Shortly
after the Enterprise Executive Summit at Enterprise 2013, IBM held its
quarterly update on the mainframe. The two thirds of Enterprise 2013 were
devoted to the Power Systems Technical University and the System z Technical
University. Given that IBM’s major market moves are laser focused on Cloud,
(Big) Data and Security AND the continuing success and revenue contribution of
the platform – it’s no surprise that System z got lots of attention. The
mainframe, launched on April 7th, 1964, is the longest lived (50
years next spring) IT processor architecture, so don’t expect IBM’s spotlight
to shift away. IBM is well into a campaign to expand the knowledge about and
fame of today’s mainframe, System z. Their message and efforts boil down to the
following.
IBM
is out to assure that the unique capabilities and history of the mainframe are
known in IT, in education, in executive offices and by consumers of IT
services. The object is to eliminate misconceptions, strengthen the
understanding and appreciation of what is increasingly recognized as a very
cost effective solutions platform. They are undertaking a more aggressive
information campaign both inside IBM and in the general market. The campaign
includes the nearly decade old IBM Academic Initiative[1] for System z
and its Master the Mainframe[2] competition.
The competition attracted 5,200+ US and Canadian competitors, 925 from the
U.K., 1,000+ from India and more from over 549 (out of 1000+) participating
universities and colleges worldwide[3]. Participating
schools included: West Texas A&M (3 top finishers), University of Ottawa,
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Wroclaw University of
Technology, MIT and Princeton. IBM has launched a similar introductory program
for high schools, which is already showing positive results.
Program
benefits were described by the most recent competition winner, now working as a
mainframe specialist, described his path to winning the challenge to an
executive audience. A young woman, whose high school teacher introduced his
science class to the mainframe, changed her career goal from CSI Technician to
IT. Now, a college Computer Science major, she told her story (and offered her
resume) to IT executives and managers at the event.
First,
let’s be really clear that IT infrastructure matters. IBM is clear that the
enterprise is not the exclusive domain of the mainframe; other platforms
effectively operate there as well. Today’s enterprise data centers depend upon
and leverage a broad range of applications, workloads and services. Not all of
which require a mainframe solution, and IBM provides platforms to meet those
needs. However, both globally and in the US, the Big Data platform that
dominates is the mainframe. For example, some 80% of the world’s and 2/3 of US
enterprise Big Data[4]
resides on the mainframe. IBM is closing on the 11th consecutive
year-over-year of growth in both revenue and MIPs shipped.
Second,
it’s IT economics and the requirements of the workload, application or service
that should determine platform choice. The analysis includes application needs
for performance, operations, architecture, as well as business and economic
components. It includes Total Cost of Acquisition and Ownership to be complete.
Sometimes, the best choice is a mix of systems. The zEnterprise provides an
example, which integrates System z with the users’ choice of Power[5] and/or x86 platforms. Workloads and functions are distributed
across the platforms to greatly reduce operational expenses, capital expenses
and per transaction/application, etc. metric costs. IBM customers are finding
that moving the Big Data from the mainframe to a distributed server for
analysis is inefficient and wasteful. They can save money; speed processing and
effectively analyze more data (dynamic and static) to yield meaningful insights
by pairing a PureData for (Big Data) Analytics[6] system
with the System z where the data resides. IBM works with customers to determine
the most appropriate solution.
The
path an enterprise takes to reshape and redefine its customer engagement model
can take many forms. But it will certainly involve one of more transformative
technology. Whether that technology is
Big Data analytics, deploying/leveraging robust, scalable clouds, the design,
deployment or integration of mobile applications or requires the highest level
of security to avoid costs or create a trusted partnership, IBM has positioned the
System z to play a key role. EFiS EDI Finance Service AG runs Linux on z to
assure a highly secure environment for its financial customers. Nationwide
Insurance realized “enormous savings in software licensing costs” by moving
workloads from “thousands of distributed processors to a very small number of
powerful mainframe processors”. Sicoob saved 1.5M USD in electricity costs when
it moved to a System z from a distributed environment. After a somewhat
skeptical reception by analysts at its introduction, Linux on z has proven to
be a highly popular base for infrastructure consolidation and virtualization.
Mark Shackelford, Baldor Electric’s VP of Information Systems, says, “One of
the great things about System z is its ability to reduce costs. All of our
Linux environments run on IFLs, which again deliver a very considerable cost
saving.” These stories and more are available at: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/uk/z/success/index.html.
What’s new
and we recommend
With
IBM zEnterprise models starting as low as $75K (US prices in fall 2013), the
mainframe is more affordable than ever. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention
that IBM introduced new models, enhancements and capabilities for the
mainframe. These included such things as: a) new data compression acceleration,
b) high speed communication fabric, c) new Flash technology exploitation
capability, d) analytics to monitor and assure Proactive Systems Health, e)
enhancements to Hybrid Computing and new zIIP and zAAP Specialty engines.
Details can be found at this IBM website: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/.
We’ll
conclude by saying, we left the event very impressed with IBM’s strategy,
tactics and success so far. We were also impressed with the value to executives
and IT staff. We saw this in the presentations and sessions we attended as well
as in conversations on the show floor. But, perhaps more impressive were the
discussions with attendees at the event. At meals, during breaks and social
events, IT operations staff, administrators and executives were willing to
discuss their experiences and success with the mainframe and IBM’s support
staff. Their stories and off-hand comments provided anecdotal, informal
ratification of the details provided by IBM. We recommend attending one of
these events whatever platform you now use.
[2] 65,000 competitors over eight years in 33 countries
[3] Other participating countries include Poland, China,
India, nine Spanish South American countries, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakstan,
Belarus, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Taiwan
[4] About 2/3 of US Big Data is on the mainframe
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