Published on the 27/10/2015 | Written by Beverley Head
For all the talk of new age computing platforms, the mainframe still plays a major role with almost two thirds of Australian mainframe users planning to grow their use of the platform…
The latest survey of Australian mainframe users conducted for BMC has again uncovered a user base unwilling, or unable, to let go of legacy platforms such as mainframe computers. A particular asset identified by respondents was the mainframe’s inherent security.
Not that BMC is daunted in its ambition to support enterprises as they do roll out new platforms and applications. The company – which was privatised in order to give it the flexibility it needed to transform itself from a mainly legacy player into an organisation supporting companies as they moved off heritage technology, and has invested over $US100 million doing so – recently announced what it calls its Digital Enterprise Management strategy.
Unpack the marketing around the name, and the strategy actually bundles up a swag of BMC’s existing IT management solutions and services that it hopes will help enterprise users navigate both the need to keep the legacy lights on, and make a push for new digital platforms.
Paul Appleby, EVP for worldwide sales and marketing, was in the antipodes recently explaining the approach to users. Speaking to iStart from Singapore, Appleby said that the toolset and services would help manage what Gartner refers to as bimodal IT, where legacy and modern platforms can be developed and managed in parallel.
Appleby said that the internal transformation of BMC and a migration to more of a cloud based approach had been spurred by taking the company private. “It would be very hard to go through the massive transformation and shift in revenue mix as a public company,” because of the negative impact on profitability which would have been galling for shareholders.
Sounding a warning for both BMC and its customers, Appleby quoted GE’s Jack Welch, that if the pace of change outside a company was faster than change inside a company then the end was nigh. He claimed that the transformation programme at BMC was proving effective, claiming six straight quarters of growth for the company.
It also had a nice win last week in a US Court which struck down a bid to force BMC to pay an extra $US150 million to a hedge fund after it had argued that the software company had been sold too cheaply when being privatised.
The company’s legal issues don’t end there however, as its ongoing IP battle with rival IT services management provider ServiceNow is still underway, said Appleby.
