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Today, mainframe computers play a central role in the daily
operations of most of the world's largest corporations, including many Fortune
1000 companies. While other forms of computing are used extensively in business
in various capacities, the mainframe occupies a coveted place in today's
e-business environment. In banking, finance, health care, insurance, utilities,
government, and a multitude of other public and private enterprises, the
mainframe computer continues to form the foundation of modern business.
The long-term success of mainframe computers is without
precedent in the information technology (IT) field. Periodic upheavals shake
world economies and continuous -- often wrenching -- change in the Information
Age has claimed many once-compelling innovations as victims in the relentless
march of progress. As emerging technologies leap into the public eye, many are
just as suddenly rendered obsolete by some even newer advancement. Yet today,
as in every decade since the 1960s, mainframe computers and the mainframe style
of computing dominate the landscape of large-scale business computing.
Why has this one form of computing taken hold so strongly
among so many of the world's corporations? In this section, we look at the
reasons why mainframe computers continue to be the popular choice for
large-scale business computing. The mainframe owes much of its popularity and
longevity to its inherent reliability and stability, a result of continuous
technological advances since the introduction of the IBM System/360 in 1964. No
other computer architecture in existence can claim as much continuous,
evolutionary improvement, while maintaining compatibility with existing
applications.
The term mainframe has gradually moved from a physical
description of IBM's larger computers to the categorization of a style of
computing. One defining characteristic of the mainframe has been a continuing
compatibility that spans decades.
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/zoslnctr/v1r7/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.zconcepts.doc/zconcepts_42.html
The Mainframe is Unstoppable! Right here and now there is a
revolution happening in the Mainframe world. Service-orientated architecture,
business integration, and mainframe virtualization are conspiring to give the
Mainframe the biggest leg up it's had for decades. There are problems -- for
instance the aging, greying mainframe workforce, and the technical and security
difficulties in exposing legacy mainframe applications to busines services. But
the momentum is unstoppable. These are exciting times for mainframe
professionals. Read all about it at
http://www.mainframe-upgrade.com. |