4/15/2009: IBM Expands SOA Partner Offerings with New Products, Marketing Tools and Education Programs:
"... The programs, which will be detailed during the IMPACT 2009 conference in May, feature nine new social media tools, including Virtual Forum, a virtual trade show complete with product booths, logo advertising and scheduled chat sessions to help partners drive lead opportunities. IBM partners such as Sirius Computer Solutions have already taken advantage of this by participating with clients in a successful early demonstration of the Virtual Forum."

>> IBM Press Release

March 2009

3/26/09: New IBM Partner Charter Promises Channel Commitment: ChannelWeb article with Joe Mertens, President of Sirius, quoted: "IBM is a company that's very good at doing what they say they are going to do," agreed Joe Mertens, president of Sirius Computer Solutions, a San Antonio, Texas-based IBM partner. "I have every confidence this will be more than just marketing."

>> ChannelWeb Article

3/26/09: Sirius Chairman and CEO Inducted into the San Antonio Business Hall of Fame. Harvey Najim was announced as a 2009 Laureate on March 26, 2009.

3/25/2009: IBM partners see the light in midrange mainframe market. Article in SearchITChannel, Rick Bailer, Sirius VP System z, is quoted:
Rick Bailer, the senior vice president of sales for System z at Sirius Computer Solutions, said he sees a lot of momentum for the z10 BC, especially among customers that want to consolidate many Linux servers and workloads. "We had a strong fourth quarter, saw a lot of interest and moved a fair amount of z10 BCs, and we're seeing that continue," Bailer told SearchITChannel.com.

3/9/09: Sirius Collaborates with IBM to Become First IBM Business Partner Certified for Dynamic Infrastructure Skills: Yahoo! News
Sirius Specialty and Specialty Elite Certifications now part of IBM's Dynamic Infrastructure Program for business partners. Sirius is the first IBM Business Partner to be certified in the IBM Dynamic Infrastructure Specialty Program. Through the program, Sirius will work with IBM to help clients build a new, more dynamic infrastructure that will bring more intelligence, automation, integration, and efficiencies to the digital and physical worlds.

December 2008

12/16/08: IBM Hardware Boss Overhauls Partner Compensation, Account Engagement: CRN Article
Sirius President Joe Mertens is quoted: "What IBM is doing is providing a level of comfort and security to the business partner that those dollars will be there even if 2009 proves to be a difficult year," said Joe Mertens, the president of Sirius Computer Solutions, IBM's largest business partner at $725 million, with headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. "IBM is showing a significant commitment to the channel to help ensure business partner economic models even if next year proves to be difficult. Many of the former programs were all or nothing. This provides a level of consistency and security to the business partner. This is probably one of the biggest set of changes I have seen since the early 1990s when IBM moved from being a predominately direct sales-focused company to starting to embrace partners on a broad-based basis."

12/11/2008: Najim again honored for giving: San Antonio Express News article about Harvey Najim.
Sirius Computer Solutions Inc. Chairman and CEO Harvey Najim has earned another honor recognizing him as one of the country’s most generous philanthropists. BusinessWeek ranked Najim 49th on its annual list of “The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists” in the United States. Earlier this year, the Chronicle of Philanthropy placed him 24th on its annual “The Philanthropy 50: Americans Who Gave the Most in 2007.” Najim is the only San Antonian to make either list recently.

November 2008

11/24/08: Selling Preparedness: Drill Down Disaster Recovery: CRN article, Sirius quoted
Katrina, like 9-11 before it, produced a big uptick in interest in disaster-recovery at the corporate level, said Greg Nightingale, director of storage sales at Sirius Computer Solutions, a San Antonio-based solution provider.

"When you get into the details, they'll say, 'We're waiting for guidance from the DR committee,'" Nightingale said. "Or they'll say, 'We have a second site,' but then you find out it's a cold site, not a hot site. Then, after Katrina, things slowed down. People [have short memories]."

