Pommier, Rex R. wrote:
Unfortunately in our case it is mindset. The word "mainframe" has a
negative connotation around here as being big, expensive, and outdated.
We have an HP superdome "server" that sits 6 feet tall, 6 feet wide, and
4 feet deep, all external storage and all the other things that make it
look like a "mainframe". Our z/OS box is a 7060 - the size of a 2
drawer file cabinet and it cost about 10% of the price of the HP box.
Yet the HP box is a "server" and the 7060 is a "mainframe".
As far as the "outdated" part of it, we actually had z/OS systems
programmers at our parent company tell me a few years ago that the 7060
(or any other z/OS machine) doesn't support e-mail. They wouldn't even
believe me when I told them I had been e-mailing security and audit
reports from the 7060 for a long time already.
So which one is the mainframe and which isn't?
Rex
Well I think a big part of the problem is IBM.
If marketing reps had incentives to move big iron, that
would focus their attention on telling the story better.
This, of course, requires the executives who set the
marketing incentives to care about that.
Hand in hand with such a program would be a coordinated
effort to enhance the image of the mainframe by touting
its strengths. This would include
* encouraging [writing?] think pieces / essays in
the business press as well as the trade press
* effective ad campaigns
Follow the money.
Kind regards,
-Steve Comstock
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