Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Yaccarino out: Musk’s handpicked CEO quits X suddenly

      9 July 2025

      AI gold rush propels Nvidia to record $4-trillion market cap

      9 July 2025

      Price hike for .za domains

      9 July 2025

      The satellite broadband operators taking on Starlink

      9 July 2025

      China’s Temu ups ante with South African warehouse launch

      9 July 2025
    • World

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025

      Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

      30 June 2025

      Bumper orders for Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV heighten threat to Tesla

      27 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » In-depth » The venerable mainframe: the technology that refuses to die

    The venerable mainframe: the technology that refuses to die

    By Agency Staff5 April 2022
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Back in black … IBM’s z16 mainframe

    IBM has unveiled a new mainframe model, a reflection of the continued relevance of the decades-old computing systems despite the rush among many organisations to pivot to the public cloud.

    Unlike the cloud, which enables companies to store and access data over the Internet, mainframes are physical hardware owned by the customer. The large, black boxes that still line the walls of some corporate data centres have long served as the foundation for a business’s most important applications. Many financial institutions, for example, still use mainframes to support customer transactions and other high-volume operations.

    While the systems have declined in relevance as more businesses use cloud infrastructure from providers including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, mainframes are still an important part of a company’s IT portfolio — and likely will be for a long time to come. At least, that’s what IBM is banking on. The company markets itself as a key player in the emerging market to support both on-premises and cloud-based data storage.

    Our early pipeline on z16 is better than any pre-launch pipeline that we’ve had

    “The cloud has definitely done great things for the industry,” said Ric Lewis, senior vice president of IBM Systems. “But mainframes are still a very strong platform in that environment. And they fit well in that hybrid cloud environment.”

    The cloud is poised to become increasingly dominant — especially for modern applications. By 2025, for example, 51% of spending on IT will be directed to the public cloud, up from 41% in 2022, according to research firm Gartner. But mainframes remain relevant. Of 500 IT professionals recently surveyed by Rocker Software, 56% say the mainframe is still a predominant part of their infrastructure.

    On Tuesday, IBM revealed the z16, the latest version of its mainframe. Among the new features for customers is the ability to run predictive analytics on data directly in the machine instead of transporting it to another program, IBM said in a statement. That provides a big benefit, for example, for banks that want to run fraud detection programs in real-time as the transactions are processed, according to the Armonk, New York-based company.

    Quantum computing

    The updated model also includes new security protocols to protect against the looming rise of quantum computing, a powerful technology that is still years away from real-world practical uses, but one that could ultimately undermine the security of most software given the ability of the systems to hack encrypted data, according to Lewis.

    “Our early pipeline on z16 is better than any pre-launch pipeline that we’ve had,” he said.

    With Fujitsu planning to end its mainframe offerings by 2031, IBM remains the only large manufacturer left. And it continues to be a cash cow for Big Blue. Alongside the cost of the hardware itself, which can range in price from R8.5-million per unit and above, IBM charges for the software that runs on top of it, as well as maintenance for the systems.

    The company doesn’t break out results for its mainframe business, but hybrid infrastructure, which includes the unit, generated $2.9-billion in fourth quarter revenue. While mainframes can run without upgrades for as long as a decade, many of those customers are likely to refurbish at least a portion of their existing systems to the new model.

    IBM remains the only large manufacturer left. And it continues to be a cash cow for Big Blue

    “We’ve got a growing, healthy business,” Lewis said. “The overall workload space is growing enough that, yes there are a lot of workloads growing into the cloud, but there are a ton of workloads being stacked on the new class of mainframes.”

    It’s difficult to migrate mainframe systems to the cloud, but vendors are trying to change that. Amazon Web Services offers various services to enable businesses to transfer applications running on mainframes — many that are likely written in Cobol, a dated but still widely used programming language — to its cloud infrastructure. Most companies, however, may still be reluctant to pursue such an option given the mission-critical nature of the programs.

    “The install base today that is still on a mainframe is going to stay on that mainframe,” said IDC research vice president Peter Rutten. “Many of the applications are still core to the business. They may have been around years, in some cases decades. And enterprises don’t want to change them.”  — Joe Williams, (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP



    Amazon Web Services AWS IBM IBM Systems IBM z16 Microsoft Ric Lewis
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleR140-billion bonanza for Huawei staff
    Next Article Telkom has frozen an employee’s pension – why a judge allowed it

    Related Posts

    AI gold rush propels Nvidia to record $4-trillion market cap

    9 July 2025

    Webtonic cracks the talent code with AWS-powered TonicHub

    9 July 2025

    Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

    30 June 2025
    Company News

    Samsung unfolds the future with thinnest, lightest Galaxy Z Fold yet

    9 July 2025

    Huawei supercharges South African SMEs with over 20 new eKit products

    9 July 2025

    Webtonic cracks the talent code with AWS-powered TonicHub

    9 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.