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FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

datacenterdynamics.com

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Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#51

Post by tunap »

cs702 wrote: post #36
kragen wrote: post #19

Ultimately companies that abdicate their informatics operations like this will give their profits to their data-center operators, who will be empowered to charge them whatever price they want. Because what's their BATNA? Migrating from Azure to AWS when Microsoft doesn't want to let them? Renting your information infrastructure is a great way to reduce startup costs, but down the road, that information infrastructure…

Without a doubt, a future generation of executives will revisit and reverse the decision to rent all information infrastructure, but that will likely be many, many years down the road. In the meantime, the current generation of executives who made this decision will look very smart for saving the company lots of money for a good number of years. And they stand to benefit personally from it. They're doing the rational…

Sounds a lot like farming out NOC-Ops to Wipro. Somebody had to think it was a good idea & managed to sell it to the policy makers for a nice promotion. So, when reality hits, does the same person get demoted further down than their original ladder rung?

Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#52

Post by kragen »

cs702 wrote: post #36
kragen wrote: post #19

Ultimately companies that abdicate their informatics operations like this will give their profits to their data-center operators, who will be empowered to charge them whatever price they want. Because what's their BATNA? Migrating from Azure to AWS when Microsoft doesn't want to let them? Renting your information infrastructure is a great way to reduce startup costs, but down the road, that information infrastructure…

Without a doubt, a future generation of executives will revisit and reverse the decision to rent all information infrastructure, but that will likely be many, many years down the road. In the meantime, the current generation of executives who made this decision will look very smart for saving the company lots of money for a good number of years. And they stand to benefit personally from it. They're doing the rational…

I don't think it will be a future generation of executives; I think it's the current generation of executives at companies and agencies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and the NSA who will not rent all their information infrastructure. I agree that the executives who thus turn their companies into sharecroppers on land owned by Microsoft et al. will be richly rewarded despite the misfortune that befalls their stockholders; like Stephen Elop, if things go badly, they have an impeccable excuse.

Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#53

Post by numbsafari »

noobermin wrote: post #47
cs702 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without a doubt, a future generation of executives will revisit and reverse the decision to rent all information infrastructure, but that will likely be many, many years down the road. In the meantime, the current generation of executives who made this decision will look very smart for saving the company lots of money for a good number of years. And they stand to benefit personally from it. They're doing the rational…

It's amazing there are no other voices in the room pushing back against this. It really makes you wonder how companies even function at all, much less make money. Being so short sided never ends well.

There are very likely voices, but they didn’t win this battle.

Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#54

Post by tpetry »

chrisseaton wrote: post #44
kragen wrote: post #19

Ultimately companies that abdicate their informatics operations like this will give their profits to their data-center operators, who will be empowered to charge them whatever price they want. Because what's their BATNA? Migrating from Azure to AWS when Microsoft doesn't want to let them? Renting your information infrastructure is a great way to reduce startup costs, but down the road, that information infrastructure…

You can say the same thing for hundreds of parts of a company like FedEx. For example FedEx flies Boeing jets. It's completely reliant on Boeing for parts for those jets. Presumably Boeing can charge whatever it wants. Your company is always going to be reliant on other suppliers and contracts. Unless you're planning on building your own independent country in some location that has all the natural resources you need…

> For example FedEx flies Boeing jets. It's completely reliant on Boeing for parts for those jets. Presumably Boeing can charge whatever it wants.

Nobody said that FedEx should build their own server hardware. And that's what you are comparing it too.

FedEx could just buy server appliances from e.g. Dell (buying the Boeing jet) and operating it. Because paying some other air cargo company will eat a lot of their margin, the same with Cloud infrastructure. They are not a startup which could better invest their time in development, they can without any problems hire some people to administer their server fleet. When they switch to a cloud they will likewise hire some engineers only managing e.g. AWS to administer it.

Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#55

Post by cs702 »

noobermin wrote: post #47
cs702 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without a doubt, a future generation of executives will revisit and reverse the decision to rent all information infrastructure, but that will likely be many, many years down the road. In the meantime, the current generation of executives who made this decision will look very smart for saving the company lots of money for a good number of years. And they stand to benefit personally from it. They're doing the rational…

It's amazing there are no other voices in the room pushing back against this. It really makes you wonder how companies even function at all, much less make money. Being so short sided never ends well.

Actually, I don't think the decision is that shortsighted in this case. It could work out pretty well for a decade or longer. IMHO FedEx is likely to have a good run before the costs and risks of this decision start outweighing its benefits.

Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#56

Post by pclmulqdq »

oceanswave wrote: post #31
arghwhat wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It certainly seems unlikely. Maybe it's the current operational cost, not subtracted the new operational cost. Maybe it's due to already adopting cloud and thus having paying double. Maybe it's due to the use of mainframes, rather than conventional servers. Either way, it's definitely not the cost difference between on-premise and cloud. Cloud providers are not charities, and their buildings and staff are not cheaper…

So do you feel FedEx should make their own trucks, ships, and planes?

FedEx essentially does make their own trucks - they buy from white box suppliers who have very narrow margins. Ships are similar. Planes probably have slightly higher margins, but they still will buy used.

Getting computers from the cloud companies is very different: most cloud products (aside from server rentals) are not in competitive markets.

Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#57

Post by kllrnohj »

oceanswave wrote: post #31
arghwhat wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It certainly seems unlikely. Maybe it's the current operational cost, not subtracted the new operational cost. Maybe it's due to already adopting cloud and thus having paying double. Maybe it's due to the use of mainframes, rather than conventional servers. Either way, it's definitely not the cost difference between on-premise and cloud. Cloud providers are not charities, and their buildings and staff are not cheaper…

So do you feel FedEx should make their own trucks, ships, and planes?

False equivalence. FedEx isn't building the servers here, either. But they do have their own maintenance for their fleet. Thus the better analogy would be if FedEx outsourced fleet management & maintenance to Hertz or similar.

Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#59

Post by cs702 »

kragen wrote: post #52
cs702 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without a doubt, a future generation of executives will revisit and reverse the decision to rent all information infrastructure, but that will likely be many, many years down the road. In the meantime, the current generation of executives who made this decision will look very smart for saving the company lots of money for a good number of years. And they stand to benefit personally from it. They're doing the rational…

I don't think it will be a future generation of executives; I think it's the current generation of executives at companies and agencies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and the NSA who will not rent all their information infrastructure. I agree that the executives who thus turn their companies into sharecroppers on land owned by Microsoft et al. will be richly rewarded despite the misfortune that befalls their stockho…

Thanks. I think it will have to be a future generation of executives whose egos won't be tied up in old debates and who therefore will be more willing to sacrifice old decisions. If things go badly, that future generation of executives will take over sooner.

Re: FedEx to close data centers, retire mainframes

#60

Post by jsiepkes »

noobermin wrote: post #47
cs702 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without a doubt, a future generation of executives will revisit and reverse the decision to rent all information infrastructure, but that will likely be many, many years down the road. In the meantime, the current generation of executives who made this decision will look very smart for saving the company lots of money for a good number of years. And they stand to benefit personally from it. They're doing the rational…

It's amazing there are no other voices in the room pushing back against this. It really makes you wonder how companies even function at all, much less make money. Being so short sided never ends well.

Convincing people future risks outweigh the short term gains is very hard. That goes for all things.
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