There is no doubt that mainframes do a great job in high-volume transaction processing or calculation-intensive processes such as statistical analysis. They continue to offer un-paralleled reliability and security; they can function for years without interruption, even during maintenance or upgrade operations. It is not for nothing that RAS (Reliability, Availability and Serviceability) is a term that defines mainframe computers.

However, that is not to say that relying on mainframes? legacy applications doesn't come without drawbacks. Not the least important of these is the fact that many of the original programmers that built those applications are now enjoying the sun in Florida, and that working on CICS or Mantis applications is not exactly the coolest job in town for the new IT graduate.

In other cases the original software supplier is long gone or the IT folks are just too scared to mess up with a system they don't fully understand.

So here is the dilemma: You cannot afford to replace that ERP system that does ninety per cent of the job it is supposed to do, but you could do with boosting its capabilities to meet the needs of a business which is light-years away from 1982.

An increasing number of organisations are turning to technology that allows doing exactly this, software that allows adding new functionality to existing legacy applications without having to touch the underlying code.

These technologies allow building modern user interfaces and to increase the complexity of existing applications. They even allow non-technical administrators to make frequent changes in these applications thus reducing the need to involve IT resources.

The key to these systems is their ability to deliver business domain knowledge in conjunction with the existing legacy applications. The second key ingredient is their ability to do this using easy-to-use software services. As delivering knowledge is the key they normally fall within the Knowledge Management category.

Sounds too good to be true? Technologies like these are being successfully used in the Healthcare, Manufacturing and Customer Management arenas. It is just a matter of time before they become common place for organisations in any industry needing to increase the functionality of their existing legacy applications.

So, what do you say? Maybe it's time to give that old Big Iron a good IQ boost!