Mainframes: The iron Web

by Stephanie Sanborn

January 9, 2001 —

Mainframes became the symbol of stolid reliability for many years in IT departments. So when the PC revolution hit in the 1980s, these back-office powerhouses were viewed as something of a throwback, too unwieldy for the constantly changing industry.

But the last few years of the '90s saw companies creating business strategies for the Internet, plans that required systems that could unfailingly handle high volumes of data. As a result, companies began tweaking their mainframes so that they could be accessed through the Internet.

"People who are trying to reach a stable operating model found that some of the underlying technology really isn't stable and reliable, and that's driving them back to these technologies or building new platforms that have those same characteristics," says Midior's Goldberger, noting that mainframes' reliability, availability, and uptime are back in vogue thanks to the Web.

In addition to the fact that mainframes can now be connected to Web-based front ends, rising deployments of large-scale ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems, which require extra measures of reliability, have also helped bring them back into favor.

"Mainframes really just needed a makeover," says the online sporting goods company's IT manager. "Their value was always there, it just needed a little shove to get people to realize the value wasn't a thing of the past. IBM and others have upped [mainframes'] processing power, and some of the centralization you see nowadays really lends itself to mainframes."

Mainframes

1964: IBM's System/360 mainframe computer systems debut

1971: IBM's System/370 replaces System/360's Solid Logic Technology with monolithic circuits, making the machines faster; it also includes "virtual memory" technology to expand memory

1980s: PC revolution takes over, and mainframes are snubbed for their strict control and perceived inflexibility

1991: The death of the mainframe predicted by analysts and pundits alike, partially because of IBM's troubles during the early '90s

1996: Distributed system architecture reflected by the Web proves to be a good complement to centralized control; Microsoft and several partners unveil SNA Surfer strategy to link desktops with legacy data in System/390 mainframes through Web browsers; other applications begin to translate mainframe data to HTML for easier access

1998: With Y2K looming, mainframe-to-Web connection programs appear under the title of "knowledge mining"; need to consolidate server functions and the rise in large-scale ERP systems push companies toward the idea of rehosting applications on mainframe platforms

1999-2000: Computer Associates and BMC, among others, move to bring legacy systems' and mainframes' power to e-business, leveraging the platforms' security, large amounts of storage, and the capability of handling large numbers of sophisticated transactions

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