We’re launching a newspaper: Systems Management News!

I’m delighted to announce a major new launch for BZ Media: Systems Management News, which will debut in April 2008.

If you’re familiar with BZ Media’s SD Times, then you’re already familiar with our flavor of management-level news and news analysis.

But where SD Times is written for software development managers, Systems Management News will be for the IT managers who oversee systems administration, data center, mail and messaging, storage, database admin, and so on.

Like SD Times, Systems Management News will be a tabloid-sized publication, available both in print (free of charge to qualified subscribers in the U.S.) and digitally (free of charge to qualified subscribers anywhere). It will also have a weekly newsletter (similar to SD Times News on Monday/Thursday), and a great Web site with breaking news.

Why print? Why not Web-only? Well, philosophically, we believe that print publications give readers a better opportunity to explore what’s happening in their industry.

Print does content and context better than a Web page (no matter how well designed it might be) or a cold, impersonal RSS feed.

• The Web is excellent for breaking news, which is why I read the NY Times on the Web.
• The Web is ideal for researching things, which is why I use Google and the MSDN, Oracle Technology Network and IBM developerWorks sites.
• Print is best for reading and understanding what’s happening in our world, which is why I read the New Yorker and the Economist — and SD Times and eWeek — in print.

As you might expect, we’re all very excited about this new publication, even though planning is still in its early stages.

Our art team, for example, is working hard on the design of Systems Management News. It’s inspired by our successes and experience with SD Times but will have a look all its own.

Similarly, our editorial management team is researching the field; over the next few months, we’ll be hiring reporters, editors and columnists to staff Systems Management News.

Our Web team has put up a “placeholder” site, at www.sysmannews.com — check it out to learn more about the newspaper. You can apply for a free subscription while you’re there.

(You can also read our press release.)