The Arcati Mainframe Yearbook 2022

How do you know what’s really going on at other mainframe sites? One answer, each year, is to read the annual mainframe users’ survey published in the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook. If you’re prepared to give up 10 minutes of your time to complete a survey form, we will send you a FREE copy of the survey results before they are published in January. As in previous years, we’re inviting all mainframe professionals to complete the annual user survey, which is up and running at itech-ed.com/AMY22/usersurvey22/. The more users who complete the survey, the more accurate a picture of what’s happening in the mainframe world we can produce, and therefore the more useful the survey report will be.

For example, when looking at what’s new (or, perhaps more correctly, what appears on a lot of PowerPoint slides), last year’s survey found that 35 percent of sites are already using Splunk. And a further 20 percent said that they were planning to use it. The survey found that 35 percent of sites were already using DevOps (up from 20 percent last year), with a further fifteen percent planning to use it. And half of all respondents said that they were already reusing APIs to speed up application development. And a further 25 percent of sites are planning to reuse APIs. Blockchain has been in the news a lot, and 10 percent of sites reported already using it, with 15 percent planning to use it. With Docker, we found that 10 percent of respondents were already using it with 15 percent at the planning stage. When it came to Web-enabling subsystems, we found that 80 percent of organizations were Web-enabling Db2; 75 percent were Web-enabling their CICS subsystems; and 30 percent of sites were Web-enabling IMS, and 30 percent were Web-enabling WebSphere. In contrast, only eight percent of sites already use Liberty, with eight percent planning to install it.

When asked what, in their opinion, are the main benefits to their organization of the mainframe over other platforms, every single respondent highlighted security. Clearly, all the talk about breaches and ransomware is focusing the minds of mainframers. 90 percent of respondents highlighted the benefit of availability. 75 percent of respondents highlighted manageability, with 75 percent identifying scalability.

Linux is often in the news, so it was interesting to see what our respondents had to say about it. Just over half of respondents said that they run Linux on the IBM Z. There are considerable cost and management benefits from consolidating distributed Linux workloads onto the mainframe. However, 63 percent of respondents weren’t interested in LinuxONE mainframes. Six percent of respondents said they already had one, with 25 percent expecting to get one at some time in the future. But, no sites in the survey said their primary operating system was Linux.

Reinforcing the value of the mainframe to organizations, the survey found that 89 percent of sites have seen some kind of increase in capacity, and 83 percent have seen an increase in technology costs, and yet only 59 percent of sites believe their people costs have increased! Also, in terms of costs, 81 percent of sites surveyed said that the bulk of their IT budget is spent off mainframe.

If you’ve not come across the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook before, it has been the de facto reference work for IT professionals working with z/OS (and its forerunner) systems since 2005. The Yearbook includes: an annual mainframe user survey; a mainframe strategy section with papers on mainframe trends and directions; an up-to-date directory of mainframe vendors, consultants, and service providers; a guide to useful sources of mainframe-related information; a glossary of terminology; and a mainframe evolution section. Each year, the Yearbook is downloaded by over 21,000 mainframe professionals. The current issue is still available at arcati.com/newyearbook21.

So, very shortly, many mainframe professionals will receive an email telling them that we have started work on the 2022 edition of the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook. If you don’t hear from us, then email arcati@itech-ed.com and we will add you to our mailing list. All respondents completing a survey before Friday 26 November will receive a FREE PDF copy of the survey results. The identity and company information of all respondents is treated in confidence and will never be divulged to third parties. And any comments made by respondents will be anonymized before publication. If you’re in a Zoom or Teams call with mainframers from other sites, please pass on the word about this survey. We’re hoping that this year’s user survey will be the most comprehensive survey ever. Current estimates suggest that there are somewhere around 3,000 mainframes in use world-wide.

Anyone reading this who works for a vendor, consultant, or service provider, can ensure their company gets a FREE entry in the vendor directory section by completing the form, which is at itech-ed.com/AMY22/vendorentry/. This form can also be used to amend last year’s entry.

Also, as in previous years, there is an opportunity for organizations to sponsor the Yearbook or take out a half-page advertisement. Half-page adverts (5.5in x 8.5in max landscape) costs $990 (that's UK£790 or €850 Euros). To put that cost into perspective: for every dollar you spend on an advert, you reach around 25 mainframe professionals.

Sponsors get a full-page advert (11in x 8.5in) in the Yearbook; inclusion of a corporate paper in the Mainframe Strategy section of the Yearbook; a logo/link on the Yearbook download page on the Arcati Web site; and a brief text ad in the Yearbook publicity e-mails sent to users. All this for just $2590 (that's UK£1990 or €2230 Euros). To put that cost into perspective: for every dollar you spend on sponsorship, you reach around 9 mainframe professionals.

Last year’s sponsors and advertisers were: BMC Software, Broadcom, Model9, Action Software International, DataKinetics, DataVantage, Enterprise Systems Associates, Inc (ESAi), Fischer International, Fujitsu, Key Resources Inc, Software Diversified Services, Tone Software, and ZETALY.

Vendors, consultants, and service providers need to complete our survey form to get their free entry in the Yearbook as soon as possible. Also, they need to let me know, either by e-mail or by ticking the appropriate box at the end of the survey (at itech-ed.com/AMY22/vendorentry/), whether they wish to advertise in or sponsor the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook 2020. All entries need to be with us by Friday 26 November.

Clearly, not an opportunity to be missed. The Arcati Mainframe Yearbook 2022 will be freely available for download early in January next year. Let me thank, in advance, everyone who will help to make the new Yearbook such a success.

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