It isn't just the raw library conversion that is an issue for large shops. It is also the "plumbing", the everyday compile and debugging procedures and tools. Consider the SDLC tool to start with, which may be commercial (requiring the shop to wait on the vendor for appropriate changes and then the normal rash of testing and QA requirements before the new product version can be implemented) or which may be home-grown, requiring active changes by often scarce (and due to experienced retirements and/or layoffs, far less knowledgeable of the design and execution of the "plumbing" tools) internal personnel, requiring prioritization of time and talents that may or may not be available due to more pressing business requirements, or even if available, able to accomplish the needed changes in a timely manner.
As usual, the devil is in the details, regardless of the desirability of the end result. Implementation bureaucracy has real value when changes can introduce instability costing clients and companies real money, but also extends the time it takes to implement even desirable results. "Conservative" shops, in the pejorative sense that you use, have real cost concerns that drive their conservative approach to change. Whether the ROI of a change is positive is not the issue; "plumbing" changes like those being introduced by COBOL 5.1 take time and talent away from legitimate, immediate business needs too. All that said, I tend to agree with you that the changes are a positive for the future. I just won't hold my breath while I wait to see them for myself. Peter -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of John Gilmore Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2013 10:06 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: z/OS 2.1 and tools like COBOL 5.1, Fault Analyzer, Debug Tool, etc Shane's surmise that the PDSE requirement for COBOL 5.1 executables will slow its adoption in many shops is certainly correct. All such requirements do so. Where Shane and I differ, and I suspect that this difference is visceral, is that I am radically impatient with the "conservatism" of these shops, which is making them irrelevant, and he is [legitimately] preoccupied with their current, detailed, operational problems. I do not, of course, deny that there are such problems. They are always with us. Nirvana will not obtain when the current batch have been resolved. They will be succeeded by others of much the same sort. The existence of a set of these problems, whatever its current makeup may be, is not, however, an argument for stasis. -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
