The Future of Mainframe
Before anything, i would like to quote the famous comments from technology writer Stewart Alsop – “I predict that the last mainframe will be unplugged on 15 March 1996.” And in 2002, he admitted that he was wrong.
So whoever think that mainframe is going to meet Dinosaurs fate, they should think again.
I have of strong belief that there are lot good reasons like Reliability, Performance and Security which won’t let mainframe get extinct. Just for the fact, there are no virus threats EVER encountered in a mainframe.
Moreover, a lot real world business data of Big Business Houses runs through mainframe. This data is being used in applications which have been developed and refined over decades with lot of money and effort invested. These application and code is running condition and is meeting the business needs.
As of now, there are lots of migration projects going on to transfer platform from Mainframe to open systems but it is going to take number of years to migrate the code.
This migration involves a heavy cost of applications transfer & its testing and demands a new infrastructure development to support the same business objective which is being achieved by existing system without any hassle! Moreover, whatever the mainframe does, it does very well.
Modern applications like SAP which comes with high customer handling capacity and reliability are definitely a competitor to mainframe but I am pretty sure mainframe is going nowhere and it will rule the world for at least next 80 years.
Moreover there are some latest developments also in Mainframe series computer. The
Latest mainframe computers developed by IBM referred as zSeries computers are reliable, fast and suitable for more complex and sophisticated field like Medical and defense. As a recent fact, the upcoming technologies like Cloud computing are also looking towards mainframe for its enhancement and development to get robust base.