As everyone now knows, the demise of the mainframe has not yet happened. Instead, the mainframe, in particular the IBM System z, continues to evolve even in the face of dropping sales. For enterprises already using the System z, some potential enhancements can make it a viable data center option for consolidation of numerous different applications. The expected addition of Sun Microsystems' OpenSolaris OS will allow more applications to be consolidated on a single mainframe.
Solaris and the System z
An East Coast development organization, Sine Nomine Associates, in conjunction with Sun Microsystems and IBM has begun the migration of OpenSolaris onto the IBM System z. The initial implementation was recently demonstrated and documented on a YouTube video. While this is not yet a product, the prominence of the IBM sponsored announcement would imply that this will become commercialized and offered sometime in the future.