Mobile apps are benefiting the consumer, but how does the mainframe view new advancements in these technologies? In the second part of the three-part mobile blog series on the SHARE President’s Corner, Erika Morphy investigates mobile and how it affects consumers and the mainframe.
Salespeople in some high-end stores are now equipped with tablets that not only access the customer’s previous purchases—to better coordinate the new item they may be considering—but can also place an order if an item is not in stock. Not only that, but in some cases, such as at Nordstrom, the salesperson could be sporting a tablet with an app in which the customer is able to select the style and other details of a suit and the made-to-measure order is placed directly with the factory for tailoring.
It is a thrilling step for mobile functionality from the retailer’s perspective. But what about the mainframe architect’s point of view? A casual observer might imagine such transactions are creating a highly variable load on the back-end mainframe system, but in fact, mainframe systems are built for the very task of handling consumer-driven, variable loads.
Visit the SHARE President’s Corner here to read part 2 of “When Mobility Meets the Mainframe.”