Customers also slow down implementation because they overestimate requirements, Nightingale said. "They'll initially say, 'Yeah, we need to be back up in two hours,'" he said. "But later, they think they want to be back up in one day."

11/24/08: Sirius Computer Solutions makes VARBusiness list: The Storage 100: Sirius at #13 in the list of storage providers

11/20/08: Customers make the move to IBM from HP, Sun and EMC: IBM release picked up in several outlets, Sirius quoted
"Clients continue to seek out Sirius and IBM for solutions to address their technology requirements and facilitate growth in the current business environment. Technology migrations require a holistic approach, carefully selected technologies, and knowledgeable experts. And because of our IBM certified and seasoned teams of sales and technical professionals, we're uniquely positioned to help our clients select the right IBM technology solution for their needs," said Joe Mertens, president of IBM Premier Business Partner Sirius Computer Solutions.

October 2008

10/21/08: IBM Launches Next-Generation Mainframe for Midsize Customers: IBM Press Release, Sirius client highlighted
For more than 40 years, Utah-based DHI Computing Service has been using IBM System z technology as the central means to process billions of electronic data records. With the guidance of IBM Business Partner Sirius Computer Solutions, who has been helping DHI for 10 years, DHI is now currently using the IBM System z10 business class mainframe running the z/VSE operating system and homegrown applications ranging from telecommunications to database technology.

"The IBM mainframe has been part of the DHI family for more than 40 years and we can't think of a more stable, faster technology platform anywhere in the world today," said Dirk Baum, CTO, DHI Computing Service, Inc. "When we looked at the new z10 Business Class mainframe, the processor speed was key for us -- we're getting all the enterprise class features scaled to a more attractive price point for our specific business. Scalability and speed combined with a proven technology platform -- that's the z10 Business Class and its perfect for our business needs."

10/10/08: Strong IBM results can't rally Wall Street: CRN Article, Joe Mertens, Sirius President is quoted: Joe Mertens, president of Sirius Computer Solutions, a San Antonio, Texas-based IBM solution provider, was happy to hear that IBM's results mirror his business, which is also doing well. "Certainly, when 90 percent of your business comes from one manufacturer, you want to see that manufacturer do well," Mertens said. "Our third quarter was very strong. We saw a volume increase, especially in the IBM storage area. Our first half was slower than we originally anticipated, but the third quarter lit on fire. We hope the fourth quarter will continue that trend. But it's hard to say with everything going on in the financial market."

September 2008

9/15/2008: IBM Looks to Scale with Latest Storage Move, Article in CRN, Greg Nightingale is quoted

August 2008

July 2008

July, 2008: IT Governance in an IBM Lotus Software Environment: Webcast on Demand sponsored by Sherpa Software, Sirius Senior Solutions Specialist presenting
July 22, 2008: Donated IBM Computer Servers to Cut Kilowatts: Article about IBM and Sirius donation (IBM BladeCenter and implementation services) to UT Dallas.

June 2008

6/12/2008: IBM Announces Net-Generation Storage Virtualization Software: Article with Greg Nightingale, Director of Storage at Sirius, quoted

May 2008

5/15/2008: JDA Software's FOCUS 2008 to Deliver 'New View, One View, Your View' on Supply Chain Management and Merchandising, Sirius is mentioned as a sponsor

April 2008

4/4/2008: IBM Announces 2008 Beacon Award Winners, Winning Firms to Be Honored at IBM Business Partnership Leadership Conference

March 2008

3/27/2008: IBM Expands SVI Initiative, Sirius mentioned

February 2008

2/18/2008: Joe Mertens Is Getting Sirius, VARBusiness interview

2/15/2008: JDA Teams Up with IBM Partner Sirius

2/13/2008: JDA Software Enters Strategic Alliance with Sirius Computer Solutions, articles online in several outlets about strategic partnership.

