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The Arcati Mainframe Yearbook 2005 There is a great deal of technical information around, but few publications that are intended to help business people understand the background and true value proposition of the mainframe. That’s where this Yearbook comes in. We have tried to create a work that can be used for reference by zSeries professionals AND as a source of information and education by those who are relatively new to the environment. (May 2005 Arcati) Companies move from batch processing to real-time data feeds on IBM mainframes What this research confirms is that modernisation is well on the way. In the past three or four years, everyone concentrated on mainframe cost reduction. They are now concentrating on cost management and agility in IT. The main driver is the need for firms to give customers real-time access via the internet to data held in back-office systems. (Mar. 2005 ComputerWeekly) The Mainframe is the answer to all your problems Of course this statement cannot be true, but, as IBM continues to re-invent their z/Series and its software, it is truer than many would imagine. In comparison the cost of effectively managing a distributed network, including provisioning, maintaining, monitoring, backing up, fixing and providing disaster recovery, has escalated. (Nov. 2004 ComputerWeekly) The six myths of IT Time to face reality. For example, the myth persists that server upgrades matter. No way. Another myth: that business acumen is now the key to a successful CTO career. Not even close. And the one about 80 percent of corporate data residing on mainframes? Check your math. (Aug. 2004 InfoWorld) Infrastructure Software: The Forgotten Child! Building a Solid Foundation With JCL Data center consolidations present an enormous challenge to the IT staff. The most difficult phase is the logical combining of the two computing environments so that, for instance, a single scheduling product can manage all the jobs. This phase requires significant analysis and changes to the JCL and often never gets completed, resulting in unnecessary cost. (Jul. 2004 z/Journal) Perspective: Six Challenges of Managing Mainframe Connectivity Today, with IP networks, there are many different network hardware and software vendors involved, and although standards provide the guidelines for development, it is often up to the vendors as to the level of standards they implement. Additionally, standards are continually evolving and new standards being accepted serving to further add to the disparity between alternative offerings. The goalposts keep moving. (May 2004 Enterprise Systems Journal) What's in store for 2004 I predict that the relentless focus on lowering costs through offshore outsourcing will come back to haunt companies in 2004. The result will be small and big disasters -- outsourcing gone wrong. 2004 will be another year of laying the foundations for automation. Given the tangle of legacy systems and complexity of most IT shops, progress in 2004 and beyond will be incremental without a major bulldozing effort. (Dec. 2003 ZDNet) No more 'jam tomorrow' Following several mergers and acquisitions, they had five different back-office systems, on OS/390 mainframes, processing similar projects. A few years ago, the big temptation would have been to buy a new package at great expense. But in the present climate, one of the existing systems, although not quite as good as a brand new system, was close enough. (Nov. 2003 ComputerWeekly) Legacy Migration Risky And Rewarding There's so much cost and risk associated with replacing a legacy system that it usually takes serious problems to force that decision -- problems that boil down to high cost and lack of flexibility. Four out of 10 managers describe their legacy systems as "useful, but a barrier to innovation and flexibility". (Nov. 2003 Internet Week) The Incredible Shrinking CIO Companies are looking for low-cost techies and, surprisingly, junior employees to fill the role of CIO. The increased in outsourcing and shrink-wrapped technology has emboldened some CEOs and corporate boards to rein in what they see as an overinflated executive position. The net result is an unofficial demotion of the CIO — a dumbing down of the job. (Oct. 2003 CIO) IBM Modernizes, Consolidates Enterprise Modernization Tools IBM's Legacy Transformation Services help customers deal with spaghetti code: Heavily customized software code that cost companies big bucks — up to 70 cents of each IT dollar in a company’s software application budget — to manage and maintain. With Application Portfolio Management Services, IGS proposes to take over the actual management of an enterprise’s legacy application infrastructure for it. (Oct. 2003 Enterprise Systems Journal) Is a Centralized or Decentralized IT Organization Better? Centralizing data centers typically results in a 10 to 15 percent cost savings. Clarity of purpose and alignment with overall company strategies improve due to the simpler organizational communications required. The key to a centralized organization's success is its responsiveness. (Oct. 2003 Darwin) What They're Saying About You Layoffs are ubiquitous. Programming is moving offshore. Without money for bonuses or even cost-of-living increases for those who remain, many CIOs are hiding behind closed doors. Today, IT staffers are likely to feel stuck. And bad attitudes can fester. (Sep. 2003 CIO) The curse of IT infrastructure The root cause of IT failures and excessive IT costs in large organisations lies in rickety infrastructures put in place one project at a time. The fashionable approach is to impose centrally dictated "architectures" to cure the pains from incompatible and redundant systems. Unfortunately, under rapidly changing conditions, such a cure may be worse than the original disease. (Sep. 2003 ComputerWeekly)
