Exploring IBM's New Age Mainframes

xx EXPLORING IBM’S NEW AGE MAINFRAMES Introduction Over the past several years, IBM’s System/390 large computer operating environment and other vendors’ large traditional computing environments have been the focus of debate. What role, if any, do they (and should they) have in the emerging business computing environment of the late 1990s? The debate is highly partisan. Those who developed their computing experience prior to the 1980s are likely to favor a continued role for large computers, while others find little if any value in continuing their use. The debate also has become highly emotional, often focusing on the term “mainframe” to represent all that is undesirable about those early computing environments. References to the mainframe as a “dino- saur” are used to evoke images of a technology that is no longer relevant to business, one that belongs to an earlier age. The notion of the “mainframe” was introduced very early in the his- tory of computing to differentiate the primary computing system, which supported the most business-critical applications, from those performing less critical functions. The term implied a computer system that provided the characteristics most crucial to business operations, independent of vendor and technology. As these computing systems evolved into increas- ingly large general-purpose systems, they also evolved toward centralized support by Information Systems organizations with the technical exper- tise to support and maintain them and the software that ran on them. As small, personal computers evolved into powerful, interconnected workstations, more and more business-critical applications were supported on distributed networks of workstations from different vendors. With xx Intro.pm6 20 2/25/96, 10:27 AM Introduction xxi this change, the term “mainframe” became associated more narrowly with the large centralized aspect of its early definition. The concept of being the platform providing business-critical support was overlooked. In the context of the original intent, powerful System/370 and Sys- tem/390 processors continue to provide business-critical “mainframe” environments for many businesses. In that same context, it is also accurate to speak of networks and workstations as the “mainframe” computing environment for a growing number of businesses in the 1990s. For these businesses, the mainframe environment is a mix of computing elements that range from powerful workstations, interconnected on local area networks that are in turn interconnected through wide area networks, to powerful centralized computers running new and established applications on traditional operating systems. It is in this context that we respond from a business perspective to the questions raised specifically about the role of System/390 “mainframes.” Should these mainframes have a role in computing infrastructures of the 1990s? Will they have a role in business computing environments of the 1990s? Decidedly, yes! In 1994, IBM alone shipped more large computer power (measured in millions of instructions per second or MIPS) than it had in any prior year. In 1995, that record was eclipsed with expected shipments of approximately 250,000 MIPS, an increase of more than 50% over 1994. Computer vendors marketing large processors and storage devices compatible with IBM’s are also recording record sales. Clearly, business demand for a computing technology that has been labeled a “di- nosaur” has not diminished. Much of this increasing demand is driven by radical changes that have been and are now occurring in the way our global society functions. Sci- entists have evolved their knowledge base at unprecedented rates; indus- trial capacity has exploded to the point that far fewer resources are needed to satisfy the needs of far more people; financial institutions operate regu- larly on a global basis; and business institutions are moving rapidly from international operations to truly global interactions. And now the basic unit of society, the family, is dynamically and directly influenced by the same factor that has supported the rapid changes in the rest of our society—computing! Beginning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, me- chanical invention and innovation laid the groundwork for electronic computers. From the 1940s to the present, ongoing invention and practical application transformed the computing industry from a contributor to science and large business to an essential participant in every dimension of late twentieth-century life. It is the radical nature of these changes, Intro.pm6 21 2/25/96, 10:27 AM xxii EXPLORING IBM’S NEW AGE MAINFRAMES changes that cut to the root of every aspect of our society, that merits the designation of a New Age. In the midst of these changes, the System/390 mainframe is finding this New Age very hospitable! The extent of the transition that has occurred is perhaps best repre- sented by views expressed by two figures central to the beginning and current states of computing. In the 1950s, as the potential for computing became apparent, Thomas J. Watson, S r., expressed his view that there would be a need for no more than a dozen or so large computers to handle the world’s needs. In 1995, as Microsoft Corp. launched its Windows 95 product, Bill Gates expressed his expectation of shipping over 100 mil- lion copies of the system within the first several months. Each of the systems operating under Windows 95 potentially has more power than one of T. J. Watson’s large computer systems built in the 1950s. More important than the comparison of today’s computing power with yesterday’s, however, is the use of that power. Already computing is pervasive. Schools, businesses, and services of all sizes have either installed computers or are quickly looking for ways in which to gain access to them. The home is the current target of the communication industry. Whether used for home shopping or pure entertainment, computers will become an even more dominant aspect of home life in the balance of this decade. Technology’s ability to bring the power of computers to individu- als has broadened demand and transformed the industry. Given the rapid pace at which computing has pervaded each of our lives, what is left for the twenty-first century? Anyone holding the real answer to that question is in position to become a world leader. Because we are only in the beginning stages of this New Age, it is virtually impos- sible to determine in what direction it will lead. It is apparent, however, that computing in one form or another will continue to enable rapid change. Those changes, in turn, will demand flexible and adaptable computing infrastructures that will support your evolving business needs . In the context of this evolving New Age, this book has both a general and a specific purpose. The general purpose is to explore briefly the early days of computing and its early technology. The specific purpose is to look closely at the technology used in the large commercial computing environment, popu- larized by IBM as the System/360 architecture and known today as the System/390 architecture. It is particularly appropriate to review the evolution of IBM’s S/390 computing systems now, in the context of an industry and technology that is emerging from its adolescence and preparing for adulthood. A crucial question that has been asked by many in the computing industry is whether this architecture can survive the transition period. Will S/390 Intro.pm6 22 2/25/96, 10:27 AM Introduction xxiii provide the technology to meet business computing needs through the rest of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century? We answer that question with a firm yes! Yes, because it addresses the need for lower overall costs, which drives decision making across all layers of business. Yes, because the System/390 architecture’s flexibility and adaptability, already shown over four decades, delivers business benefits of a centralized system that fits into a decentralized, architecturally mixed, computing environment. If there is a single bylaw for business computing in the New Age, a bylaw that affects both the drive for lower costs and the drive for more business value, it is this: Information, not technology, solves business prob- lems. Implicit in that simple statement are two broad issues driving the computing industry in general and IBM’s System/390 in particular: There is a distinction between data and information; it is information that must drive business goals and objectives. The derivative of this bylaw is that technology is no longer the master, driving business decision processes, but is the servant responding to business needs. The first issue, distinguishing between data and information, is now driving much of the business and management change within Informa- tion Systems (IS) organizations. Senior executives in many businesses fail to view IS as a strategic asset because it does not provide the business information they need in a timely fashion. IS focuses too closely on managing processes for gathering and storing data. In today’s business cli- mate, creating, using, and managing information (derived from but not the same as data) is rapidly becoming the number one issue for ensuring business growth. Many of the technology developments of the last decade, in both software applications and in hardware, are focused on en- abling this move from data orientation to information. The second issue, applying the information to your business goals, takes the use of information one step further by making it available to the appropriate business users in a form that they can comprehend. This drives much of the business and process change reengineering throughout business functions. Many businesses view managing the flow of information and the flow of cash as the two most critical business processes going into the twenty-first century.

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