2/11/2008: The 2007 Slate 60: The Largest American Charitable Contributions of the Year. » Article on Slate about the Harvey E. Najim Family Foundation. » List of the 60

January 2008

1/15/2008: San Antonio businessnam Najim honored as philanthropist: article in Express News

1/14/2008: The Chronicle of Philanthropy: America's Top Donors: Top 50 Americans Who Gave the Most in 2007, Najim at #24

1/14/2008: Channel at the Center of Virtualization Wave: CRN article, Sirius quoted

1/14/2008: It Just Dawned On Me Musings For A New Year: CMP article, Sirius mentioned

01/11/2008: Channel At The Center Of Virtualization Wave: CRN article, Sirius quoted on virtualization trends

1/11/2008: Harvey Najim at Sirius gives up president title: article at mysanantonio.com

Virtualization's Dream Team: CRN article Sirius quoted

1/10/2008: Sirius Computer President Steps Aside: CRN article about Harvey Najim, Joe Mertens

December 2007

November 2007

11/19/2007: IBM Design Breakthroughs Push Boundaries of Blade Servers, Sirius customer Tetra Technologies quoted

October 2007

10/29/2007: Virtual server environments offer unexpected security and storage services opportunities, CRN article, Sirius' Chris Mierzwa quoted

10/24/2007: HCYR gets money to build middle school, Najim foundation activity

10/01/2007: State of the System i: What's Going On in the Market?, article in IT Jungle, Sirius' Joe Mertens quoted

September 2007

9/18/2007: NetApp Helps Customers Reduce Data Center Power Consumption through Efficient Data Management, article in The DATACENTER Journal, Sirius is the solution provider for customer AISO.net

9/17/2007: Sirius Expands Northeast Presence with SCS Buy, article by Timothy Prickett Morgan in Computerwire

9/17/2007: Strategic Computer Solutions sold to Texas firm, article in The Central New York Business Journal about SCS acquisition

9/15/2007: Symantec buys cool off, channel consolidation heats up, Sirius mentioned in this SearchITChannel article

9/10/2007: NetApp Brings Enterprise-Class Agility to the Midsize Enterprise and Leapfrogs Competition in Siimplicity, Chris Mierzwa, Sirius vice preisdent of Product Marketing and Alliances, is quoted about the new FAS2000 products

9/4/2007: Sirius Computer Solutions Snaps Up SCS, CMP article about the acquisition with Joe Mertens quoted

August 2007

8/29/2007: Subprime Credit Woes Stall Channel Mergers, CMP article with Joe Mertens quoted

8/6/2007: TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: Encourage leadership 'from below', San Antonio Express-News article about Harvey Najim and the Najim Family Foundation (article archived)

July 2007

7/24/2007: IBM Enhances Flagship Integrated Operating System, Stan Staszak, Sirius Product Mgr for System i and System x, is quoted

7/5/2007: When Private Equity Calls, VARBusiness article, Harvey Najim and Joe Mertens featured

7/5/2007: What Private Equity Wants From a VAR, CRN Article, Sirius Computer Solutions mentioned

June 2007

6/26/2007: Around Town: Online basketball auction ... Article in San Antonio Express News with mention of Harvey Najim

6/26/2007: Don't Overlook Hardware-Based High Availability Alternatives: IT Jungle article about customer using IBM HA options for System i HA

6/25/2007: 2007 Industry Hall of Fame: Roy Vallee, Avnet, CRN article, Sirius CEO Harvey Najim quoted

6/25/2007: The Private Equity Wave: Infusion of Investment Capital May Fuel Channel Growth, Consolidation, VARBusiness article, Sirius mentioned

6/21/2007: Vision Solutions Acquires HA Rival Lakeview Technology (Sirius is mentioned)

6/18/2007: IBM Data Center Technology Helps Solar-Powered Web Hosting Firm AISO.Net Build on Its 'Green' Commitment to Customers (IBM press release picked up by Market Wire/MSN Money)

6/15/2007: IBM Servers Power "Media Capital of the World" (Sirius mentioned; server consolidation provided by Sirius to the City of Burbank)

6/11/2007: NetApp Salutes Customer Phil Nail, Winner of InfoWorld 2007 CTO 25 Award, Sirius involved in providing the solution to AISO.net

6/6/2007: Private Equity Good For The Channel, focused on Sirius and other channel activities.

