Editorial: Mainframes: Kick It Up a Notch!
If someone advised you that both Windows NT/2000 and proprietary UNIX would decline as an overall share of e-commerce servers during the next two years and, at the same time, mainframes would increase their share of e-commerce servers by 33 percent during that time frame, would you be surprised?
At first I was taken back, but after discussing it with a number of companies in the mainframe market, as well as polling users, the reasons are clear: Fundamental mainframe reliability and performance, as well as the high volume of transactions and transaction speed that mainframes deliver, make it the ideal e-commerce platform.
Nothing else can as effectively meet the requirements of businesses seeking to improve customer service and to engage in increasingly sophisticated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs. This is no mere vendor sales pitch – it is precisely what your colleagues in other Unisys shops, as well as the IBM mainframe market, believe, and what they are betting their businesses on. By the way, if you are interested in receiving a copy of that research, please e-mail me at wilthoj@aol.com
It’s not surprising, then, that this year’s UNITE Conference in New Orleans will include a brand new e-business track featuring a number of speakers, including Gene Phifer, Vice President and Research Director from the GartnerGroup, and Barbara A. Babcock, President of Unisys eBusiness Services. I recommend checking these sessions out to stay ahead of the competitive curve. All of this takes place from October 1 through October 4 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center – and don’t miss the chance to attend two preconference seminars offering Unisys updates on October 1. For details, visit UNITE at www.UNITE.org.
The UNITE Conference, as well as newer events like the GLB Conference sponsored by Unisys, Eagle Computer Associates and Unisphere magazine, provide a focal point for learning and thinking about ways to leverage your organization’s ongoing commitment to mainframe computing. With the opportunities that the Internet is providing to all organizations, specialized conferences like UNITE are more important than ever in building a fresh and forward-looking view on the role of the mainframe in your organization.