Does Anyone Remember Downsizing?
I wrote for ComputerWorld in the mid-80s where the biggest topics were spaghetti code, the year 2000 (yup that was a huge issue 15 years before the new century) and downsizing.
When we think of downsizing, we think of pink slips. Back then it referred to replacing mainframes with microcomputers (yup, that's what we called them) and LANs.
I think it was John Landry, CTO at Lotus at the time, who changed my view on downsizing. His theory was that if all you are doing is transferring the functions of a mainframe to micros, you're wasting your time. If the mainframe works, just leave it and devote your energy to new applications that offer competitive advantage.
A decade and a half later, Landry is proven right. According to a survey by BMC, 94 percent of respondents will either keep or expand their mainframe capacity.
And with the huge rise in PC servers that suck up so much power, mainframes may be the greenest way to compute.
What is your mainframe strategy? Put away your punch cards, fire up your e-mail and share your thoughts at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/10/2010 at 1:18 PM