NEWS & ANALYSIS

Maureen O'GaraNeon Sues IBM for Antitrust

by Maureen O'Gara

No sense pussyfooting around anymore trying to sidestep the legal equivalent of nuclear war.

Texas ISV Neon Enterprise Software, accepting that it’s in a fight to the death with IBM over mainframes, ripped the kid gloves off late Wednesday, amended its pre-Christmas suit against its giant nemesis for tortious interference, business disparagement and unfair competition and charged Blue with antitrust violations.

Click to read more...

Why Choice Matters for Mainframe Customers

OpenMainframe.org Position Paper

The recent news that the US Department of Justice is investigating the IBM mainframe market has resulted in numerous stories and blog posts both for and against the investigation. However, many of the arguments have not addressed the most important question: what do mainframe customers want?
This paper addresses the key issues that impact the users of mainframe technology and why the resolution of these issues is critically important to mainframe customers.

Download the position paper PDF (147K)

Steven FriedmanThe T3 Technologies story

by Steven Friedman, T3 Technologies

For over 15 years, my company was a successful IBM Business Partner. I used to have a thriving company with over 50 employees, nearly 1,000 customers in 28 countries (including 200 customers in 15 European Community states) and a profitable revenue stream earned through selling mainframe solutions to IBM customers. However, now our company is effectively out of business due to the direct actions of the company I used to be closely aligned with: IBM.

Click to read more...

Roger BowlerThe case for opening up the mainframe market

by Roger Bowler, mainframe professional and creator of “Hercules”

I have been following the legal battles between IBM and Platform Solutions Inc. (PSI) and T3 Technologies (T3) over the last couple of years with great interest. As the founder of the Hercules open source mainframe emulator project I feel that we are impacted by many of the same issues that put both PSI and T3 out of business. As a mainframe IT professional, it bothers me that there is no longer any competition in the mainframe platform space.

Click to read more...

 

Open Mainframe links

Service providers and information sources related to mainframe migration, interoperability and emulation.

Solution Providers

Alchemy Solutions (recently carved out from Fujitsu Computer Systems)
Modernization Solutions for COBOL, CICS, Batch and VSAM
http://www.adtools.com

BluePhoenix
"The Legacy Modernization Company" - automated migration tools, methodologies and expertise for legacy modernization.
http://www.bphx.com/en/Solutions/LegacyModernization/Pages/default.aspx

Compuware
Compuware's systems help businesses automate testing and debugging processes to more efficiently maintain service level agreements.
http://www.compuware.com/solutions/mainframe_solutions.asp

EDS
EDS, an HP company, provides Managed Mainframe Services that deliver the expertise, flexibility, stability and capacity you need to support positive business outcomes.
http://www.eds.com/services/managedmainframe/

HP
HP’s Mainframe Migration site
http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/564549-0-0-225-121.html

Information Concepts
Legacy migration solutions and practices
http://infoconcepts.com/Content.aspx?SubPage=LegacyMigration

Mastek
Mastek helps its global partners become more agile and responsive through its legacy modernization and migration solutions. Our unique solutions include managed mainframes and field expansion.
http://www.mastek.com/legacy_modernization_and_migration.asp

Mainframe Market Information Service
Offers a unique independent source of information for IBM mainframe users, providing the data they need to negotiate the best deals for their hardware and software.
http://www.arcati.com/mmis.html

Micro Focus
Micro Focus provides innovative software that allows companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications.
http://www.microfocus.com

NEON Enterprise Software
NEON zPrime reduces the cost of mainframe ownership by fully leveraging the capacity of specialty processors.
http://www.neonesoft.com

Sonata Software
Legacy migration and modernization services.
http://www.sonata-software.com/html/enterprise_legacymana_overview.htm

TurboHercules
Commercial distribution of the Hercules open source mainframe emulator, specializing in mainframe disaster recovery.
http://www.turbohercules.com

Watson & Walker
Practical mainframe performance and measurement advice through their newsletter, videos, and software. They assist system programmers, capacity planners and performance analysts using the IBM z/OS, OS/390 and MVS operating systems.
http://www.watsonwalker.com/

News and Blogs

Enterprise Systems
http://esj.com/mainframes/index.aspx

Isham Research
Advice, Guidance and MIPS Tables for IBM Mainframes
http://www.isham-research.co.uk/ibm.html

Mainframe Executive
IT Management and the Modern Mainframe Magazine.
http://www.mainframe-exec.com/articles/

Mainframe Upgrade
Independent thinkers in the mighty world of Mainframe. We throw our two dimes worth in to the melting pot and hope that the common sense contained therein can add to the general profitability and successful evolution of the mainframe world.
http://www.mainframe-upgrade.com/latest-mainframe-news.php

Mainframe 2.0 Community
The Mainframe 2.0 Community is sponsored by CA and Information Week.
http://community.solutionscenter.techweb.com/community/mainframe/

Mainframe Update
A well-respected mainframe blog.
http://mainframeupdate.blogspot.com/

Mainframe Propeller Head
A SearchDataCenter.com blog about the IBM mainframe and its alternatives.
http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/mainframe-blog/

Mainframes Will Never Die
Blog by John Albee, the Director of Mainframe Solutions at BMC.
http://talk.bmc.com/blogs/blog-jalbee/john-albee/

Technology News of America
News and resources related to the IBM mainframe market
http://www.tech-news.com/

z/Journal
z/Journal is dedicated to providing useful, reliable, and interesting information on a wide variety of topics directly relevant to IT professionals using IBM zSeries and S/390 systems.
http://www.zjournal.com/index.cfm?section=news&nid=446

Technology

CBT Tape
The CBT tape is a collection of freeware for the IBM mainframe MVS and OS/390 operating system environment.
http://www.cbttape.org

Fundamental Software
FLEX-ES is a z/Architecture mainframe computer implemented in software.
http://www.funsoft.com/

Hercules Emulator
Hercules is an open source software implementation of the mainframe System/370 and ESA/390 architectures, in addition to the new 64-bit z/Architecture.
http://www.hercules-390.org/

Microsoft
Microsoft’s Mainframe Modernization site
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/mainframe/default.mspx

Platform Solutions Inc. (archive)
A historical view of the Platform Solutions homepage before they were acquired by IBM (courtesy of the Wayback Machine)
http://web.archive.org/web/20070102074452/http://www.platform-solutions.com/

T3 Technologies
T3 Technologies offers hardware, software and service for all mainframe needs
http://www.t3t.com

z390 Portable Mainframe
Java J2SE open source macro assembler and emulator project
http://www.z390.org/

Mainframe Rehosting

Cambex
Partner with Sun Microsystems to deliver mainframe rehosting solutions and legacy application modernization services.
http://www.cambex.com/rehosting.shtm

TmaxSoft
OpenFrame enables the applications, resources, and data residing within a mainframe legacy system to be extracted and moved to a more flexible, transparent, and cost-efficient open system platform.
http://us.tmaxsoft.com/jsp/product/detailcontents.jsp?psCd=00PD01&menuCd=00PDMROF