IBM’s System z mainframe is making a comeback, with 80 new clients between 2010 Q3 and 2011 Q3, and 86% year-over-year MIPS growth in 2011 Q2. The latest System z platform, zEnterprise (released in July 2010), has been driving this growth, building on IBM’s hybrid computing model by adding support for Windows, as well as IBM Power Systems and System x, to go along with existing support for Linux.
However, the mainframe still has its challenges. Questions still being asked that are addressed in this storyboard are:
- How do I deal with the skills shortage?
- How do I reduce costs and leverage support for Linux and Windows?
- What should be my future strategy? Migration? Outsourcing to a hosting provider? Or keeping z in-house and reinvesting in the platform?