Published: May 28 2008, 02:08 PM | no comments
by Reg Harbeck

"Tron" - remember that? If you do, you're definitely old enough to be a mainframer.

Then again, pretty soon, the average mainframer may be so young they won't even remember Y2K.

And that's OK. As the first generations of mainframers pass the torch to the next generation, the important thing is that the new generation inherits something that works.

That's the beauty of the mainframe - just like the word "legacy," its underlying essence is "it works".

What does it work for? Business. Nothing more, nothing less. What a concept: a computer that isn't about technology - it's about the organizations that pay the bills.

Which is a million miles away from the popular image of mainframes as mystical devices that contain some über-intelligence capable of outthinking humanity while manifesting as a graphical simulation of an intellectual titan.

In reality, mainframes are the most practical of all machines: they make business work.

After all, as mainframers we all know that. "Mainframe" does not mean a supercomputer capable of being a cyber-controller (as depicted in "I, Robot") capable of running the world. Nor does it mean a technological marvel that can emulate human thought and facial expressions.

Much more mundanely, it is an advanced business computer that runs COBOL and Assembler (and CA Easytrieve and PL/1 and C and...) programs that "work" in terms of making the world's most important organizations function effectively in their roles of succeeding and keeping the world's economy running.

Not very intimidating, but definitely needed. And, while it's not a terrifying monster or intelligence, it's certainly a good thing.

Because there's another important thing the mainframe is not: going away.

And that's why it's time for us mainframers to get the word out to our colleagues, managers and friends, because right now it's not very well known outside the mainframe community how important, if unintimidating, this machine is.

So tell me: what can you do to get the word out about what the mainframe is and is not?

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Published: May 07 2008, 02:46 PM | no comments
by Marcel den Hartog

In an New York Times article of March 28^th, the words of Steward Alsop, who predicted that the last mainframe would be unplugged in 1996 were put in context.

The mainframe was use as one example how “old” technology proved to be a strong survivor together with Radio, railways and the most modern one, print media. All these “old” technologies were supposed to be replaced by new ones like television, cars & trucks and the Web respectively.

One of the conclusions is that, to survive, these “old” technologies all have some sort of enduring advantage that is not replaced by its “successor”. And for the mainframe, this typically was the rock-solid stability and security to run vital transactions, while at the same time it allowed companies to integrate “new technology” like the Web & SOA transactions.

The most important conclusion was that the business decisions matter most. People tend to overestimate the importance of technological innovation and underestimate the role of business judgment. “The rise and fall of technologies is mainly about business and not technological determinism”.

Too often, we allow ourselves to get overexcited about new technology, and so do our clients. As a software vendor, it is our responsibility to talk about that. With more than 30 years of experience, we need to demonstrate that we understand that it IS about the business. That is what sets CA apart as a company. We lived through the “near death experience” of the mainframe and we have seen the revival. We all understand why this happened, but we need to talk about it with our clients. Share our experience, talk business and become the advisor our clients expect us to be.

Like many, you are probably convinced that dinosaurs were wiped out long ago. The "new" climate better suited mammals, right? But smaller dino's adapted and survived and today, more than 8,000 species of reptiles still exist, compared to about 5,400 species of mammals...

Like many, some of you are still convinced that the IBM mainframe is in it's final days. But today, 90% of the Fortune 500 still runs their most important transactions on an IBM mainframe, using CA software to Manage & Secure it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/technology/23digi.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=mainframe&st=nyt&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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