Research Reveals Mobile’s Big Impact on the Mainframe; Trends Prompting Australian CIOs to Re-Examine Performance Management Strategies
Announcement posted by Bass PR 16 Dec 2013
Majority of Australian CIOs Concerned that Inefficient Distributed Applications are Driving MIPS Costs Up and Performance Levels Down
Compuware Corporation (Nasdaq: CPWR), the technology performance company, today announced the results of a CIO survey* on the impact of new technologies and trends on the mainframe application environment. The survey found mobile technology is increasing complexity, usage and costs of mainframe applications. As a result, companies are finding it more difficult to isolate and fix problems. Nearly 90 percent of Australian CIOs said they are using outdated transaction monitoring practices that don’t provide visibility into how distributed and mainframe applications interact. In addition, IT staff are spending needless time in “war rooms” trying to resolve complex application issues they can’t see, increasing the likelihood that if problems persist, brand reputations -- and bottom lines -- suffer.
“The survey results paint a picture of what IT departments have to cope with on a day-to-day basis,” said Kris Manery, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mainframe Solutions, Compuware. “The findings showed that more than half of customer-facing and business-critical applications are dependent on the mainframe. At the same time, 84 percent of CIOs felt distributed application developers are unaware of the impact they have on the mainframe environment. That is cause for concern as a poorly optimised application interacting with the mainframe will drive up MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) costs unnecessarily. Those costs could be drastically reduced if developers had visibility into how their code was impacting the mainframe.”
The mainframe in the new hyper-distributed world: new workloads, new challenges
In a related subject, distributed applications are increasing mainframe usage, as well as increasing complexity and risk into the mainframe environment, also making it more difficult to manage. Developers unfamiliar with the mainframe are often not optimising code, causing inefficiencies to creep through. As a result, the computer power needed to deliver applications, or MIPS consumption, is escalating. In addition, IT teams are under more pressure to deliver high-performing applications, as slow-downs or failures directly impact revenue, brand and productivity. The survey revealed many issues, including the following:
· Over half (56 percent) of enterprise applications call upon the mainframe to complete transactions, yet the majority of distributed application developers today have limited understanding of the mainframe. Many Australian CIOs believe this lack of knowledge is leading to inefficient mainframe access.
· 76 percent of Australian CIOs said mainframe workloads are increasing and becoming more varied. According to their estimates, distributed applications have produced a 51 percent increase in workload over the past five years.
· 92 percent of Australian CIOs believe the complexity of enterprise applications is creating new risks in relation to mainframe application performance.
· 88 percent said new customer-facing applications are accessing the mainframe. Consequently, performance expectations have increased, leading to mounting concerns about lost revenues (68 percent), loss of employee productivity (48 percent) and brand/reputation damage (52 percent).
Fighting new problems with old tools
Companies are still using outdated silo-focused methods to monitor performance and are often unaware there is a problem until it starts impacting users. Yet added complexity is making it increasingly difficult to find and isolate the cause of issues, making problem resolution slower, despite added pressure from the business for technology to perform well. The survey addressed these new complexities and how they impact business:
· 88 percent of Australian CIOs think the added complexity of applications working across distributed and mainframe environments is making problem resolution take longer.
· 88 percent of Australian CIOs are being pressured to reduce mean time to resolution on application performance problems.
· 96 percent of Australian companies are still relying on aggregate data or averages to monitor performance of their IT.
· 76 percent have no visibility of the actual end-user experience and 68 percent of companies are often unaware of performance problems until calls start coming in to the help desk.
· 16 percent of Australian CIOs say there is a war room situation in their organisation on a monthly basis; 36 percent having one at least once a week; and eight percent daily. On average, nine people are involved in these war rooms.
“New problems require new solutions,” said Manery. “The interconnected nature of the enterprise application environment needs to be managed in an integrated way. If IT is constantly tied up trying to solve problems, it has a ripple effect across the business, delaying projects and holding back innovation. Over time this makes it harder for businesses to compete and companies lose their competitive edge. Yet by moving from a reactive to a proactive approach to identifying and rectifying performance issues before they turn into problems for end-users, companies can deliver time and resources back to the business to invest in more revenue-generating activities.”
*Commissioned by Compuware and conducted by independent research company Vanson Bourne.
About Compuware APM for Mainframe
Compuware APM for Mainframe is the industry's first and only 24/7 end-to-end performance monitoring solution that traces every transaction from the browser through distributed tiers and deep into the mainframe. Compuware APM for Mainframe unites PurePath for z/OS with Compuware Strobe to provide an exclusive level of visibility into mainframe applications that includes CICS and Java transaction performance with deep root-cause analysis. With unparalleled visibility across the enterprise, organisations can view the impact distributed code has on mainframe workload, enabling them to reduce MIPS and postpone upgrades, speed mean time to resolution and improve customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.compuware.com/apm4mainframe.
