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IBM System z and Service Oriented Architectures

SOAs are returning the mainframe to center stage.

Profound shifts in thinking don't happen often in the IT industry but, in 2005, just such a shift occurred that could resonate for decades to come. The change is in the perception of enterprise information systems, and firms that are utilizing the new ideas are seeing significant improvements in IT effectiveness and business performance.

That change is service orientation and, to the surprise of some, service oriented architectures (SOAs) are returning IBM* mainframes to the center stage. After 25 years in which mainframes have often suffered from negative press, the architecture of IBM System z* mainframes fits them ideally for a pivotal role in SOA. Now, leading industry analysts are talking of a revitalized mainframe platform and of the final failure of the notion of widespread mainframe retirement and replacement. The profound shift, or tipping point, was the recognition by the industry in 2005 that the holy grail of computer science - the flexible and efficient reuse of existing applications to meet changing business needs - is ready for general deployment.

The concepts underlying SOA are not new. Many of IBM's best customers, on the leading edge of IT practice, are already reaping substantial benefits from a decade of investment in loosely-coupled application services, based on the end-to-end use of WebSphere middleware for flexible integration. The same benefits are available to anyone with an investment in core applications running on a mainframe.

What has triggered this shift in thinking?

First, the business needs are compelling. Globalization of consumer markets, supply chains and labour markets make it ever harder to sustain the returns demanded by shareholders. Consumers search for better service and lower prices. To survive and prosper, companies need to nurture valuable, core capabilities. And they need the freedom to flexibly acquire commodity goods and services from the most competitive suppliers in the global market. In this commercial environment, a flexible IT architecture that avoids proprietary lock-in to a single source of application code is not a commodity - it's a strategic tool for business success.

Second, increasing business regulation has created a new sense of financial accountability at the CIO level. In most industries, it is no longer acceptable to undertake major multi-year IT investment projects with the associated technical and business risks. CIOs are investing in short-cycle, incremental projects that simultaneously return line-of-business benefits and reduce IT costs. And for that they need flexible and reusable IT that can be rapidly adapted to changing business needs.

The final trigger is industry readiness. Widely adopted IT industry integration standards, such as Web services, now support the loose coupling of IT resources to enable the rapid composition of new business processes. Powerful and proven integration middleware and IT governance practices make SOA a practical proposition.

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