Are Private Clouds on Mainframes the New Hosting?
For many of the old timers in the mainframe world, the word cloud alone will get you an eye roll or two. They will tell you that it is just a new word for a function that mainframes have been performing for years. But is it?
Sure, there are many that claim that it is nothing more than a resource made available in a company with security and solid management controls that is dynamically provisioned, in other words a mainframe. But what seems to be missing from this definition is user control. And most experts will tell you that it is a key attribute of cloud hosting.
And one of the key characteristics that gives mainframes their reputation as old technology is the very controlled environment that makes it so secure. An administrator is needed to provision computing power for any specific task, unlike in the cloud technology. And this is why x86-based distributed architecture is the mainstay for cloud computing and not mainframes.
Even with this reasoning, mainframe vendors still claim that as many as 73% of their clients are looking to use their mainframes as part of the move to the cloud. In fact, IBM has been advocating for mainframes as cloud platforms the last several years, especially since the introduction of the zEnterprise last year. IBM introduced virtual operating systems over 30 years ago and with the addition of Linux, running virtual X86 servers on their mainframes was a logical next step.
But the problem of self-provisioning remains. When you have a system where in some companies the mainframe is in a locked room where no one can access it, it is hard to see how to develop self-service features. IBM’s system x cloud computing leader, Reed Mullen, claims that the problem Is a reflection of the culture of mainframes, not the technology. But even Mullen admits that any implementations are still going to be run through IT, probably via a request email to have resources allocated. Point and click allocations don’t seem to be part of the picture.
One scenario where mainframes as cloud platforms may be happening now is worldwide outsourcing companies with developers spread across the globe. These developers would have the ability to set up their own testing and development platforms, and some may be mainframe based. Mullen of IBM agrees this is the most likely situation with today’s technology and says it “is perhaps the dominant usage of a cloud infrastructure in mainframe environments today.”
As the cloud matures more situations may develop that will lead to a wider adaptation of mainframes to cloud platforms, but for now the ability still seems somewhat limited. But no matter how you look at it, the development of business units to self-provision a mainframe-based cloud is coming. It will probably change the way mainframes are seen as they run more of the same software and grow their service-management side. They may soon be seen as just another high-end element in the cloud world, instead of a class on their own.
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