Compuware Corporation
Compuware Corporation, the technology performance company, makes technology make a difference by providing software, experts and best practices to ensure technology works well and delivers value. Compuware solutions make the world's most important technologies perform at their best for leading organisations worldwide, including 46 of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and 12 of the top 20 most most visited U.S. web sites.
“The survey results paint a picture of what IT departments have to cope with on a day-to-day basis,” said Kris Manery, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mainframe Solutions, Compuware. “The findings showed that more than half of customer-facing and business-critical applications are dependent on the mainframe. At the same time, 84 percent of CIOs felt distributed application developers are unaware of the impact they have on the mainframe environment. That is cause for concern as a poorly optimised application interacting with the mainframe will drive up MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) costs unnecessarily. Those costs could be drastically reduced if developers had visibility into how their code was impacting the mainframe.”
The mainframe in the new hyper-distributed world: new workloads, new challenges
In a related subject, distributed applications are increasing mainframe usage, as well as increasing complexity and risk into the mainframe environment, also making it more difficult to manage. Developers unfamiliar with the mainframe are often not optimising code, causing inefficiencies to creep through. As a result, the computer power needed to deliver applications, or MIPS consumption, is escalating. In addition, IT teams are under more pressure to deliver high-performing applications, as slow-downs or failures directly impact revenue, brand and productivity. The survey revealed many issues, including the following:
· Over half (56 percent) of enterprise applications call upon the mainframe to complete transactions, yet the majority of distributed application developers today have limited understanding of the mainframe. Many Australian CIOs believe this lack of knowledge is leading to inefficient mainframe access.
· 76 percent of Australian CIOs said mainframe workloads are increasing and becoming more varied. According to their estimates, distributed applications have produced a 51 percent increase in workload over the past five years.
· 92 percent of Australian CIOs believe the complexity of enterprise applications is creating new risks in relation to mainframe application performance.
· 88 percent said new customer-facing applications are accessing the mainframe. Consequently, performance expectations have increased, leading to mounting concerns about lost revenues (68 percent), loss of employee productivity (48 percent) and brand/reputation damage (52 percent).
Fighting new problems with old tools
Companies are still using outdated silo-focused methods to monitor performance and are often unaware there is a problem until it starts impacting users. Yet added complexity is making it increasingly difficult to find and isolate the cause of issues, making problem resolution slower, despite added pressure from the business for technology to perform well. The survey addressed these new complexities and how they impact business:
· 88 percent of Australian CIOs think the added complexity of applications working across distributed and mainframe environments is making problem resolution take longer.
· 88 percent of Australian CIOs are being pressured to reduce mean time to resolution on application performance problems.
· 96 percent of Australian companies are still relying on aggregate data or averages to monitor performance of their IT.
· 76 percent have no visibility of the actual end-user experience and 68 percent of companies are often unaware of performance problems until calls start coming in to the help desk.
· 16 percent of Australian CIOs say there is a war room situation in their organisation on a monthly basis; 36 percent having one at least once a week; and eight percent daily. On average, nine people are involved in these war rooms.
“New problems require new solutions,” said Manery. “The interconnected nature of the enterprise application environment needs to be managed in an integrated way. If IT is constantly tied up trying to solve problems, it has a ripple effect across the business, delaying projects and holding back innovation. Over time this makes it harder for businesses to compete and companies lose their competitive edge. Yet by moving from a reactive to a proactive approach to identifying and rectifying performance issues before they turn into problems for end-users, companies can deliver time and resources back to the business to invest in more revenue-generating activities.”
*Commissioned by Compuware and conducted by independent research company Vanson Bourne.
About Compuware APM for Mainframe
Compuware APM for Mainframe is the industry's first and only 24/7 end-to-end performance monitoring solution that traces every transaction from the browser through distributed tiers and deep into the mainframe. Compuware APM for Mainframe unites PurePath for z/OS with Compuware Strobe to provide an exclusive level of visibility into mainframe applications that includes CICS and Java transaction performance with deep root-cause analysis. With unparalleled visibility across the enterprise, organisations can view the impact distributed code has on mainframe workload, enabling them to reduce MIPS and postpone upgrades, speed mean time to resolution and improve customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.compuware.com/apm4mainframe.
Compuware Corporation
Compuware Corporation, the technology performance company, makes technology make a difference by providing software, experts and best practices to ensure technology works well and delivers value. Compuware solutions make the world's most important technologies perform at their best for leading organisations worldwide, including 46 of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and 12 of the top 20 most most visited U.S. web sites.