Mainframe Modernization Strategies To Consider For Business Transformation

Enterprises are adopting digital transformation (DX) and innovation — and organizations can modernize investments in core mainframe and other existing systems for competitive differentiation. Innovation is vital across applications, process strategies, and infrastructures.

The world is rushing towards a revival post the pandemic, and all the organizations are trying to get back on their feet with the latest and future-ready infrastructure. With a drastic shift towards work from culture and digitalization, it is important for companies to modernize their legacy mainframe applications.

In a recent survey, more than 70% of CEOs and CTOs have identified mainframe modernization as the priority in the next couple of years. Though most of the recent companies have switched to modern technologies, there are many financial institutions that still rely on a 40-year-old Mainframe systems that is sitting anywhere in their premises.

One of the biggest hurdles that have prevented these companies from switching out of mainframe is the fear of downtime during migration and how it might disrupt their business. TAFF has drafted a 2-tier solution by which we modernize the existing mainframe applications instead of completely replacing them.

Here are some strategies that we use when we deal with mainframe modernization for our clients.

Don’t touch Core Application:

Modernization doesn’t mean a complete shift from heritage mainframe application to modern cloud platforms at one go. We can optimize the mainframe application and infrastructure without disturbing the core application.

The key factor for success here is to determine which parts of the application need to be untouched and which ones are to be optimized. This is where TAFF advisors can analyze your mainframe application and shortlist the set of applications that can reside in the mainframe itself.

DevOps in Mainframe:

In Arcati’s 2018 Mainframe yearbook, it is reported that 2–3rds of mainframe developers now use DevOps. It is possible to implement a combined strategy of agile and DevOps on mainframe technology. By implementing DevOps, a business can bring their mainframe application into the scope of modern Rapid application development.

Invest in Mainframe:

Businesses can achieve more than 300% returns on connected mainframe investment in 5 years, based on a CDC report. This can only be made possible if the business has the knowledge on how to allocate their budget efficiently in the mainframe. Read more