Mainframe Cost: Migration Motive
March 16, 2010
You are babysitting a mainframe. The iPod listening 20 somethings don’t want to dig into the legacy code. You are reluctant to involve the IBM-savvy specialists and their new BMW work wagons. And for good reason. Navigate to “An Expert View on Mainframe Migration” at http://www.computing.co.uk/. The article provides a useful business case for dumping big iron. The source for the write up is DFA president Francis Feldman. He provides some useful factoids, including this gem:
“We expected to see a drop of between 30 and 70 per cent,” he said.
Particularly interesting was the list of the nine steps or checkpoints for migrating an application from the legacy system to a newer, much cheaper modern platform. I don’t want to recycle is list, but I can highlight three items and urge you to visit Computing UK for the full write up.
The three highlights of the write up I noted were:
First, the rework did require recoding and tweaking. The method involved recompiling into code that conformed to the ANSI standard.
Second, the legacy system and the new system were operated in parallel for a period of time. How many organizations bother with this step today?
Finally, the items on the checklist provide a solid anchoring in what one should consider. The first item is the key one in my opinion: “Asset catalogue and consistency assessment.”
I think this article is a download and save candidate. One question, “How much cheaper would a cloud solution be?” My view is that on premises installations are tomorrow’s mainframes. Just my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, March 16, 2010
A freebie. No one paid me to write about mainframes. Because the subject is a mainframe, I will report non payment to the IRS.
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