High obsolescence is a hallmark of information technology. By industry standards, 18 months, at best, is the longevity of a product or technology. But the IT space?s longest survivor, one that is there from the beginning, is the most unlikeliest of them all, the mainframe.
Its epitaph was written long ago. Universities rusticated mainframe from their curriculum decades back, thinking that skinny personal computers will drive out the bulky box that needs almost a whole room and all the paraphernalia, not to speak of a dedicated team of eternally confounded operators, to run it. But now, the storied PCs are on their way out, but the ?big iron? is firmly stay put, though a lot slimmer and trimmer.
Mainframe survived the quick churn because companies like CA Technologies, not to forget IBM, have done a Bill Gates on the mean machine, working hard to keep it simple and relevant to changing technologies and customer preferences. Over the years, CA has developed more than 200 software to eventually make mainframe a just another big server in the network. All told, the fact remains that most transactions flow through some apps servers and end up on the mainframe, and the machine is still a core system for institutions.
But the mainframe is constantly under threat from the external environment. In recent years, CA has identified two critical challenges to mainframe?s existence. Post-Lehman global economic meltdown saw cost becoming a key concern for companies worldwide. A bigger danger was that all the old world mainframe experts have either retired or are nearing it. But CA devised smart and inspiring strategies to counter what portended an end-of-the-road situation.
As CA Technologies? David Browne, vice-president?mainframe, explained at a recent seminar in Singapore, the best way way to counter cost concerns is to maximise value for the customer. So, CA started a Mainframe Value Programme (MVP). Soon, it began sending its technical staff to the customers? site to understand their needs and counsel them on the best practices around the world, free of charge. This was followed up with ?software rationalisation? under which all the software needs of a customer were analysed. It found that dealing with various software vendors inconvenienced the customer and raised his IT costs. As a solution, CA started providing most software?through tie-up with various vendors?with discounts that increases with each purchase.
Simultaneously, CA worked to increase the supply of ?critical skill?. It made a start with hiring 25 students from a Czech Republic university. ?They were the first new mainframe development graduates having an IT degree. CA then developed an eight-week course to teach them about the mainframe platform?. Thanks to CA?s Mainframe Academy, today, ?at the CA development centre, the eldest programmer is 27 years,? said a beaming Browne.
?Sustaining critical skill? also required simplifying mainframe management. So the company developed a product, CA Mainframe Software Manager, which helps customers install and update their software on mainframe. With MSM, a software can be stacked up in 51 minutes while it earlier took six-and-a-half hours even for CA experts. This made the mainframe almost like Windows, where customers are allowed to update and install software. MSM is a free of charge product to a CA customer. Browne believes ?MSM enables the next generation to manage the mainframe effectively, with faster and easier installation and maintenance? and keep the mainframe relevant for years to come.