The further we evolve as a digital society, the more proof we see of a basic truth: Mainframe systems play a central role in many of the most fundamental aspects of our lives and work. The platform underpins today’s society.
The Mainframe is a modern marvel with state-of-the-art hardware and software that drive successful businesses on a global scale. Enterprises trust it and consumers transact on it every day with complete confidence. It’s a true workhorse, found in nearly every industry—and for good reason. It has unmatched capability and value.
Beyond the Mainframe’s impressive technological credentials, it’s really the people—the community of developers, engineers, data scientists, and system programmers—who leverage it to power progress. Working together, the community’s expertise, dedication, passion, and ingenuity are what bring this technology to life for businesses around the world.
Competitive forces are fiercer than ever. The ability to achieve and maintain leadership requires continuous transformation. Transformation of business models, processes, and services—and of the right technology stack to support it all. You’d better be transforming because you can bet everyone around you is. It’s more than a choice. It’s a necessity. And it’s how you move forward. You have to be anticipating the future and thinking about what's next. That awareness is crucial.
The implications of transformation are different for every organization. This doesn’t mean throwing away the technology investments you’ve made, but rather improving and building on them. Sometimes the key to moving forward is with new technologies. Sometimes it’s with a tried-and-true platform. Most often the right answer is a combination of both.
As we surge toward the future, the need for increasing scale and speed will continue to drive change across all industries. Look at the finance, travel, and retail industries as examples. Customers demand faster, more connected experiences. The Mainframe is an essential part of that customer experience. Consider the Mainframe’s role in processing nearly 90% of all credit card transactions, not to mention doing much of the heavy lifting for airline reservations, banking, healthcare and supply chain systems.
As Mainframe expands its integration with Hybrid Cloud, the value of the platform expands as well. An open and connected Mainframe allows developers and IT of all generations to use common tools and strategies that allow visionary work in fields ranging from AI and machine learning to cyberthreat defense, data management, and much more. All while leveraging Mainframe’s inherent strengths.
When most people think of the Mainframe, they concentrate on what’s inside. But, the inherent strengths of the Mainframe include way more than the technology.
Yes, the Mainframe delivers unparalleled performance, scalability, efficiency, security, and reliability. More importantly, it’s the people—those who develop the hardware, write the code for middleware, and develop the applications—who fuel business value.
This community brings forth their know-how, experience, and commitment to continuously strengthen and evolve the IT backbone of our society. And these same people are sharing their knowledge, passing it forward to train the next generation of talent for tomorrow. These are Mainframers.
Being a Mainframer is more than working with the platform. It’s knowing that the platform is bigger on the outside. That it’s the hardware, software, and even more so the people—together—working to drive greater business value and meaningful impact on the world around us.
"... being a Mainframer is knowing the platform is bigger on the outside."
Our full potential is realized when we work together towards a common business goal. It’s being able to link the known with the new, so that we can build upon today’s IT investments to create even greater value tomorrow. It’s this kind of bigger, collaborative thinking that empowers businesses into the future.
If you’d like to discuss the future of the Mainframe and how we can go bigger, please reach out to me directly at Greg.Lotko@broadcom.com.