Which Came First?

Rick Marsico

You’ve all heard the old adage, haven’t you? - No, not that one. I’m referring to the one that goes “which came first, the personal computer or the personal computing environment?”

Ok, so I doubt you’ve heard that one until now, however, unlike the chicken and the egg, the answer is quite clear. In the world of the IBM mainframe, the personal computing environment was introduced well before the advent of the personal computer boom. The concept of personal computing at the enterprise level became a reality with the general release of the VM (Virtual Machine) system control program way back in 1972.

The VM/CMS operating system introduced a robust virtual machine capability coupled with a personalized computing environment referred to as the Conversational Monitor System (CMS). What VM delivers to the individual user is “virtually” all of the capabilities, features, and facilities associated with the physical machine upon which it is hosted. VM extends a unique and nearly complete virtual copy of the real processor to each and every user logged into the system. Needless to say, the casual user (i.e., non-Computer Scientist type) will never directly tap into the personal mainframe at their fingertips, but rather interact with an application layer of one flavor or another. For most administrative users, this application is the CMS editor used primarily for viewing and maintaining data files and for wrapping JCL (Job Control Language) around FOCUS Report Writer procedures. Where the academic sector is concerned, VM/CMS hosts a variety of computing languages as well as support for specialized software such as statistical packages. Until recently, VM was a very cost effective platform for delivering just such services. However, with declines in the popularity of this operating system in favor of other personal computing and server-based open system environments, IBM has slowly but steadily directed its developmental efforts elsewhere. Though its role as a mainstream production platform may be diminishing, VM will most likely continue to thrive as a special purpose SCP both internal and external to IBM. In fact, the virtual machine is currently being promoted as an optional host environment for large-scale implementations of Linux on the mainframe.

A little over a year ago, IBM announced the elimination of significant educational discounts associated with the VM software license and supporting program products. It became apparent that VM/CMS was no longer the affordable or cost effective solution it had been for more than 23 years at Youngstown State University. It would now be difficult, if not impossible, to justify the expense associated with VM given that its personal mainframe capabilities were no longer being exploited, but rather, its primary role was that of an application server (and, it should be said, a very good one at that). All is not lost, or should I say “our goose has yet to be cooked”, given such services can now be more cost effectively migrated to the personal computing or open system environment. The options are many. As you probably can guess by now, this has lead to the demise of VM at YSU as well as at most other institutions of higher education.

To assist in the migration away from this environment, IBM has granted a special bid to the University supporting reduced software costs through June 30, 2004. This short-term pricing will allow the VM license (and associated products) to be maintained until all components are completely eliminated on the designated date. Priority has been given to the identification of alternative solutions allowing for the migration of applications to alternative platforms (where available and feasible).

Internal to the Department of Computer Services, a significant migration effort is well on its way. To better manage the impact to individual users, frequent and detailed project updates will be released to the University community. If you have any specific comments or concerns at this time, please direct them to my attention at rjmarsico@ysu.edu.