Mainframers,

I don't know about you, but I often notice a sort of "OMG, WHAT is he doing?" when I tell people I "do" Mainframe... It's almost like braincells suddenly melt when I tell people what I do.. "A Mainframe?!? You mean those big computers most companies used to have 20 years ago?". And sometimes, when I am really motivated, I explain to them that without the mainframe, life would not be the same.... I often feel a "disconnect"...

So when we planned to do a Mainframe Survey in EMEA, I wanted to know if the mainframers we contacted felt they were "connected" with the rest of the company. And the results... well... they speak for themselves...

I would just like to mention a few of the surprising results for you. Although.. Not really surprising...

On average, the respondents in EMEA told us that 55% of their Critical Data was administered by the mainframe. Of the companies who told us they were "connected" (ie, the mainframe was an integral part of the IT Infrastructure and the the architectural thinking process) a whopping 64% of the mission critical apps was still running on the goold old mainframe...

But there is more. The latter are only spending 24% of their IT budget on their Mainframe... Surprised???

The point is that the companies where they felt that the mainframe and it's staff was "connected", the utilization of the mainframe was better, the users liked the mainframe better for it's reliability and security and hardly any one of them was thinking about outsourcing.

So what does this teach us?!?! COMMUNICATION!!! We need to open up. Explain newbees in our company what the mainframe already does and could do more!!! "Work" on the architects and make them accept the fact that the mainframe is here to stay. Demonstrate the undestructable mainframe and the way we have implemented Change Management decades ago. Believe me, most of them will be stunned.....

There is a lesson here. Most of the "connected" Mainframes are in the Nordics (Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden). I have been there often, and it's noticable. Not only do mainframe people know a lot about distributed systems, they also communicate very open with their "Distri Peers".. They share tables (real tables, not the Database ones) in the restaurant and knowledge during staff meetings. They "blame" a lot less compared to other companies I visit and they are open and receptive to change. But above all, they are proud of their mainframe. And they are not afraid to show it...

Look for young IT people next time you go to the cantine/restaurant. And get "connected".....

 Happy mainframing..

 Brammie.....