It occurs to me that there is one aspect of the downsize mentality that has not been discussed, and that is the "500 pound gorilla" aspect ... When there is an economic crunch and management looks around for where to cut they can not help but notice the 500 pound gorilla in the room. So, notwithstanding the technical aspects and the financial aspects; notwithstanding "return on investment" and "total cost of ownership," there is that gorilla. . There is the fact that the mainframe is "unfashionable." There is the fact that the distributed server folks (for whom the presence of the mainframe is an offense to their senses) are constantly lobbying to get rid of it ... But mostly there are those pressures to save and there is that gorilla. Even though he is a friendly gorilla and a useful gorilla; still he is big and obvious and something of an embarrassment. . Ah, Grasshopper, it was not always so. In the beginning - in the sixties, a big machine was a source of pride. At the first place I worked the Maximus Leader would bring tours through the computer room. He would point out the office of the Systems Programmers and note that there was a group of employees whose soul function was to maintain and support the "big number cruncher" (as he liked to call it). And, truth be told, we were amazed ourselves at being a critical part of something that big and that important. . But those days are gone. In many shops the best hope is that the downsizing operation will prove to be much more difficult and lengthy and expensive than anticipated (always the case) and the economy will turn around before it can be completed.
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