From Network World
Some industry observers still like to kick dents in the mainframe saying it’s not the corporate platform of the future but the Big Iron seemingly takes the licks and keeps on ticking. Case in point: According to a study out today of 300 end users by researchers at IDC nearly one-half of said they plan to increase annual spending on mainframe hardware and software over the next five years. Only IBM mainframe users were included in the survey population, IDC noted.
Still all is by no means rosy in mainframeland. Another recent study raised an ever-increasing issue – retiring mainframers.
This has been a recurring theme in recent mainframe related news articles. I wonder how true this is? If I look at the job market (Dice, Monster etc.) I do not see a lot of Mainframe openings.
The study went on to state that mainframe technology is as old as the Boeing 747 and, like the iconic aircraft, it is still the default workhorse for many of its original adopters. However, while today individuals still train to become commercial pilots, the number of IT professionals going into the mainframe arena is fast disappearing.
In my opinion the mainframe is far beyond where it was 20 years ago. As a matter of fact, the other platforms are still playing catch-up! Take virtualization as an example. VM and LPAR's are how old? The stability and security of the mainframe are things the other platforms can only dream of.
The article further says that according to a CA study an easy to use GUI will solve the skill shortage problem. That maybe true but giving students early exposure to the mainframe will help and IBM is doing just that.
I think that the mainframe (z/OS installations) will grow but more and more shops will be replacing mainframes with less efficient platforms.