Are Mainframe Computers Still Relevant in the 21st Century?
Today, many companies rely upon distributed processing, the cloud, and even mobile devices. Are mainframe computers still a reasonable alternative for business? Actually, many businesses still rely upon a mainframe as the heart of their IT infrastructure. It’s certainly possible to make a case that large central computers may offer tested security and processing powers. Certainly, a lot of businesses made a huge investment in their mainframe hardware and software in the past, and they are not eager to discard it in favor of the latest tech.
In a recent conference for mainframe users, the discussion certainly did not center around ways to replace large, central computers. It did focus on ways to incorporate more modern technology into this more traditional IT solution.
Incorporating Modern Technology into Mainframe Processing
In early August, mainframe users and vendors attended the SHARE Mainframe Conference. SHARE has been around since the 1950s and bills itself as the nation’s oldest IT user group. In fact, a lot of the companies that were represented there had been sending people nearly since the organization was founded. Of course, both vendors and users were well aware of new technology, but many also seemed to embrace a very traditional way of maintaining their IT departments.
For example, Oracle had people there to pitch, of all things, tape storage tech. Apparently, people or machines are still hanging tape in this age of flash drives and cloud storage. Certainly, companies have made many advances in the manufacture and use of tape drives since the old days, but many IT people would probably be surprised to see this.
On the other end of the spectrum, multiple vendors offered LINUX-based operating systems for mainframe computers. Other vendors offered virtualization software that used elements of cloud technology in these large computers. Still, the main theme of this conference did not center upon disrupting mainframe user’s IT environments. It centered more upon taking a conservative approach to protecting the the investment in technology that these companies had made. To be fair, these users were part of SHARE because this kind of IT infrastructure had served them very well for a very long time.
We Can Help Run Your Mainframe Computers Better
At iTech, we pride ourselves on keeping up with the latest tech trends. At the same time, we also help preserve our client’s investment in older and more stable technology. Contact us right away to tell us what you need.