenient as all heck.

Year of decision
I believe 1995 will be a year of decision for the future of Unix as a key player in enterprise computing. Corporate computing needs the skills and experience Unix professionals have to offer. It's up to you and me to push an understanding of the value this flexible, powerful, scalable, rich environment contributes to the enterprise.

What we need is a little more ammunition. I'm looking for Unix-in-the-Enterprise success stories. Send me e-mail and tell me about it -- your fellow Unix professionals need evidence to wave under the noses of MIS doubters and PC-centric bigots. As I've said before, the road to the enterprise leads through Unix. Let's make it so in 1995.

About the author
Michael McCarthy is editor in chief of Advanced Systems. Reach him at michael.mccarthy@advanced.com.

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Last updated: 1 January 1995.