I believe that I have identified an interesting phenomenon in the ongoing mainframe vs distributed servers debate. I call this the 'small server mob advantage.' . We all know that the ratio of technical people to end users is much higher with the smaller servers. I consider the small servers to be a primary driver of IT employment. At first glance it might seem that the lower ratio for mainframe support would put the mainframe at an advantage in the eyes of management ... But, as it turns out, what happens is that, over the course of time, the number of people in small server support greatly exceeds the number of people in mainframe support and they form a group that actively lobbies to move everything off of the mainframe. This is the 'small server mob advantage.' . Once a conversion effort is finished and it becomes apparent that people costs now far exceed the mainframe hardware and software costs, the deed is done. To go back would require that management admit an error ... So I would advise that the mainframe folks console themselves with the fact that their small server brothers and sisters are able to find gainful employment.
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