Mainframe going strong after 40 years
Availability and security features give technology a second wind
The adage that life begins at 40 seems also to apply to technology, as the mainframe computer, in the guise of the IBM 360, reaches its 40th birthday next week.
The technology is currently experiencing its second wind, and the channel is increasingly involved in mainframe hardware and software support, which was not expected when the first multimillion-pound valve-driven mainframes were installed.
Bob Wilkie, reseller CSF's zSeries sales manager, said he has seen a growth in mainframe use since 2000.
"We started with very small companies, and when IBM saw we were adding value, it brought us to bigger ones. Now we deal with all but the big banks," he said.
The VAR recently dealt with insurance firm Friends Provident, which has 30 years experience of mainframes and switched from direct IBM support to CSF in 2001 when it bought an IBM Multiprize 3000 system.
"CSF gave us the same attention to detail [that you get when] buying a system 10 times the size," Simon Rowlett, senior technical services manager at Friends Provident told CRN.
The insurance firm upgraded to an IBM z990 at the end of January, assisted by CSF, and is migrating a Java application to WebSphere on a z800, bought from CSF last year.
Wilkie said the success of the mainframe is down to its availability, with security being an added benefit, as well as the arrival of Linux and Java.
Alan Mushett, managing director of reseller Sionet International, which has been reselling and supporting Non-Stop mainframe systems for five years, said: "An absolute requirement is the online accurate data that a mainframe provides.
"Users of a 24x7 technology expect us to offer the 24x7 mentality. We've got to be there for them."
Unisys, now releasing its ClearPath mainframe range, said security was the mainframe's big benefit.
Chander Khanna, Unisys's worldwide vice-president of server platform marketing, said: "From a security point of view, we have had zero damage."
Robert Wilkinson, server marketing manager at Unisys's strategic software group, said: "If you can't get insurance against a cyber catastrophe, you ought to think of a mainframe."