The Future of Mainframes: A Hybrid Cloud Perspective
What if you could combine the power of mainframes with the flexibility of hybrid cloud technology to redefine your business's technological landscape?
IDC analysts Peter Rutten and Chris Kanaracus deep dive into the benefits of such an integration, ranging from the enhancement of your enterprise's skill set, the financial flexibility, better utilization of mainframe data, to the incorporation of cutting-edge AI and analytics in Implementing a Hybrid Cloud Strategy as Part of Mainframe Modernization Provides the Best of Both Worlds.
But implementing a hybrid cloud approach isn’t without its hurdles. Organizations will have to navigate inconsistent cloud provider capabilities, geographical gaps, shared responsibility for security breaches, variable pricing and discounting practices, risk of cloud vendor lock-in, and the immense effort required for change management, and more.
Read the full IDC brief to jumpstart your hybrid cloud implementation.
Understanding Hybrid Cloud for Modernization
Mainframe data remains an invaluable asset for enterprises, encapsulating years of transactional history, customer interactions, and business operations insights. However, leveraging this wealth of information in today’s fast-paced, data-driven business environment can be challenging. As an IT leader, your role is pivotal in navigating these complexities, setting company-wide IT goals, and leading your team's adoption of innovative technologies.
A hybrid cloud approach offers a dynamic solution to bridge the gap between legacy mainframe systems and modern IT infrastructures, unlocking enhanced business insights and performance.
It enables enterprises to seamlessly integrate on-premises mainframe systems with cloud environments. This integration provides the flexibility to run workloads in the most appropriate environment, whether on-premises or in the cloud. For you, this means leveraging the strengths of both environments to maximize efficiency and innovation. By incorporating hybrid cloud strategies, you can bridge the gap between your mainframe and modern IT infrastructure, enhance operational agility, and improve scalability.
Charting Your Path to Realizing Hybrid Cloud
Adopting a hybrid cloud approach to leverage mainframe data is not just a modernization strategy; it’s a pathway to achieving significant business transformation. By integrating mainframe systems with cloud environments, you can unlock real-time data insights, enhance operational efficiency, and drive business growth.
As you consider implementing a hybrid cloud strategy, remember that the journey requires strategic planning, robust architecture, and a collaborative mindset.
Read the full IDC brief for common pitfalls enterprises face when they first embark on their hybrid cloud journey.
The Role of Hybrid Cloud in Mainframe Modernization
A hybrid cloud strategy involves integrating mainframe systems with cloud services, allowing enterprises to leverage the strengths of both platforms. This approach offers several key benefits:
1. Leveraging Cloud-Native Environments
Hybrid cloud allows enterprises to take advantage of cloud-native technologies, optimizing workloads for performance and scalability. This integration enhances the overall efficiency of IT operations.
2. Improving Skill Set and Financial Flexibility
By adopting a hybrid cloud strategy, organizations can better utilize their existing mainframe expertise while also building new skills related to cloud technologies. This dual focus enhances financial flexibility by optimizing resource allocation.
3. Better Leveraging Mainframe Data
Hybrid cloud enables near real-time access to mainframe data, facilitating advanced analytics and AI applications. This capability allows businesses to make data-driven decisions more effectively.
Moreover, organizations that successfully couple their core mainframe operations with a hybrid cloud strategy can realize cost savings, increased agility, and a heightened pace of innovation.
Read the full brief to uncover the full benefits and challenges of a hybrid cloud approach, as well as navigating the difficulties of its implementation, and more.