[Info-vax] What does VMS get used for, these days?

[Robert Carleton]

On Sunday, October 30, 2022 at 3:05:53 PM UTC-5, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 10/29/2022 2:08 PM, IanD wrote: 
> > Replaced by cheaper more flexible and up to date standardized offerings 
> 
> > Replaced by cheaper more flexible and up to date standardized offerings 
> 
> > Replaced by cheaper more flexible and up to date standardized offerings
> That is seen. 
> 
> :-(
> > So many VMS systems get shown the door because they lack integration 
> > with the rest of the organisation. Things like Applications dynamics, 
> > Splunk (yes, there's VMSSPI), CyberARK, etc. Then there's things 
> > like MongoDB and other NoSQL flavored stuff that people/products want 
> > to use. Yes, they might all be one off's in their own right but have 
> > a few of these missing on your platform and suddenly your seen as 
> > difficult to work with/non supportive of 'mainstream' technologies.
> Available software is essential for an OS. 
> 
> But I suspect database will look better soon: 
> 
> RDBMS - today we have SQLite and old version of MySQL/MariaDB, but if 
> things work out then we will soon have SQLite, new MySQL/MariaDB and 
> PostgreSQL 
> 
> NoSQL KVS - VMS index-sequential files are OK in most cases 
> 
> NoSQL DS (MongoDB market) - newer versions of MySQL/MariaDB and 
> PostgreSQL can fill this role via their JSON column type so we kjust 
> have to wait 
> 
> NoSQL CS (HBase/Cassandra market) - nobody will want to use VMS for this
> > In terms of current deployments for VMS, I have not heard of VMS 
> > gaining any new business other than upgrades to an existing operation 
> > but I don't frequent VMS circles anymore
> There has probably not been many new VMS customers the last 10 years. 
> 
> And a steady attrition of user base. 
> 
> But still I think VMS future looks better now than in the past. 
> 
> * there is a company dedicated to VMS (VSI) 
> * VMS runs on on standard hardware (x86-64) with a future 
> * VMS can run in common enterprise environments like 
> VMWare ESXI and AWS/Azure/GCP 
> 
> VMS now needs software! 
> 
> Arne

One thing that stands out about OpenVMS is its record-oriented filesystem (Files-11), along with its extensive batch facilities. The Linux and Microsoft Windows environments don't really seem to have those kinds of tools as part of their baseline. It seems like at least some organizations where there is a significant culture separating duties, they might choose OpenVMS as an alternative to z/OS and friends.