6/1/2007: Sirius Builds Out Biz with DyComp Acquisition, IT Jungle article

May 2007

5/30/2007: MQSoftware Sets Agenda for Business Alignment Executive Forums, Sirius partners with MQSoftware and is mentioned

5/14/2007: Children's Foundation Blossoms from Sirius Computer Solutions, article in IT Jungle about the Harvey E. Najim Foundation

5/10/2007: IBM Global Services Hopes New Rules Ease Channel Conflict: CRN Article quoting Joe Mertens, Executive VP at Sirius

5/7/2007: $75 Million Foundation Benefits Kids (San Antonio Express News article on the Harvey E. Najim Family Foundation)

5/3/2007: How To Build a Green Data Center (AISO.net interview with IT Jungle, Sirius mentioned)

5/1/2007: Sirius Computer Solutions Acquires DyComp, Inc.

5/1/2007: Sirius Acquires IBM VAR DyComp

April 2007

4/26/2007: Being Green Is Within Your Power (Sirius' IBM ParnerWorld Beacon Award is mentioned)

4/26/2007: Discussion to focus on job market (Sirius participates in a roundtable discussion at the Texas A&M campus)

4/6/2007: Sirius Helps Eco-Friendly Web Hosting Company Meet Challenges

4/3/2007: VARs Catch the Eyes of Investors (Sirius mentioned)

4/2/2007: IBM Announces 2007 PartnerWorld Beacon Awards Winners Recognizing Market-Proven Innovation and Collaboration by Business Partners (Sirius mentioned)

March 2007

3/27/2007: IBM and 3Com Unveil New Collaboration Solution for System i (Sirius mentioned)

3/26/2007: IBM, 3Com to Deliver First Integrated, Single Platform for Converged IP Telephony, Business and Collaboration Applications (IBM press release picked up by Market Wire; Sirius mentioned)

3/22/2007: Sirius Computer Solutions and Network Appliance Help Leading Mapping Company (Sirius quoted)

3/21/2007: Cooling the Data Center: Greg Nightingale's podcast interview with Channel Insider (also available in eWeek and CIO Insight).

3/19/2007: NetApp Helps Customers Reduce Data Center Power Consumption Through Efficient Data Management: AISO.Net Expects 80% Decrease in Energy Usage with New Infrastructure Configuration; NetApp IT Achieves 60% Storage Utilization While Saving $60,000 a Year in Electricity Costs. AISO.net is a Sirius customer, and the solution was designed and implemented by Sirius.

3/5/2007: Coremetrics Reaches 1,000 Customer Milestone: Sirius resells Coremetrics Web analytics and precision marketing solutions.

February 2007

20 February 2007: Avnet Names New Head of IBM Business Unit, Joe Mertens quoted

January 2007

January 2007: Harvey Najim one of twelve executives profiled in IBM Systems Magazine TechVISION 2007

11 January 2007: Linux battle has little impact on the channel, Sirius quoted

December 2006

21 December 2006: Thoma Cressey moves seen as boon for IBM, Sirius mentioned

20 December 2006: Partner turning back to mainframe solutions, Sirius quoted

19 December 2006: IBM and Business Partners Realize Significant Growth on the Mainframe and Linux, IBM Press Release, Sirius quoted and mentioned

19 December 2006: Thoma Cressey Invests Over $100 Million in Companies Engaged with IBM Small and Medium Business Platform, IBM Press Release, Sirius mentioned

