There is a story that must be told since it uncovers an injustice visited upon a piece of information technology (IT) equipment called a mainframe computer. These, like many such situations displaying bigotry and ignorance, are put forward by people who do not...
Just a few months ago, we passed a mainframe anniversary, of sorts. Sometime in March 1996, the IBM mainframe was supposed to be finished in the world of computing. Its end was pronounced– or rather predicted – and a precise date was given. Stewart Alsop, a head...
Part 3: The pitfalls of MIPS This is the third in a series of blogs about how to follow up on your mainframe outsourcer. The first blog was about why it is important to follow up. The second blog introduced the two metrics that are generally used...
Many enterprises that rely on IBM mainframes were caught out when the pandemic hit as they were not set up to enable large numbers of staff to access applications remotely. However, the enforced switch to home working has provided the much-needed impetus to evaluate...
To many, z/OS is a legacy operating system where ‘old school’ technologies like CICS, COBOL and batch reign. Java, not so much. But tools and platforms usually found on Linux and Windows servers are now, not only present on z/OS, but mainstream. An example of this is...
A data breach is every company's waking nightmare. What is the cost of a data breach for your company?Ponemon Institute and IBM Security released the 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report. Interviews were conducted with more than 3,200 professionals from 524 companies...
Understanding how an Input Message sent by an IMS Connect Client to IMS Connect works when OTMA NAKs the Input Message IMS Connect (ICON) is the TCP/IP gateway for IMS. So, besides running the traditional IMS transactions on z/OS, an IMS programmer/database...
In Application Architecture: an Evolutionary View I wrote of the way that computers have evolved from the mainframe era of the 1970’s to today’s interconnected world, where mainframes and other servers communicate with PC’s and mobile devices to provide services that...
The footprint of IT has reached the same levels today as the global CO2 emissions of global air traffic. Furthermore, various studies show that in the coming years the digital revolution entails the energy consumption produced from IT being multiplied with an increase...
The general view that mainframers have of senior financial staff in an organization is that they are people who want to stop anything new happening. They are the people who want mainframers – who are happiest when keeping their mainframe working optimally and keeping...
