Unlocking Business Potential: Transforming Mainframes with Hybrid Cloud Solutions
For enterprises that that have historically relied on core platforms like IBM Z® and IBM® i to power their business, how do they leverage their IT infrastructure to make the most of transformative technologies like AI, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things?
Explore the myriad of challenges faced by your industry peers who have taken up this gauntlet in The CIO Playbook for Hybrid Cloud Success.
Leaders seeking to leverage larger datasets for predictive analytics workloads face hurdles discovering and integrating data on their mainframe, whereas those who are pioneering generative AI must contend with large and complex content estates.
To accelerate your journey towards unlocking the mainframe as an asset for innovation, read The CIO Playbook for Hybrid Cloud Success.
Understanding the Core Challenges
Data discovery on legacy systems is extremely challenging
Understanding your data and legacy systems is key to successful modernization and migration projects. This involves not only discovering data but also capturing relevant metadata to understand data lineage, data flow, and data's comprehensive story. Products that emphasize usability and automation can greatly reduce costs associated with manual data discovery tasks.
Traditional data integration approaches are costly and limited
Traditional data integration methods are costly, time-consuming and often disrupt key internal resources. Even after developing a solution, organizations often face difficulties with data replication, synchronization, performance limitations, and one-to-many replication. Other challenges faced include limited bandwidth, interoperability, and maintenance and reliability issues.
Enterprises need cost-effective, flexible solutions for data storage
To improve your business’ resilience and modernization, you need a hybrid cloud storage solution for z/OS data that is flexible, agile, accessible, and secure. Long-term, archivable data can be moved to the cloud for significant cost-savings as well as flexible backups. With z/OS data backups in the cloud, you can recover this data at any disaster recovery site.
To receive a full breakdown into the challenges surrounding managing structured and unstructured data, read the full eBook.
Assessing Potential Issues
Will this solution make my IT architecture more usable and accessible?
Modernization success relies on balancing new capabilities and usability to avoid unnecessary complexity. Make sure your data visualization tools are intuitive for decision-makers. For potential solutions, consider interface navigation, integrations, and the expertise required for your hybrid cloud strategy.
Are this product’s capabilities broad enough to meet my needs now — and in the future?
Evaluating a product's flexibility and capabilities in terms of data literacy, connectivity, integration with existing applications, and comprehensive solutions, is crucial in today's complex enterprise IT landscape. The most flexible and broadly capable product offers the greatest long-term value.
How will this product affect my existing business and IT architecture?
A new solution must enhance existing operational systems, control costs, and align with your IT architecture. It should also positively impact customer and employee experiences.
Will this product make it easier or more difficult to manage security and compliance risks?
Hybrid cloud integration poses security concerns, especially with data migration off core systems. Regulatory changes demand stronger standards. When assessing a new solution, consider whether it includes options for on-premises data retention, data encryption, and secure connectivity during data transfer to the cloud.
Read the eBook for a comprehensive analysis of how you should approach evaluating hybrid cloud solutions.
