CA Survey Says Mainframe Resurgence

Organisations Operating a Connected Mainframe Infrastructure Experience Significant Benefits, European Survey Reveals

Organisations using the mainframe as a fully connected resource within the distributed, web-enabled enterprise benefit from increased security, performance, robustness and utilisation than those with a disconnected, comparatively isolated mainframe environment according to a a European survey entitled The Mainframe: Surviving and Thriving in a Turbulent World commissioned by IT management software provider CA. 

The survey claims the weaknesses of distributed computing environments are now fuelling the mainframe resurgence. The practice of housing an application or database on a specific server proved serviceable for years, but as economic conditions deteriorate-and strict mandates around governance, compliance, security and energy efficiency intensify-IT faces a growing burden to do more with less. And as these distributed infrastructures become too costly to maintain, IT is rediscovering the benefits of the mainframe.

Where the mainframe is a fully connected resource, 65% of all respondents report it to be an ‘incredibly secure environment'; 63% state that performance levels are ‘excellent'; and 52% say that ‘the system never goes down'. The more the mainframe is part of an enterprise-wide technology strategy, the greater the role it plays and the greater its level of utilisation: the average amount of business critical data administered by the mainframe among all ‘connected' respondents is 64%.

With organisations now facing new challenges on multiple fronts that profoundly impact their ability to maintain adequate mainframe IT security, the survey revels that 68% believe a mainframe-centric infrastructure to be inherently more secure than its server-centric equivalent. When asked why the mainframe was such a valuable resource in the organisation, 65% cited ‘it's an incredibly secure environment'.

There's strong evidence to support the fact that the mainframe is a highly robust environment too. 63% of respondents agree that applications can run reliably on the mainframe for years without any unscheduled interruptions. 63% of respondents stated that the reason the mainframe is a key resource in the organisation is because ‘performance levels are excellent‘, 52% stated ‘it never goes down', and 48% stated ‘disaster recovery and emergency management are both extremely efficient'.

Besides highlighting the value of the mainframe in a connected infrastructure,  the survey also finds conclusive proof that the mainframe offers a low total of ownership with organisations spending less of their budget. The difficulty and cost of managing large numbers of distributed systems has fuelled the trend back to the mainframe, with the survey finding that 44% of respondents have stayed loyal to the mainframe environment because of the cost of moving to an entirely distributed infrastructure.

Comparing the mainframe with the distributed environment, organisations spend less of their budget with the mainframe-on more critical applications. This is based on the survey finding that respondents spend 19% of their IT budget on the mainframe. They also report that the mainframe holds 55% of their business critical data and hosts a larger than 50% of the critical applications and 55% of their data.

"For many organisations, the mainframe remains the strategic platform of choice for the next generation of enterprise computing," says Thomas Leitner, .

"Organisations that are recommitting to the mainframe are finding a unique mixture of manageability, reliability, scalability and security-not to mention low per-transaction costs. They are realizing that the mainframe is the asset best equipped to handle these challenges while still providing ample flexibility for growth and business innovation."

The survey also reports on the ever-present threat of mainframe skills shortage. 66% of all respondents agreed that the mainframe user will soon start to suffer, if it hasn't already, from a shrinking workforce with the relevant skills not being readily available. However, 52% agreed that a web-oriented graphical user interface (GUI) that a less experienced member of the IT department could use would make the mainframe more attractive and would help to close the skills gap. Other initiatives being adopted to bridge the gap include increased skills training (33%) and 24% are outsourcing certain elements.

This independent research was conducted by the respected international research organisation Vanson Bourne. A total of 180 interviews were conducted during February and March 2009 among IT Directors and Senior IT Managers. The sample comprised 40 respondents in each of the UK, France, and Germany, and 20 each in Italy, Benelux, and the Nordics.

Comit

People reading this article also read....

More CA News on IrishDev.com

More Mainframe News on IrishDev.com

Get Instant Updates....