This includes customers downsizing their mainframe applications to a distributed Unix or client-server environment.
He conceded that users' huge investments in mainframe applications prevented them from moving to smaller systems.
Earlier in his career, Duffield established two mainframe application software companies.
Microsoft says that its new Windows Server 2003 operating system can replace mainframe applications in corporate data centers.
Many web apps in banks are just front-ending mainframe applications.
What you describe is actually quite common for front-ended mainframe applications.
The most prominent technique is to provide a Web-based interface to a terminal-based mainframe application.
This allowed further scale-up for taking on the largest mainframe applications.
In the United States, X.25 packet switching was used heavily in government and financial networks that use mainframe applications.
Midland Bank, another Micro Control user, is only now migrating away from mainframe applications.