5 December 2006: Sirius CEO Najim Makes Good on His Community Commitment, VARBusiness article

4 December 2006: Acquiring Minds -- Private Equity Funding Driving VAR Consolidation, Sirius and Joe Mertens mentioned in CRN article

November 2006

14 November 2006: IBM VAR Sirius Lands Equity Funding, CRN article, also published on ChannelWEB.com

13 November 2006: Sirius Gets Equity Investment from Thoma Cressey, IT Jungle article

1 November 2006: What's GNU on the System i? Article on System iNetwork

October 2006

24 October 2006: Sirius Computer Solutions Helps AISO.Net Become More Eco-friendly

5 October 2006: IBM Channel Chief Conn Atkins Retires, ChannelWEB article, Harvey Najim quoted

September 2006

5 September 2006: Topio, Sirius Computer Solutions Join Forces With Storage Replication Solutions

August 2006

25 August 2006: San Antonio Speedway part of Fast Track Awards Ceremony, Sirius featured

11 August 2006: Offering One-Stop Solution Shopping for Customers, CRN article about Rich Levin, Sirius Account Executive, and one of his customers, The Waterbury Companies

July 2006

20 July 2006: Battle of the Blades, VARBusiness Article with mention of Group Dekko and Sirius

July 2006 Edition of Manufacturer Magazine: Scott's Liquid Gold (Sirius customer) article

6 July 2006: VARBusiness 500 Lifetime Achievement Award, Harvey Najim

6 July 2006: When '500' Speaks, Listen, VARBusiness Article by Robert DeMarzo

6 July 2006: What's Eating at VARs? VARBusiness Article by Michele Pepe

June 2006

20 June 2006: Four Hundred Stuff Article about VARBusiness Award Winners (Najim Award mentioned)

13 June 2006: Sirius President and CEO, Harvey Najim awarded with VARBusiness Lifetime Achievement Award

13 June 2006: Sirius Ranks #78 in 2006 VARBusiness 500

13 June 2006: Roundup: Hot topics from four VARBusiness 500 roundtables (Harvey Najim participant)

12 June 2006: Sirius Ranks #82 in 2006 GovernmentVAR Top 100

12 June 2006: Article about VARBusiness Government Top 100 (PJ Byrd is quoted in the article)

April 2006

25 April 2006: Fox Broadcasting Expands Digital Archive System with IBM (IBM: Sirius customer, Sirius mentioned in release)

19 April 2006: IBM's 1Q Server Sales Take a Hit (CRN: Sirius Executive VP, Joe Mertens quoted on exceptional 1Q)

19 April 2006: HP, IBM Tout Blade Server Advancements (InformationWeek: Sirius mentioned as new Blade.org member, one of several articles on subject)

17 April 2006: Blade.org announces 20 new members (BusinessWire: Sirius joins Blade.org)

15 April 2006: IBM, Cisco Champions of Champs (CRN: Sirius CEO and President, Harvey Najim quoted)

March 2006

28 March 2006: Partner Shows: Does It Pay To Attend? (VARBusiness: Sirius Corporate Communications Lead Susan Griffin quoted)

20 March 2006: IBM Says Its Partner Initiatives Paying Off (CRN TechBuilder: Sirius Executive VP Joe Mertens quoted)

13 March 2006: IBM's New Mantra 'Innovation That Matters' (CRN: Sirius Executive VP, Joe Mertens, quoted)

10 March 2006: IBM Global Services Partnering Efforts Draw Mixed Reviews (CRN: Sirius Executive VP Joe Mertens quoted)

January 2006

24 January 2006: IBM partnerWorld Beacon Awards 2006 Recognizes Market-Proven Innovation by Business Partners (marketWIRE: Sirius i sa recipient of several)

20 January 2006: VarBusiness Evolves (VARBusiness, Sirius CEO and President joins VARBusiness editorial adviser board)