More than mainframes: Power utilities are finding that the mix-and-match trend that is evident in computer systems is for them a matter of survival

A mix-and-match trend is taking hold in computer systems design. Rather than relying on one mainframe or minicomputer to do all their computing tasks, more and more industries are blending microcomputers, minicomputers, and mainframes to take advantage of the best features of each. When properly assembled, such a system excels not only in manipulating numbers in large and lengthy calculations, a job traditionally done with mainframes; but it also can simultaneously and repeatedly process simple data in real time, work best handled by mini- and microcomputers.