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Mainframes and Their Rivals

Aug 12, 2025

Trivia

Mainframes and Their Rivals

Sonja Soderlund

Sonja Soderlund is an Oregon-based B2B freelance writer. Whether writing about mainframe computers, educational technology, or sustainable retail, she strives to bring clarity to complex issues. Connect with her or LinkedIn.

For decades, mainframes have stood quietly at the heart of global enterprise computing, but they haven’t been without competition. From the rise of minicomputers to the spread of UNIX systems and the open-source movement, each wave of innovation has challenged the mainframe’s role in the data center. 

Some rivals promised flexibility, others speed or cost savings — but few matched the mainframe’s staying power. This quiz explores the shifting landscape of enterprise IT, where architectures clashed, technologies evolved, and unexpected players reshaped the industry. 

How much do you know about the systems that tried to compete…and the reasons mainframes still endure? Take the quiz and find out!

1. According to the Arcati Mainframe Survey, most mainframe shops also use cloud services of some sort (AWS, Google, Azure, etc.). What percentage do not?

 
 
 
 

2. According to the Arcati Mainframe Survey, MIPS usage has grown how much in 2022?

 
 
 
 

3. Based on business performance, best-in-class organizations use nearly twice as much mainframe compute capacity than cloud. The winning mix among these top performers includes, on average, what percentage of mainframe usage?

 
 
 
 

4. Compared to their more average-performing counterparts, top business performers across industries use approximately how much more mainframe in their hybrid environment?

 
 
 
 

5. For the largest organizations, moving transactional workloads to the cloud could cost how much of an increase to total cost of ownership (TCO)?

 
 
 
 

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