I'm not sure that the statements are blatantly false. My career has been based on z/OS (a.k.a. MVS, MVS/ESA, MVS/SP, MVS/SE, OS/VS2, etc.) and System z (a.k.a. z10, z9, zSeries, s/390, s/370, etc.), so I tend to be heavily biased toward z/OS and System z. I love zMan's tag line -- "I've got a mainframe and I'm not afraid to use it"
In the distant past, companies seemed to have selected the best platform (hardware and operating system), then searched for (or wrote) applications to run on it. Now days, companies seem to select the best applications, then acquire the required platform(s) to run them. Of course, that is an over simplification, but it seems to more or less apply to a lot of companies (admittedly not the Fortune 1000 variety). I work for a large hospital that has recently selected a new Electronic Medical Records (EMR) vendor. While their decision process considered the infrastructure, the weight of all the other factors effectively ignored any platform advantages/disadvantages. They were far more concerned about whether the application best meets the needs of the doctors, nurses, clinics, etc. than whether the hardware be the best available. A former colleague brought it to my attention that many hospitals have started switching to the same EMR vendor away from mainframe based applications, and that I should have my resume at the ready. After talking to other former colleagues, I discovered that the hospital industry is not the only industry trying to move to slicker, nicer applications even if they have to switch to another platform. This implies that the software vendor is indirectly selecting the platform. While my analysis is based on antidotal evidence, I believe that the young new developers of these slicker, newer applications want to develop on a familiar platform (i.e., their school did not use a mainframe). They want to choose a platform that minimizes their development cost (again not a mainframe), yet is sufficient for a production environment. Historically, PC, blade servers, etc. simply were not robust enough to handle medium to large companies. PC/blades/etc. have become larger and clustered, etc., so that now days they can handle a large company (this does not apply to the Fortune 1000 variety, because they are beyond large). Therefore vendors seem far more willing to develop for a non-mainframe environment. IBM seems to have extended the mainframe with specialty processors like the IFL processors for zLinux support, and Ensembles for blade support as a hedge against the other platforms. I'm not saying that IBM's mainframe market is about to dry up and disappear. The Fortune 1000 size companies alone will keep the mainframe market healthy for many years to come, but I do think the other platforms are beginning to make a serious dent in the lower side of the traditional mainframe market. Don -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Ron Wells Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 8:47 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: mainframe "selling" points someone--needs to tell BBC about false statements..... From: Mike Schwab <mike.a.sch...@gmail.com> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Date: 01/25/2013 05:47 PM Subject: Re: mainframe "selling" points Sent by: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> Card reader / punch, lineprinter, reel tapes, unmounted 3330 disk pack. Things have sure progressed since then. On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 12:39 PM, Don Williams <donb...@gmail.com> wrote: > The article below does not paint a good future for the mainframe...I hope > the analysts are wrong. > > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19399368 <deleted> -- Mike A Schwab, Springfield IL USA Where do Forest Rangers go to get away from it all? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Email Disclaimer This E-mail contains confidential information belonging to the sender, which may be legally privileged information. This information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity addressed above. If you are not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of the E-mail or attached files is strictly prohibited. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
