New Futurum Report: How Mainframe Modernization Begins with Application Modernization

Why are organizations pursuing mainframe modernization? What are today’s mainframe modernization options? And how can Rocket Software help organizations achieve smarter modernization?

These questions and more are addressed in a new research report by The Futurum Group, which explores how mainframe modernization practices can help enterprises leverage their existing IT assets and make them more agile, cost-effective, and usable long into the future.

With case studies demonstrating successful modernization projects, the report delves into current topics faced by many enterprises today as they navigate the modernization process. Some of these topics include simplifying application complexity, as well as how enterprises can use adaptable, responsive technology stacks to improve and modernize their operations. The report also tackles how mainframe and application modernization can help to futureproof hiring strategies and attract new workers in what is a continuous journey to modernize and improve enterprise IT infrastructure.

Key insights featured:

• Benefits of Application Modernization as Mainframe Modernization: Mainframe modernization does not mean replacing business-critical applications. Leveraging existing assets to reuse critical applications and build reliable new architectures on standard hardware can be game-changing for enterprises. A challenge today is the mainframe and COBOL skills gap as non-COBOL developers struggle to maintain and modernize existing COBOL applications.
• What Are Signs That Application Modernization Is Needed? From shortages of skilled mainframe system programmers to the push for using modern tools, there are several signs that application modernization is needed.
• Mainframe Modernization Options: Evaluating and classifying IT modernization strategies enables a sensible path toward choosing modernization options. While enterprises can buy new commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications to replace mainframe applications, this approach factors out specific business logic that has been coded into mission-critical systems over the decades.
• Mainframe Application Criteria for Decision-Making: How can enterprises use Rocket Software modernization technology and tools within their own operations? To determine this, a detailed, step-by-step analysis of the enterprise’s mainframe applications is performed. This determines which applications to include in the mainframe modernization and application modernization paths.
• How Rocket Software Delivers Application Modernization: Rocket Software delivers a holistic approach to application modernization across three critical pillars: application, process, and infrastructure. Instead of attempting to rewrite a custom, monolithic mainframe application or replacing it with a new commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product, Rocket Software’s modernization technology enables applications to be decoupled from their hardware platforms and reused elsewhere, including in containers and the cloud.