Adapting a mainframe to fit modern IT structures can be beneficial in several ways, but one enterprises may not consider is energy savings. Reducing the amount of power required to perform regular functions, and increasing greater general efficiency, can be part of the benefits enterprises gain when simplifying the tools for wider application access.
Given the number of tasks that a mainframe can be tied to, companies may question the amount of energy it takes to run a mainframe takes and how to keep the numbers low. This isn't a new concern: in a 2007 IBM Systems Magazine article, Joe Clabby called for mainframes that used fewer components and better memory technology. According to him, power supply is another area where computers often waste power, sometimes as much as 40 percent.
More recently, Bryan Smith of Rocket Software makes a direct connection between systems that are up-to-date and those that are running efficiently.
"In the case of mainframes, the hardware/software match is often a best-case scenario," he writes in a piece for Network World. "Applications and operating systems that were designed prior to recent leaps in memory, I/O and processing are able to take advantage of these advances without some of the inefficiencies that non-native hardware/software pairings can introduce. That has a direct effect on electrical usage and efficiency."
In this way, mainframe modernization solutions can lead companies to exciting advantages they may not be expecting, especially as they welcome further mobile device use in the workplace. Users of IBM Mainframes or UNIX can rely on Inventu Flynet Viewer for an option that will fit with online web portals and pages in old and new browsers.