The mainframe still has a lot of fans, and for them the continued development of the platform is a must.

"For the mainframe to remain competitive it has to improve its price/performance by at least 20% every year, and this launch is one step in the right direction," says Fredrik Runnquist, head of IT at Swedish bank Swedbank.

The mainframe has long been known for security, so it's no surprise that IBM announced improved security features in the z10. They include authorization management that uses encryption algorithms for multiple layers of security that authenticate the identity of people attempting to access services and resources. Virtualization security also is being highlighted by Big Blue, which says it achieved the U.S. government's highest level of security certification for the z10 -- the Evaluation Assurance Level 5 (EAL5).

"When customers are looking to allocate additional resources in the mainframe and partition them to save money and access capacity on demand, the EAL5 certification states that the virtual partitions that are opened running the specific operating systems are in effect the same as if you were running another server connected to the System z," IBM says.

Also on Tuesday, the company announced Rational software for the mainframe to speed the deployment of applications and make them easier to use. For example, IBM says the software translates COBOL applications into Web services, meaning developers don't have to learn the programming language.

IBM also announced new attached storage offerings for the mainframe, including disk storage with new disaster recovery features, and tape virtualization.

The IDG News Service contributed to this report.