Worlds most critical applications were written for the mainframe

Is it true that mainframes are not a good platform for application
development? What role is CA playing through Mainframe 2.0?

Actually, mainframes have historically been an ideal platform for
application development. That is why most of the worlds most critical
applications were written for the mainframe and continue to run on it. More
recently, IT organizations have developed a preference for distributed platforms
because of factors such as cost and flexibility. But significant enhancements
have been made to both the mainframe and mainframe development tools. As a
result, the mainframe is at least as cost-effective and flexible as any other
platformwhile offering greater scalability, reliability, security, and
energy-efficiency. This makes the mainframe the most compelling platform for
many kinds of application development and deployment.

Why do you think mainframes are making a comeback, especially as it is
still perceived to be an expensive platform to operate on?

That perception is changingespecially since IT organizations now realize
that distributed computing is heavily burdened with many hidden costs. In
addition, phenomena such as the rise of the Internet and e-commerce have made
the scalability, reliability, and security of the mainframe more appealing than
ever. As energy costs fluctuate, IT organizations are also realizing that they
are better off with a single, highly efficient system than with a large number
of smaller systems that consume energy much less efficiently.

What are the tangible and intangible benefits and savings received from a
mainframe set-up when compared to a distributed or conventional data center
set-up?

The advantages that IT organizations can from the proper use of a mainframe
in the data center are many. Firstly, mainframes offer more cost-efficient
scalability. It is much easier and economical to add capacity on a mainframe
than it is to keep adding additional servers as each server has to be
installed, monitored, patched, etc. Next, it provides greater reliability as
every aspect of a mainframe the operating system, the hardware, the power
supplies, etc. is designed for maximum reliability. With distributed systems,
you have to make a sizable investment in redundancy and custom configuration to
achieve the same uptime. The third benefit is better security.

Priya Kekre

priyak@cybermedia.co.in