IBM to Spend $100 Million on Usability
IBM invests in mainframe usability — “IBM will spend $100m over the next five years to make its mainframe line easier to administer and programme, the company said on Wednesday.”
Improvements will include a more modern user interface, easier to use programming tools geared at newbies, better tools to simplify software aquisition, and more automatic preventative system administration.
While these things aren’t exactly “usability” as WebWord readers might think about it, this is an interesting step back into the mainframe age. Maybe this is smart and maybe it is silly. At lot of companies are still powered by mainframes. Big, powerful machines in centralized locations can provide lower Total Cost of Ownership. Big steel isn’t always a bad business proposition.
The bottom line is that if users are involved in the right way, this could be a very wise move. Long live the mainframe! ;-)