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IBM: Proven to withstand the tests of time.

Companies all over the world have found ways of integrating IBM systems in a rapidly changing
technological environment. No company however, has been more adept at adjusting to change than
IBM itself.

After all, IBM has always been a major innovator. When the S/360 was born 50 years ago, it was
unlike anything that had come before. For the first time computers were affordable, at least for big
businesses. The S/360 was technologically brilliant, introducing IBM’s Solid Logic Technology, for
instance, which made the machine much smaller and faster than its competition.

According to Computerworld

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2488997/mainframe/mainframe-turns-50--ibm-system-
360-launch-was-dawn-of-enterprise-it.html, one of the most revolutionary aspects of the S/360
with the idea that the same architecture could be shared by less expensive machines and the
high-end models. This gave the entire line upwards and downwards compatibility, and so
successfully that programs written for the original S/360 will still run on contemporary machines.
The compatibility helped IBM sell as many computers as possible, which it needed to do—the
S/360 was initially projected to cost $675 million, but its final cost was $5 billion.

It’s certainly been worth it. IBM machines supply some unique attributes, and they still get plenty of
use. The demand for MIPs, or millions of instructions per second, is growing all the time—per
Compuware, at a rate of 41% per year—and IBM machines are still the go-to technology if you need
MIPs. Will we ever not need IBM? According to a fascinating history of the company in The
Register, CIOs are predicting at least another decade of IBM dependency.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/07/ibm_s_360_50_anniversary/?page=1

When The Register asked to speak to a typical IBM customer, they were surprised to be referred to
a new cloud startup, L3C, now owner of a BC12. L3C thinks it can put enough virtual machines on
the server to make it an economical choice. Linux is another newer technology that’s very at home
on IBM machines; in fact, it’s an IBM smash hit. Linux is available on System Z, and it’s the
language that 60% of System Z customers want. The IBM–with–Linux setup is growing at a rate of
about 30% per year.

And maybe more companies should be taking IBM machines to new heights. Computer Weekly
suggests that more tier 1 service providers should be looking to IBM, and they have the numbers to
prove it.

“A 2012 study from WinterGreen Research demonstrated the savings of an IBM zEnterprise 114
mainframe over a VMware setup using HP ProLiant DL685. WinterGreen Research calculated that
a suite of Linux web services applications running on 80 HP blade servers with VMware would cost
$127,225 a year, while the same application configuration on the zEnterprise 114 would cost
$67,787. The zEnterprise 114 (or z196) server is cost-efficient because it uses less power and
fewer software licenses, the study said.” http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Can-the-
mainframe-remain-relevant-the-cloud-and-mobile-era
32 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – February 2015 Edition
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