[Info-vax] For sale: VAXstation 4000/90 128MB Fully Working and Tested

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 7/10/2022 10:02 AM, Kerry Main wrote:
>> From: Info-vax <info-vax-bounces at rbnsn.com> On Behalf Of Arne Vajhøj via Info-vax
>> Sent: July-09-22 8:43 PM
>> A recent case: Fedex.
>>
>> They are moving from Cobol/IBM mainframe/own data center to "cloud
>> native"/Azure & Oracle cloud.
>>
>> The CIO announced when this thread was going on that they has already
>> moved 80% of applications and that the remaining 20% would all be done in
>> 2024.
>>
>> He did not mention what "cloud native" covers, but elsewhere it is revealed
>> to be:
>> - Angular for client side
>> - Java and Spring Boot for applications
>> - kubernetes and docker for infrastructure
>>
>> Which is not really surprising. In the 1980's nobody got fired for choosing IBM.
>> Today nobody get fired (in a large conservative
>> company) for choosing above stack.
> 
> The case for App modernization as part of changing the companies
> business model from self-supporting to outsourcing (aka public cloud)
> has been around for 40+ years.
There is not much outsourcing involved.

The non-people parts involved are: building space,
servers, network, electricity, cooling, internet
connectivity.

The people parts involved are: security guards,
building maintenance, server & network install,
server & network monitoring.

That is like 99% non-people and 1% people.

> The justification usually means reducing the companies IT staff
> headcount (shows up as big benefit for the financial bottom line).
No.

They keep all their developers and 95+% of their operations
people.

They save on using cheaper stuff (commodity servers instead
of very expensive servers) and from not having data centers.

In the case of Fedex the CIO claims savings of 400 M$ per year.

> While decisions like this at the top of a company like this might
> make the senior execs look they are "forward thinking" to their
> shareholders and CEO, the reality is that "rip-and-replace" projects
> like this inevitably: >
> - cost much more (in some cases, astronomically) than originally budgeted when the full picture is evaluated
> - take much longer than originally anticipated
> - those making this original decision are usually never held accountable for those business model changes

Fedex seems quite happy with how it is going.

> Hence the "upgrade and integrate" strategies are becoming more common
> i.e. private or on-prem cloud with a small bit of public cloud (aka
> hybrid strategy).
They would not save those 400 M$ per year by continuing doing
what they have done the last 40 years.

And the rip and replace cost and risk is the same whether the
target is public cloud or private cloud.

Arne