Mainframe Alliance Passes 100 Member Mark, Microsoft Says

Published: May 30, 2007

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft's Mainframe Alliance--a group of computer makers, software vendors, and users interested in finding ways to move off IBM S/390, zSeries, and System z mainframe computers to Windows servers--has passed the 100 member mark, the software giant announced yesterday.

Membership in the MMA has been up and down since it was founded in 2004, but on a whole, the group is growing quickly, according to Microsoft. In the last year, the group has added more than 40 new members, and today it's made up of several OEMs, more than 30 software vendors, and more than 50 system integrators and service providers.

The group provides real value to its members, according to Ron Langer, vice president of legacy modernization at Fujitsu, one of the OEMs participating in MMA. "The Alliance provides tangible value to legacy system owners by pooling the information they need to make an informed decision on modernization and the resources they need to effectively implement their migration," he says.

While Microsoft does its best to denigrate the mainframe as being obsolete and incapable of handling today's modern workloads, the fact is that companies continue to invest in the mainframe. According to recent figures from IDC, the System z mainframe platform posted sales of $933 million in the first quarter of the year, up 11.7 percent from a year ago, and the biggest share gain IBM has seen for first quarter sales in three years.

Sales of Windows servers, by comparison, increased 10.4 percent to $4.8 billion during the first quarter, according to IDC.

RELATED STORIES

Mainframe Migrations Celebrated at First Alliance Conference

Mainframe Migration Alliance Gains New Members, Web Site

                     Post this story to del.icio.us
               Post this story to Digg
    Post this story to Slashdot