With all the talk of newer faster computers and distributed networks there is a new problem arising. "The mainframe is often viewed as a cobwebbed hunk of iron that's only good for housing legacy data. But in 2004, the year Big Iron turned 40, mainframe revenue actually grew by 44 percent compared with the year before." Not only is there a huge installed base but mainframe sales are up 44% last year. The problem is that the people who can program and maintain these machines are retiring. New people see the field as a dead end obsolete position. Nearly %80 of people who maintained mainframes are over 50 even though more then 70% of the worlds information is on mainframes. Brain drain is starting to pose both real problems as well as huge opportunities.
Opportunity
