WebSphere Revolution

CICS—The King of Transaction Processing Long before the rise of the Internet and the introduction of WebSphere, mainframe computers dominated the computing landscape. Large organizations used IBM 360 mainframe computers first introduced in 1964 to serve their customers and citizenry. In the late 1960s there was a growing need, particularly from the utilities industry, to implement systems that could be “online” and process data in real time from terminals connected to the computers. That is, they wanted to perform online “transactions.” So an IBM team in Des Plaines, Illinois began work on software to meet this need. The result of this effort was released on April 29, 1968 as the free “Public Utility Customer Information Control System.” Occupying a barely believable 15 KB of main storage, this was the first of a new class of software known as “transaction servers” which ensure that all parts of a multi-part transaction are accomplished successfully. The very next year, IBM moved to “unbundle” its software which up until that time was included with mainframe computers at no additional charge. At the same time, it became clear that companies in businesses other than the utilities industry were wanting and using this software. So on July 8, 1969 IBM released the first software product to be priced and licensed separately from the mainframe hardware—the “Customer Information Control System” (CICS today pronounced “C” “I” “C” “S” or sometimes “kicks”). From this point, the story of CICS becomes an object lesson in evergreen success. By smoothly adapting to important changes in technology, CICS has stayed ahead of its customers’ needs. So when a customer was ready to adopt new technology, they found that CICS was there ready to support them. But the story of CICS is not just about implementing technology. This story of CICS also includes an enthusiastic community of users who chose to partner with IBM by applying CICS to meet ever-changing real-world needs. CICS has now celebrated its 40th anniversary and it’s still going strong. Without that partnership and the knowledge given back to IBM from the user community, CICS would not be the success story that it is today. More on the Web • Video: CICS Transaction Server 3.2 Launch (19:54) • CICS History • CICS Today on IBM.com “CICS is probably the most successful piece of software of all time…Millions of users unknowingly activate CICS everyday, and if it were to disappear the world economy would grind to a halt.” —Phil Manchester, Personal Computer Magazine, March 1994 For over 40 years CICS has been, and still is, the foundation for transaction processing. “Although most people are blissfully unaware of CICS, they probably make use of it several times a week, for almost every commercial electronic transaction they make. In the whole scheme of things, CICS is much more important than Microsoft Windows.” —Martin Campbell-Kelly, From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog (A History of the Software Industry, MIT Press 2003) 21 http://www-01.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/35/index.html http://www-01.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/tserver/index.html?S_TACT=103BGW01&S_CMP=campaign

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of WebSphere Revolution

WebSphere Revolution Table of Contents The Rise of Internet Business WebSphere Takes the Stage WebSphere Application Server Evolves Beyond the Application Server WebSphere and On Demand Business New Flexibility through SOA An Eye Toward the Future

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