Where's Your Backup System? Many companies thought they had already covered business continuity with post-September 11 plans aimed at minimizing disruptions. Turns out some were wrong. The information from our crisis-management-control centers is that clients are saying: I need to enact this portion of the plan because my backup was five miles away, and I am having the same problems there as well. (Aug. 2003 BusinessWeek) Understand and control the centralization cycle The idea that centralization is a cycle allows us to logically consider whether what we want meshes with the cycle of activity. One organization I worked with changed every five years, one every 10, and another every two — and each company's cycle was fairly regular. That last one had some of the most stressed employees I've ever encountered. (Aug. 2003 TechRepublic) Turn your back on the data centre, says Sun boss The traditional data centre will fade away along with thousands of IT jobs. "No two data centres are the same," McNealy said. "Users fly their organisations on totally unique data centres. The IT industry is screwed up." (Jul. 2003 ComputerWeekly) The gangs of IT: Violent crime in the datacentre The gang was part of a wider network of London-based cells that terrorised up to 30 IT departments across the country. In a two-year reign of fear, this one gang alone cost businesses tens of millions of pounds in insured losses, lost business and increased security costs. (Jul. 2003 ComputerWeekly) Some See A Monster, Others See Success So why is one legacy thing a system and the other's a monster? I would argue that the decisive issue isn't one of technology, but of business value. Does the system help you do only what you've always done, or does it help you innovate? Please add to the discussion. (Mar. 2003 InformationWeek) 2003 Priorities for CIOs After years of spending on new projects, internal customers are fed up and are demanding that CIOs stop delivering new systems and start making their existing systems work! They want IT to listen to their business needs and to optimize the systems that they already have. (Mar. 2003 Line56) 2003 Purchase Involvement Survey Over the next 12 to 24 months, organizations plan to purchase a multitude of technology. Top planned purchases, in order, are desktop/laptop computers; data/info storage and networking hardware/software; servers; wireless devices; data networking
e-commerce hardware/software; wireless technology; outsourcing; long distance services; video conferences; and mainframe computers. (Mar. 2003 Darwin) The Role of the CIO Most CIOs don't fit the introverted, cautious stereotype of a corporate IT manager. Their tendency to be more outgoing might make it easier for them to work and communicate with other managers. In addition, most CIOs also consider themselves to be moderate risk-takers. (Feb. 2003 CIO Insight) Packaged apps' hidden costs The single biggest hidden cost associated with packaged apps hasn't hit the industry yet, but Tom DeMarco believes it's inevitable, and it's a killer. The developers who are left must work on the relatively banal tasks of maintaining and buffing packaged vendors' code. As soon as they have other options they will leave in droves. (Jan. 2003 InfoWorld) Why blaming technology is a cop-out There are no two words more demeaning in the computer industry than "legacy technology." Organized around functional technologies -- a mainframe group, a network group, a storage group -- legacy IT departments are organized the same way they were 30 years ago. (Jul. 2002 ZDNet) CIOs Feel Undervalued Nearly three-quarters of CIOs have a growing perception that they're not the first place their CEOs turn to form opinions about information technology. CIOs often feel like second-class citizens because the CEO sees them as the head of a cost-control center, not as an equal voice in creating new business models or new profit opportunities. (Jul. 2002 InformationWeek) IT's Tragedy of the Commons To the business units, IT looks like a free resource. To IT, there is no benefit to justify costs. So the business units ask for all the IT they can get, and IT delivers as little IT as possible. No wonder everybody is frustrated and business and IT can't work together. (Apr. 2002 Datamation)
A Guide to Eliminating Shelfware During the 1980s, software accounted for about 10 percent of the cost of running a mainframe operation. Today, that proportion is 30 percent to 40 percent and growing. That said, analyses show that almost all large organizations devote a considerable amount of resource to purchasing, renewing, and supporting contracts for "shelfware". (Oct. 2003 CIO)
The Changing Role of the Modern CIO Today we're just as likely to see somebody as CIO who never was a programmer or never worked in a data center. The CIO today, and going forward, is more of a general manager than a technician. Rather than having the technology team in-house, you have to be able to manage the firm that is providing those resources. (Aug. 2003 Datamation)
Surviving a Sea Change The IT community, from code jockeys all the way up to the executive suite, is undergoing a sea change. Our community needs to move past the stale debate over whether we are experiencing a wholesale sellout of IT workers or an inevitable, economically fueled evolution. (Apr. 2003 ComputerWorld)
CEO vs. CIO: Will the marriage survive? CIO longevity in the job averages less than two years, and the reason almost half of all CIOs wind up fired is that they fail to establish good working relationships with their CEOs and the rest of the management team. No wonder many in the industry believe that "CIO" stands for "career is over." (CNET News)