Though I was only at the ARC Forum for the first day and was tied up in meetings for most of the day it was easy to see the energy level was much higher than last year. Not only were more people in attendance but there were more exhibitors in the hall as well. There was also evidence of the winter storms here and there as well with some of the exhibitors missing parts for their booth – stranded somewhere in the Midwest.

Last post of the day -- for your late evening reading -- don't miss these stories on

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From ARC's Larry O'Brien:

ARC Advisory Group guru, Bob Mick, has posted this piece on the relationship between testing and cybersecurity.

Yes, Virginia, there is life after Emerson Exchange. ARC Advisory Group is ramping up for a three-fer come next February--in Orlando. (Where else?)

Here's the news release:

ARC 2010 Orlando Forum to Co-Locate Multiple Programs in a Common Venue

This just in from our friends at ARC. While Wurldtech may be getting its ducks in a row to lead on cybersecurity for the smart grid, that could be an overnight success several years in the making.

According to ARC, in a release dated today:

ARC sent out a release this morning on the prospects for the automation services market. They look pretty good:

There seems to be some confusion about what the rules are that Larry O'Brien and I are playing under for the Control/ARC Top Fifty Automation Companies article we co-author every December.

So, I thought we'd go over the groundrules once more, for effect:

This popped up in a newsletter from ARC. Seems the other big gun in ERP, Oracle, has discovered there's gold in them there manufacturing hills--at least in Asia. Below are excerpts from the report

Oracle's Highlights Its Application Strategy for Manufacturing Industries in Asia