Up to 96% of UK organisations are concerned about lack of skills in legacy environments

Mainframe and AS/400 specialists thin on the ground independent survey for Shoden Data Systems UK finds

London, UK, 13 August 2009: Shoden Data Systems UK, an innovative provider of server and data storage solutions, today announced the results of an independent survey it commissioned in July this year to understand the impact that the decline in legacy environment management skills is having on UK organisations.

The poll surveyed 100 senior IT decision makers in end user companies spanning industries including financial, manufacturing, retail, distribution, transport and utilities. The most significant finding is that 96% of respondents working for financial businesses said that they are concerned to some degree that with all the excitement around cloud computing and SaaS they will not be able to retain the necessary skills to operate and maintain legacy environments such as IBM mainframe or AS/400.

The figure is still very high in the manufacturing sector, with 88% of IT decision makers admitting to being concerned, while across all the markets polled, the average comes in at a staggering 83%. The retail, distribution and transport sectors come in just a little lower at 80%.

There are a number of reasons that can account to this lack of confidence. Those IT professionals who learned their mainframe skills thirty years ago are now close to retirement, and converting from a legacy environment such as mainframe to other platforms such as Windows and Unix is time consuming and costly. In the mainframe community, there is also a lingering lack of confidence in the broader systems management capabilities of other platforms because for more than twenty years mainframes have been providing rock solid reliability, serviceability and availability, features that alternatives such as Linux, Unix and Windows are still struggling to match.

“Financial and manufacturing organisations have been around for a very long time and therefore they were among the earliest adopters of IT. Twenty or thirty years ago mainframe and AS/400 were the default platforms and as a result the investment and reliance on IT by these companies is very high,” said John Taffinder, CEO of Shoden Data Systems. “Also, mainframe technology still offers proven levels of data protection, integrity and security that financial organisations are worried they won’t achieve with other platforms; with the current focus on protecting confidential data this is simply a risk they cannot run.”

Mainframe technology is as old as the Boeing 747 and, like the iconic aircraft, it is still the default workhorse for many of its original adopters. However, while today individuals still train to become commercial pilots, the number of IT professionals going into the mainframe space is fast disappearing. “The shrinking number of IT professionals skilled in legacy technologies should not spell disaster for organisations who rely on them; by taking a close look now at the business requirements, the available IT resources and which applications are running on the legacy systems, IT managers and directors can design a strategy that will allow their companies to continue to operate successfully and efficiently,” concluded Taffinder.

About Shoden Data Systems UK
Shoden Data Systems UK is based in London, was founded in 2008, and is part of the Shoden Data Systems (Pty) Ltd group, Africa’s largest independent IT solutions integrator. Shoden Data Systems UK is an innovative provider of best-of-breed data storage solutions to the UK market place, with a focus on backup and recovery, and high-performance offerings that meet the needs of enterprise-level organisations. Shoden Data Systems UK is committed to supplying the highest levels of pre and post-sales support, taking full advantage of Shoden’s world-leading infrastructure in Johannesburg, while relying on a local experienced and skilled team. Shoden Data Systems UK solutions are available directly from the company. For further information please contact us on +44 (0) 20 7956 2103 or info@shoden.co.uk.