The mainframe can provide a strong security platform to build on that integrates hardware encryption, system architecture, operating system design, security software and secure middleware to protect applications and data. Forrester survey: 97% of executives surveyed said that information security is highly critical to their companys ability to compete in their market or industry. More than 90% of those surveyed and interviewed for this research felt that using using the mainframe that has security natively designed into its architecture made the most sense.”]