Blackbox, SWaP, and the z10

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Over a barrel

is where IBM has you if you still use mainframes. Not only is the hardware very expensive, but the labor is too. Universities stopped their mainframes ages ago, so no CS student today has any idea what a mainframe is. This means that you will find only old-timers and (of course) H1Bs that can run your mainframe (or IBM consultants at $375/hr). Like a Methuselah - the mainframe is still alive, but all of its friends are long since dead.

Just who would be stupid enough to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a University education - so he could manage a technology that was cutting edge long before he was born? Technology is advancing too fast for most people to keep up, so why would you hobble yourself?

IBM has taken advantage of the fact that 1. Hardware costs are small compared to software costs and 2. Lazy people don't want to change. Why budget $20 million to develop a replacement for your mainframe-based tech - when a nice new mainframe runs your old stuff - for less money. You also avoid the time involved, the 80% project failure rate and the inevitable cost overruns associated with new IT projects. Except for my first point about support costs, this new mainframe strategy seems quite compelling . . .

Posted by: Roger Ramjet   Posted on: 11/06/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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