At the beginning of the week there was a thread at the IBM-Main Discussion list about 'Platform Comparison'. It points to a Share presentation by Marlin Maddy of IBM : 'Building the business case for System z'. Apparently there's also a webcast of it via Share online. If you are looking for some solid arguments for making up a business case for the mainframe as compared to your distributed environment, you can really find quite some inspiration here. I know I don't have to convince you about this, but you and I have to convince other people, managers, CFOs etc. that the mainframe is a valid ànd cost effective alternative. No, alternative is not the right word, it's our first choice, of course.
The presentation also points to a series of videos on IBM TV, where Marlin Maddy more or less gives the same exposé. It's actually a six part series and I especially find that the fifth one gives you lots of comparison details, some of which can be easily overlooked, but that really add up to the value of the mainframe. Scroll down in the right column to find all 'episodes'.
A very good addition to this, is this article by John Schlosser (IBM): 'Six Easy Pieces: How to Do Cost of Ownership Analysis Better'. Do take a look at it, it's really worth your time.
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Thanks for pointing me to this. I am often involved in projects where fellow mainframers have to come up with solid statements to defend the Mainframe in their companies and these references will come in handy.
I would like to make one very important point however: Complexity is today's problem number 1. Virtualization and Cloud will only add complexity before (maybe) reducing the number of IT components. As a mainframer, always look for moments when people start replacing distributed servers. That's the moment to point at the possibilities to MOVE stuff to the Mainframe instead of (again) buying addictional servers. Less servers=less complexity=Lower cost. Even if you are not able to migrate to the MF what's currently running on these servers, suggest to move around other distributed functions.
People ARE willing to look at alternatives if the arguments are right. And management understands: less servers = better...
Also look at http://bit.ly/bT8dp1 for some arguments CA found when doing an EMEA MF Survey.
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