Why The Mainframe Will Never Die

There are lots of signs that IBM’s mainframe business remains strong. We had our fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit MIPS (architecture) growth on mainframe servers. According to IDC, IBM System z market share has nearly doubled, from 17 percent to 32 this decade. Over that same period, HP has remained flat while Sun has lost share. The current IBM z10 mainframes are the most sophisticated servers ever developed, more than $1.5 billion (£985 million) in investment, five years of development and a global team of more than 5,000 technical professionals in IBM locations around the world. And, in fact, the z10, announced in October, has seen our best adoption following a launch ever.

Where are the growth opportunities for System z?
We’re particularly encouraged by our strong performance in the world’s emerging markets, which as I mentioned grew 37 percent in the first quarter. For example, IBM sold its first System z to a commercial bank in India, at Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) Bank; worth $10 million (£6.5 million), over seven years.

We see banks and other financial services companies as a particularly prime area where System z delivers great value. Financial services companies are facing increasing business pressures; managing risk, governance and compliance issues, being prepared for cyber attacks and managing cross-border transactions.

We’re addressing the needs of other industries, too. Government agencies will face unprecedented demands for service and responsiveness, not to mention the crucial importance of securely protecting information.

We also believe that the current economic challenges are aligned perfectly with the benefits that can be delivered by System z. Tough economic times also tend to represent periods of discontinuity that savvy businesses can exploit to their future advantage. It’s an opportunity to change the game. System z is uniquely positioned to help customers address their immediate cost issues now, but at the same time provide an infrastructure that will position them to grow. As I mentioned, the winners in the future will be those who can use information most smartly, react most quickly and do so in a fashion that is the most reliable and cost effective. The capabilities of System z are centered around these needs today, and will build upon it even further as heterogeneous processing and management environments are integrated in the future.

What has open-source software meant for the mainframe? Do you even play there?
There is a lot of open-source software already available for the z operating system (z/OS). For example, the IBM Ported Tools for z/OS is a non-priced program that delivers tools and applications for the z/OS platform. These applications have been modified to operate within the z/OS environment. The URL is http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/unix/ported/.

The mainframe is a hotbed for business applications, with more than 5,000 unique applications available on the System z platform. Nearly 2,500 of these unique applications are Linux-based.