Prospects for stability any time soon in the cut-throat IBM mainframe market will be dashed by news that Electronic Data Systems Corp is saving much more on its buying of IBM 3090 and compatible mainframes than it expected when it invested an estimated $80m for 20% of the new Hitachi Data Systems seven months ago. At that time, reports Computer Systems News, it looked to save $60m over three years from lower hardware costs as it switched its orders to what was to become in effect an in-house source of supply. Instead, they’ll probably save $60m in the first year alone – not from us but from IBM and Amdahl, Hitachi Data chief Gary Moore told the US weekly. Electronic Data revealed at a closed meeting with analysts that it had saved about 17% more on mainframes this year than it had expected.
