ABSTRACT
Mainframe shops today cannot claim unfamiliarity with TCP/IP. Without exception, corporations that use mainframes for their MIS now have a TCP/IP-based intranet in addition to their traditional SNA/APPN or multiprotocol-oriented enterprise network. Most, furthermore, already have a presence on the Internet in the form of a home page, and many are actively exploring the possibilities of using the Internet for electronic commerce, customer support, public relations, product promotions, and global remote access. Not missing out on the tantalizing potential of E-commerce over the Internet, next to that of Y2K concerns, is indubitably the most pressing MIS issue that is being discussed at the highest levels of corporations, starting at the Board Room. In parallel, intranet-tointranet communications via extranets are being viewed as the most effective means of streamlining and expediting enterprise-to-enterprise
transactions. All of this intranet and Internet (i.e., i·net) activity means that TCP/IP is already being widely used alongside mainframe-based computing systems.
