The number of MIPS (million instructions per second) is a general measure of computing performance and, by implication, the amount of work a larger computer can do used by some computer manufacturers (including IBM). For large servers or mainframes, it is also a way to measure the cost of computing: the more MIPS delivered for the money, the better the value. Historically, the cost of computing measured in the number of MIPS has been reduced by half on an annual basis for a number of years.