And so it begins, Management has decided after a year of thinking that the era of the mainframe is over here. The final "I"'s are being doted, "T"'s being crossed on a monster contract to replace our main application with a Computer Off The Shelf product. I love that acronym. COST or costs more is more to the point. I have read about more failed C/S system conversions based on the idea that the mainframe is Sooo.. expensive. My current operating budget is about $250,000/year and has a current operational life of about two more years giving a respectable $300,000/year operating cost over the 6 year operational plan. Yet we are about to embark on a C/S solution that replaces the current main application at $750,000/year for 5 years. Confused, I am! The current management mandated that I hold or reduce expenses for the past 7 years he has been in office. I did that leaving the I/T department at about 5% of total budget last year. Down from about 12% when he took office. Yet here we are spending 3 times more to do what some might say is the same work. I tend to think that we are loosing substantial capability as our historical data is being left behind. Where in the mind of the business today is it justifiable to spend more and more to do less and less. I'm not saying that the mainframe hasn't seen it's day here, it really has. There is a lot more to consider than a platform. We currently run pure VM using WEBSHARE CGI's to DB2 for our main driver. usually driving 100,000 transactions or HTTP requests per day plus batch COBOL. My long term expectation was to create a platform independent application that could grow and morph without the user needing to reinvent their jobs. I felt, and still do that Web based applications are and will be the best user presentation means to that end. We currently tie in to four other government office systems seamlessly through HTML links. In virtually all cases there was no need to place requirements on the other offices for those interfaces to work. The new system will require the vendor to create linkages out of there client to a web page to emulate that capability. This is a step backwards. Looks like some time next month we will kick of what will most likely be a long year of waiting and wanting. As I see it first hand the mainframe is as dead as IBM can make it and still milk income from it. The systems we put together here on a shoestring budget, and with two people, are first rate in terms of function. The vendor, talking management in to dropping much of it because they cannot handle it is clear enough for me. Having delved into Windows programming this year just far enough to wet my feet has proven that Microsoft's data base is a third string player to DB2 and others, so performance isn't an issue. Costs are deceiving. By moving the main cost element from hardware to software/services the sales teams are flimflamming there way to customers. The problem is that those same companies can be sold out, bought out or just plain go bankrupt at any time (one actual did). We are in the business of local government. We don't/can't just walk away. I spent six years in the NAVY and you learn that there's one hand for you and the other for the ship because that's all there is. The people of our community have expectations that government will just plane function is any situation. I dare say Katrina was an example of what government can really do when the ship is sinking. IBM is a business and as such has but one goal. I here a lot about business cases on this list. There are many cases where it's just the right thing to do. VM, VSE, and VM/DB2 still linger because there are customers still willing to pay the prices IBM sets. But none of these systems are growing. IBM itself is not making any effort to market them. That my friends is the death blow. My management doesn't see a future in these system or/and IBM. IBM's biggest failing is that they forced there customers to re-evaluate there positions by removing a stead fast foundation from which to build apron. I now find my self in Catch 22. I can't leave since I make good money after 20 years on the job. The vendor takes over most of my skill set in a few months and I'm left waiting for the cut over to see my job cut as well. I could be bitter but I'm mostly disappointed that I achieved virtually all of management's requirements through the years only to be sent on my way to old to be marketable and to young to retire.
Steve Domarski 352-368-8350 Property Appraisers Office Marion County Florida USA
