More Mainframe Woes; IBM STAIRS Where Are You?
February 1, 2010
“The Great Mainframe Shakeout”, which appeared in Ecommerce Times, had some harsh words for mainframes. For example: “IT budget planners are using the strident economic environment to force a harder look at alternatives to inflexible and hard-to-manage legacy systems, especially as enterprises seek to cut their total and long-term IT operations spending.” The write up seems to run counter to the PR that IBM has been generating about the importance of mainframes, their economic payoff, and their uptake in Namibia. The article includes a link to a podcast. Some gems from this article in my opinion were:
- An analyst recently looked me in the face and said, “People want to get off the mainframe. They understand now that the costs associated with it are just not supportable and are not necessary.”
- By not needing to touch the mainframe code or the business rules, we were able to complete this project in a period of six months, from beginning to end. The user tells us that they are saving over $1 million today in avoiding the large costs associated with mainframe software, as well as maintenance and depreciation on the mainframe environment. …
- Just within the past few months, there was a survey by AFCOM, a group that represents data-center workers. It indicated that, over the next two years, 46 percent of the mainframe users said that they’re considering replacing one or more of their mainframes.
These quotes come from different participants in the podcast, so listen to the audio before recycling their message.
Not a peep about the STAIRS and Search Master users? A platform switch means a new system will be needed. I received a New Year’s message from Exalead yesterday. That email explained that Exalead could handle industrial strength applications. Maybe Exalead can help those abandoning the mainframe for new, more economical methods? Why not walk the STAIRS to CloudView?
Stephen E Arnold, February 2, 1010
No one paid me to write about mainframes. I love mainframes. That’s why I will report not getting paid to the Pentagon, an outfit with some big iron according to the DC rumor mill.
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