Tom Moulder writes: >I first made an assumption that like all software from IBM new versions >would have an increased MLC. This has been true for DB2 for as long as I >can remember. However, my initial checking seems to indicate that moving >from OS/390 V2 to z/OS V1 could possibly result in decreased MLC.
In the vast majority of cases, yes, z/OS has a lower price than OS/390. But not only price: it has more business-friendly pricing terms and conditions, notably VWLC (variable workload license charge, i.e. subcapacity licensing) and zNALC (lower price for adding new application workloads). The pricing terms are often at least as important as the price, especially in an enterprise environment. >I apologize to IBM for my assumption that appears to be incorrect. Relax -- learning is a good thing. You're not the first and, unfortunately, probably not the last person to have a misconception about mainframe technology costs. Computing infrastructure is a lot like airplanes: the price of the airplane bears little or no relation to the ongoing costs and benefits. It's always critically important to understand the whole picture in any financial analysis. Re: DB2 prices, by the way, what you describe isn't necessarily so either. VWLC means a lot of DB2 customers have seen their monthly license charges decrease (around about Version 7 for most shops I think, depending on when their last OS/390 LPAR disappeared and when they cut the first SCRT reports). The zIIP technology is another reason you might see a decrease in DB2 MLC starting with Version 8. Still yet another reason (for all IBM software and most other software) is that the MSU basing changes from model to model. If you get a System z9 with the same capacity as your z800/z900 or prior model, then your MSUs (basis for software charges) will be about 19% lower. That means your software charges will be lower (not 19% lower, but lower) for the same versions. And that's not counting zIIP, zAAP (Java workload shift and proximity benefits), IFL (HiperSocket proximity benefits), or crypto benefit effects, to pick a few examples. Lots of shops keep making incremental progress on performance tuning, and that yields cost benefits. (There's also a wider and better choice of performance testing and analysis tools than ever.) Some middleware product versions -- CICS 3.1 and DB2 V9 (stored procedures) come to mind -- possess characteristics which may help code run more efficiently. Reducing the number of mainframe footprints -- smaller number of higher capacity mainframes -- also tends to offer software cost savings. (It's generally easier to get aggregated pricing benefits with fewer but bigger machines, and you tend to fill "whitespace" better so that the total number of MIPS-on-the-floor is slightly lower for equivalent performance.) Machine offerings like CBU (Capacity Backup) and CoD (Capacity On Demand), which are relatively new, can offer substantial software price benefits. Your mileage may vary, but for IBM software the typical shop should be seeing stable or declining per-MIP software prices, at least if you stay current on software and hardware technology (and licensing offerings). [Most especially, please don't bust Single Version Charges (SVCs). It should be so unnecessary to pay for two versions, so please don't.] Whether your total software bill does the same (stable/declining) is another question entirely. A lot of shops are putting more and more work on the mainframe (business growth, server simplification and centralization, more application functionality, etc.), so that might increase software costs. (But cost of growth tends to be much more modest on the mainframe relative to other platforms, which tend to be more straight line.) It also depends on your software vendors of course: different suppliers may have different pricing practices. - - - - - Timothy Sipples IBM Consulting Enterprise Software Architect Specializing in Software Architectures Related to System z Based in Tokyo, Serving IBM Japan and IBM Asia-Pacific E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
