IBM: The mainframe is back

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RE: IBM: The mainframe is back

Fear is everywhere, especially when someone doesn't know the mainframe platform. We're involved in a ridiculous plan to convert our applications to Java to run on linux boxes. We've had a lot of management changes in the last few years and the new managers don't know, don't want to know, and yes, are fearful of the mainframe - WHICH IS WHAT PROVIDES ALL OUR INCOME and runs all our business critical applications.

What's most interesting is to watch all the mainframe staff research and teach themselves whatever it is they need to know to work on the smaller boxes. No one's helping them, somehow they seem to be able to pick it up on their own. Afterall, computing is computing - the concepts don't change much. The opposite, however, is not true. While all our data resides on the mainframe, the 'small-box' staff refuse to learn anything about the mainframe - even though they'd benefit by it, in the short and long term.

The place I work always seems to be 5-7 years behind ideas and 'transformations.' While there are many articles where larger companies, who have migrated off the mainframe are now seeing its value and migrating back. We'll continue to waste millions working on code, buying more and more servers, taking up more and more floorspace and energy, hiring more and more support staff for those servers, when all could run on ONE mainframe, all the while beating ourselves senseless trying to improve the performance of the apps running on the small boxes. We could just resolve to keep everything on the mainframe, but that would make too much sense and keep costs down... and don't EVEN get me started on recoverability from a disaster or on the benefit of strong security!

Check out http://www.panasonic.com/ - this site runs on a mainframe.

And the whole "there aren't any mainframer's in the job market" - PHOOEY. Hire some staff and have your mainframe guru's mentor them - there wasn't always mainframe staff around. Hello?? Those who are sharp will become proficient within a few years, and once they've got 5-6 years experience, nothing can stop them... and regarding those new to the workforce who want everything to be point and click, well a lot of it is and what's left soon will be. If the jobs offered are Mainframe - sooner or later, those who want a paycheck will learn the mainframe.

For 'small box' programmers, you basically don't need to know that much about the mainframe. You'd use the same PC based tools that you use today to develop your application. The mainframe know-how comes in usually at the Operations side - the systems programming staff would be the ones maintaining the WebSphere's running your applications. Change control could be done by a CM group or by Operations. There are scripting languages to script the upload process for your java code, etc. Unix and Linux file systems exist on the mainframe.

Posted by: WillyWonka10   Posted on: 09/05/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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