If you ask IT professionals what they worry about the most, chances are mobile will rank high on the list. Security, for one thing, is still a huge issue. And because buying a sweater or transferring money is now as easy as pulling out a smartphone, it exponentially increases the volume of transactions organizations must process daily.

That’s where IBM hopes the z13, its new profoundly powerful mainframe, comes in.

The z13 has the capacity to process the equivalent of 100 Cyber Mondays every 24 hours, according to a recent Fortune article that examines IBM’s long-term commitment to the mainframe.

It’s the safest, fastest mainframe yet--and that’s saying a lot for a platform that hangs its hat on security and speed, even at the outer limits of an organization’s data volume. Indeed, many companies couldn’t survive without them.

“They are so embedded in the IT organizations of most enterprises that replacing them is extraordinarily risky, expensive and difficult,” Richard Fichera, vice president and principal analyst with Forrester Research, told Fortune. “Most mobile transactions result in some access to mainframe-resident data being triggered.”

z13 was literally made for IBM’s customers--more than 60 organizations that use mainframes offered their input on its design, according to Fortune.

In addition to simplifying mobile, IBM has also pitched z13 as an ideal platform for cloud data centers that exploit the mainframe’s capabilities around virtualization and automation.

SHARE remains committed to serving as a key influencer in the industry and will be providing ongoing updates, education and opportunities for discussion around the z13 announcement.

What do you think z13 means for the future of IBM? How do you expect to integrate the new system into your operations? Is z13 the golden ticket for solving the mobile dilemma?

Head over to SHARE’s LinkedIn group to participate in this and other discussions about this latest chapter for the mainframe.