JCDA is getting more ink.
Coffee Break
for October 13, 1999
by Don Denoncourt
The '60s, Mainframes, and Toasters Are Back
That's right, the 60s are back. Case in point: Application Service Providers (ASPs). Tell me they're not time-sharing systems. What's happening with ASPs is software companies are putting a system on the Internet, with quality software, and then these ASP sites allow other companies to serve their customer base from the ASP system. An example is AgencyWorks, which is the first ASP available for life insurance. AgencyWorks is of particular interest to us because Ascensus Insurance Services and AMS Services, Inc. reengineered their existing AS/400 RPG applications for Internet deployment. They did this by using Jacada (www.jacada.com) to provide a Java GUI front-end to existing AS/400 applications. I expect more AS/400 software companies will leverage their software by redeploying it on the Internet. With their apps Internet ready, they, or just some young entrepreneur, will set up an ASP site so that other companies can use the powerful business application software that the AS/400 is known for without the burden of maintaining hardware and software.
I brought up the topic of ASPs to several programmers at last week's COMMON in San Antonio. They collectively said: "No one wants a turnkey system. Everyone wants to customize application software for their own particular needs." They were wrong. Not "everyone" wants to customize application software. Insurance agents don't. They don't want to maintain computer systems, and they don't want to modify software. They just want to sell life insurance. And they are tired of PCs going down and paying to have software installed and maintained.
Why outsource? Let me list the top reasons that companies outsource as stated in InternetWeek Online, June 14, 1999, Issue 769:
Expedite reengineering of noncore systems
Gain access to world-class IT expertise
Receive cash infusion from transfer of assets to outsourcer
Free internal resources for more strategic projects
Offload function that's difficult to manage
Replace capital expenditures with pay-as-you-go operational expenses
Reduce research, development, and deployment costs
Reduce investment risk in rapidly changing environment
Obtain additional IT manpower
The Mainframe Is Back
Speaking of the '60s, what was the predominant system of the '60s? That's right--mainframes. I read a statement in one of those free Internet programming tabloids that proclaimed: "The mainframe is back." So I began to take an informal survey at COMMON by prodding programmers with the statement "The mainframe is back." I kept prodding programmers with this statement until I discovered that the normal reaction to that statement was laughter and ridicule. So, after enduring considerable ridicule, I decided to limit my survey to coders who had a mainframe background. Of the four or five I ran into, one still choked up with laughter but the others enthusiastically agreed. They said: "What system has better scalability, security, and transaction control." (It's a rhetorical question; don't bother answering it; they won't listen anyway.) In fact, I found one site, Internet TimeShare Resources (www.internet-timeshare.com ), that is renting IBM mainframe hourly, monthly, and annually.
IBM is certainly pushing the mainframe resurgence. For instance, a tag line at one of the pages at IBM's S/390 Web site (www.s390.ibm.com) says: "The Magic Box is an S/390 e-business server." The site further says: "If you are interested in extending your original mainframe application investment via the Web or want to consolidate multiple workloads, the S/390 can be the incredibly reliable server you need."
Still, after years of decentralization to mini-computers and the rise of personal desktop systems, it's a hard thought to swallow. So what's bringing it back? It's the Internet. The power of large systems is being taken advantage of with server-side Internet applications, thin clients, and cross-platform application architectures.
Now, I'm not pushing the S/390; I'm just pointing out that the Internet has caused a resurgence of centralized systems, only now it's with things like Web application servers, application service providers, and thin-client, cross-platform applications. You and I know that the AS/400 is in the best position to be the premier system for server-side Web applications, but we need to also let the mainframers have a little joy in the resurgence of their own applications.
The Toaster Is Back
Interestingly enough, the '60s isn't the only thing that's back--the toaster is back, too. "The toaster?" you ask. Let me explain. When Java was first created, back when it was called Oak, it was designed to be a tiny language that was able to run on small appliances-like toasters. Oak was a well-designed language that accomplished what its creators set out to do, but Sun scrapped the idea when they found out that people weren't going to pay $300 for a toaster. So, the Oak language was shelved until the Web came into vogue. Sun then realized that their "toaster" language would be perfect for Internet applications. Initially, Java deployed as Java applets, but, in truth, even that didn't work out all that well. Java really didn't catch on for real-world business applications until server-side Java technologies became available.
But it seems that Sun never did forsake the toaster. Java operating systems are now becoming a reality, and small appliances that use Java are just now beginning to be used. Let me give you a sign of how this "toaster" technology is making headway: I was sitting beside Dan Darnell (the author of a Java book that competes with my own "Java Application Strategies for AS/400 Applications") in a session at COMMON. Dan became bored so he pulled out his Palm III and began playing solitaire-which was running a JavaOS game application Dan had developed himself with Java.
The solitaire game only shows that the technology is ready. I was speaking with a barcode vendor, and he told me that Java was being pushed up from the shop floor instead of down from corporate offices. That's right. Small, durable, wireless devices that run JavaOS are being used to handle the latest barcoding applications. So, it seems that legacy applications are being squeezed by Java applications from both sales and marketing Internet applications and shop floor control and shipping applications.
My recommendation is to keep your S/390 and your AS/400, but throw away your toaster 'cause you're going to have to upgrade to one that has a Java Virtual Machine.
REFERENCE
"In Focus: Application Outsourcing--ASPs Gain Ground; IT Still Skeptical," Saroja Girishankar and Chuck Moozakis, InternetWeek Online, June 14, 1999, Issue 769, www.internetwk.com
midrangecomputing.com
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