---
title: "IBM Mainframe: Scale and Skills 07"
date: 2007-06-21T14:19:39Z
modified: 2007-06-21T14:19:39Z
permalink: "https://redmonk.com/jgovernor/ibm-mainframe-scale-and-skills-07/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 1171
categories:
  - Uncategorized
timestamp: 2007-06-21T14:19:39Z
tags:
  - Uncategorized
---

Its time for Jim Stallings, IBM mainframe general manager, to do his thing. He starts with talk of growth in India and China.

In India, he points out, the mainframe is playing a flattening role. That is, the mainframe is part of the trend of Indian firms hooking up with other players. Tata and Corus, Bharti and Wal-Mart. These are now “global outfits, running on a mainframe”.

Now Jim is talking about IBM, the mainframe and extreme scale. What can I say? I called it back in November 2002, in a piece for Illuminata called [IMS: Scaling The Great Wall](http://illuminata.com/cgi-local/pub.cgi?docid=ibmims).

Linux and virtualisation are the keys to mainframe growth.

Specialty Engines MIPS growth… There is a bank in Japan with 150 IFLs running the whole bank on Linux. That is pretty serious.

## Simplify the mainframe?

Ah something to push back on. IBM is apparently investing $100m in simplifying the mainframe.But Jim talked to simplification using wizards. I am not so sure about that. Wizards don’t simplify things, they just hide complexity ([leaky abstractions](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html) and all that).

## Boldest Claim of The Day, and its not even 10:30 yet.

**“The issue around skills is really a myth, my customers tell me”.**

Well that’s a mighty big claim Jim. When you can throw out numbers like 42k new students are taking mainframe courses, its a case that’s easier to make. If Jim had of said this five years ago we would have all fallen about laughing. But IBM showed a video of a bunch of students (some of whom are at the event), and the key statement was this:

“They hired me before I even graduated”.