I Googled ITIL and found http://www.itil-officialsite.com, looked at
several of the introductory documents, and found them very heavy on
MBA-like generalizations and abstractions. If you didn't know anything
about corporate Information Technology to start with, you could read one
58-page intro and still not have the vaguest idea that the main object
of IT is to solve corporate business problems by
conceptualizing/designing/acquiring/maintaining computer application
programs and selecting/acquiring/maintaining/operating the necessary
computer hardware on which to run those applications. The documentation
I saw seemed oblivious that the basic management issues in corporate IT
deal with computer hardware and computer applications, but instead just
talked about managing "resources". I wasn't terribly impressed.
There have been times when teacher training in this country spent
entirely too much time with "Education" courses learning how to teach
and not enough time mastering the subjects they were supposed to teach.
Corporations run into trouble when they have too many MBA managers who
think they can manage the manufacture of "widgets" without understanding
"widgets". What little I have seen of ITIL so far reminds me of those
approaches applied to IT. Just calling a mainframe a "server" or a
"resource" encourages a management mindset that doesn't take into proper
account its unique qualities that continue to distinguish it from lesser
platforms and continue to justify its existence.
I doubt if there are any pure "mainframe organizations" in today's
corporate IT world, rather "Data Processing", "Information Technology",
"Information Services", or some similarly named corporate Division,
which may maintain a mainframe as part of its much larger corporate
computer hardware inventory. A large corporate IT division will
typically be subdivided into many functional subdivisions which include
in some fashion Application Development and Maintenance, Workstation
support, End-User IT Help Desk, Technical Support, Operations,
Production Control, etc.. Many of these functional sub-areas must deal
with or manage across multiple platforms, not just mainframe or
non-mainframe.
IBM mainframes have also traditionally been called "Processing Systems"
(the box(es)that house the central processing elements, processor
memory, and I/O channels, and related control), to distinguish them from
the separate box(es) that house DASD Disk Storage Subsystems, Tape
Subsystems, etc., all of which may also be collectively thought of as
"the mainframe"; but that term (mainframe) is less used by those closest
to actual management of one. Specific mainframes systems are much more
frequently referred to by their model family or type, as in IBM z9, or
IBM z10 rather than by some useless generic IBM Marketing name like
"Enterprise Server". The model family at least tells you the general
functional capability, but little about the specific processing capacity
(and cost), which has a wide variation even within the same processor
family.
IBM Mainframes are probably more frequently known by Operations and
Applications Development personnel by the Operating System that runs on
the box (e.g., z/OS) rather than the hardware name; because this, rather
than the hardware, most affects what interfaces those people see and
must use on a daily basis.
End users (and non-IT managers) typically only see interfaces provided
by Application systems, so in many cases they may not even be directly
aware of the underlying Operating System or hardware platform used by
those applications.
Joel C Ewing
On 01/11/2012 03:16 PM, Henrichon, Ryan wrote:
A common phrase used in ITIL to refer to mainframes in my shop is
"Enterprise Server". However the term "Mainframe" gets used more than
"Enterprise Server" does by techies.
What is true about any "best practices" or "new process" that a company
uses; it is only as good as how involved the employee's are that are
using it.
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu] On
Behalf Of Bill Fairchild
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 3:08 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: ITIL Mainframe Terminology
This reminds me of ISO 9000 about 20 years ago.
Bill Fairchild
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu] On
Behalf Of Jonathan Goossen
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 1:29 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: ITIL Mainframe Terminology
Peter,
You are correct in what ITIL stands for. The British started it. It
migrated to the US when companies wanted to cut costs. Several years ago
I was required to go through training and passed my certification for
the first level.
ITIL is a collection of best practices for running a company's IT. It
deals with processes and is equipment independent. ITIL doesn't have
terminology for mainframes.
Thank you and have a Terrific day!
Jonathan Goossen, ACG, CL
Tape Specialist
ACT Mainframe Storage Group
Personal: 651-361-4541
Department Support Line: 651-361-5555
For help with communication and leadership skills checkout Woodwinds
Toastmasters
IBM Mainframe Discussion List<IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu> wrote on 01/11/2012
11:59:24 AM:
From: "Farley, Peter x23353"<peter.far...@broadridge.com>
To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu
Date: 01/11/2012 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: ITIL Mainframe Terminology Sent by: IBM Mainframe
Discussion List<IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu>
When I read your questions, I had to admit that I have no idea what
"ITIL" stands for, so I looked it up. According the "The Free
Dictionary" site:
Information Technology Infrastructure Library - (ITIL) A method of
organising the system and network management departments of large
organisations. ITIL defines the (work) processes involved and the
interfaces between them.
I suspect that few on this list will have any answers for your
questions (I certainly don't) because the large US organizations that
(some of us) work for are not organized by that standard. I wasn't
even aware of the term, and I suspect I am not alone in that
regard.
Perhaps this is a European standard of organization? The spelling of
"organising" and "organisations" with an "s" rather than a "z"
suggests a UK origin. US spelling uses "z" in that word.
Sorry not to be much help for you.
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu] On
Behalf Of MainframeJunkie
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 12:19 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu
Subject: ITIL Mainframe Terminology
I have been asked what the common ITIL term in the industry is for
"Mainframe". Basically, these are the questions:
1) What term is used for the Mainframe System itself?
2) What are the common names of the Mainframe Organizations in the
industry? The larger organization as a whole and not the individual
departments.
I have little experience with ITIL, so hopefully I phrased this
question
properly. Thank you in advance for the assistance.
--
...
--
Joel C. Ewing, Bentonville, AR jcew...@acm.org
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