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Mainframe customers who have outsourced their IT infrastructure could be missing out on cost saving opportunities

Carol Davis-Mann

Carol Davis-Mann

February 24, 2014

If you are a large organisation running IBM Mainframe you could be paying too much for your enterprise software. Most Mainframe software charges are based on peak CPU usage, so whatever your peak in a given month is what you pay for.

If you’ve outsourced your IT Infrastructure these peak charges can be passed onto you as the client. Outsource contracts are often constructed on a peak usage model. A reduction in peak demand translates into a reduction in cost. Even if your IT infrastructure is outsourced you can take control of your mainframe costs.

“I have seen many large mainframe customers struggle to get a clear view on when their workload peaks occur during the month across all mainframe workloads. This can be especially difficult for customers who have outsourced their IT infrastructure. Without this vital information it is very difficult to get workloads tuned effectively. Only once these peaks have been identified can organisations really bring down the cost of their mainframe software licencing through tuning activities” Paul Stoker, Director, Triton Consulting Ltd.

 

There are three key areas when looking at Mainframe cost reduction:

 

1 – LPAR Optimisation

 

2 – Workload Optimisation

 

3 – Workload Tuning

 

An outsourcing provider may not offer to run these optimisation and tuning projects as a standard part of their service. However, it is very important for organisations to take ownership of their mainframe software charges, whether they are outsourced or not, to ensure that they are keeping costs in check and keeping workload running at optimum performance levels.

The benefits of mainframe tuning can be felt across the entire business. From the CFO who will see significant reduction in IT spend through to the IT teams who benefit from improved application performance and thus improved customer service, a thorough tuning exercise can indeed improve business performance.

Find out more about the zTune service or download the white paper