Why the mainframe is more relevant than ever
Security
The centralized, self-contained nature of mainframe has always made it suitable for compliance challenges. This is especially true now that the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has come into play.
But with the latest mainframes on the market, its security benefits have vastly expanded.
Since the release of the z14 mainframe server, and for the first time in its 50-year history, mainframes can now encrypt all data at the database, data set or disk level in an extremely cost-effective way.
In fact, there are now such minimal overheads to doing so that enterprise can effectively get rid of their footprint of cryptographic security devices and appliances that are out on the shop floor – instead, using mainframe as a cryptographic hub.
Many businesses have found this to be surprisingly easy; there are, after all, no requirements to change or adjust applications, since each mainframe app now has internal encryption-decryption mechanisms.
Final thoughts
The IBM mainframe has come a long way since the 1950s when it was only a rudimentary interactive interface, and used sets of punched cards, paper tape, or magnetic tape to transfer data and programs.
As the technology has improved, so the benefits of the technology have also expanded.
Yes – mainframe is still counted on for its reliability in situations where frequent or prolonged downtime would be costly or catastrophic. But today, the advantages of modern mainframes are now so much more.
The mainframe is more powerful and more secure than ever before, and it’s the technology for supporting analytics, application management, blockchain, machine virtualization, cloud, containerization and cryptography that are all vital to thrive in today’s economy.
Businesses are no longer running the mainframe as cheaply as they can and sweating the asset. Increasingly, they’re realizing that, modernized and upgraded, it’s the solution they’ve been looking for all along.
Gloss