In an era where digital transformation is no longer an option but a necessity, the ability to innovate and adapt rapidly while mitigating risk is a must-have for enterprises. That is why I am thrilled to share our statement of direction for the BMC AMI Platform, an industry-first cloud-native solution with generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) currently under development. This article delves into the strategic direction and vision behind this groundbreaking platform, which aims to integrate all BMC AMI products while leveraging Gen AI capabilities to simplify mainframe transformation, enhance productivity, and accelerate innovation.
Addressing the complexity of mainframe transformation
Mainframe environments have often felt different from other platforms, creating unique challenges for innovation and skills retention. Due to their critical role in handling large-scale, mission-critical applications, innovating and transforming mainframe systems can be highly complex. These systems are often deeply integrated into an organization’s infrastructure, making changes risky and demanding. The legacy nature of many mainframe applications further complicates transformation efforts, requiring specialized skills that are becoming increasingly scarce as a significant portion of the mainframe workforce approaches retirement. According to recent statistics and client data, one-third of the mainframe workforce is set to retire in the next five years, creating an urgent need for solutions that address both innovation and skills gaps.
Transforming the mainframe for the next generation
As your organization seeks to modernize its mainframe environment, our goal is to help you preserve your existing investments and institutional knowledge while transforming the mainframe with the power of cloud and AI. This transformation aims to make mainframes as intuitive as possible for the next generation of talent. The “new mainframer” increasingly will work in a more integrated and fluid manner across the enterprise, with mainframe-specific systems programmers, as well as colleagues in other disciplines such as cloud architects, prompt engineers, operations incident managers, and machine learning (ML) operations specialists.
Cloud flexibility meets mainframe simplicity
We are committed to bringing the flexibility of cloud-native infrastructure and tooling, along with the simplicity that AI and Gen AI offer, to the mainframe platform. With this combination, you can expect to:
- Accelerate time to value and productivity: By leveraging AI to automate mainframe intelligence, new hires and consultants can quickly become productive, significantly reducing time to value and boosting overall efficiency from day one.
- Speed the development cycle with deep code understanding: Integrated Gen AI capabilities empower developers to understand, auto-generate, and test code, accelerating the development cycle and enabling faster innovation.
- Make agile business decisions with real-time insights: With real-time and actionable insights with root-cause analysis at their fingertips, IT professionals can make agile business decisions swiftly, driving innovation and maintaining a competitive advantage.
- Speed innovation with expert knowledge at the point of interaction: By providing expert knowledge precisely when and where it is needed, our platform speeds up the innovation process, allowing teams to resolve issues quickly and efficiently while fostering continuous improvement.
According to Steven Dickens, Vice President and Practice Leader at The Futurum Group, “The primary challenge with mainframe transformation lies in overcoming the evolving workforce demographics and the outdated practices that hinder this effort. Organizations that can successfully integrate AI and cloud-native capabilities into their mainframe environments will lead the next wave of digital transformation, driving unparalleled efficiency and innovation.”
Simply put, we believe that mainframe services should be utilized as simply and easily as the best cloud experiences, using commonly available skills and tools. Additionally, we believe in supercharging the productivity of developers, administrators, and infrastructure managers with integrated Gen AI services and capabilities, leveraging the vast knowledge of the mainframe community to accelerate their learning curve and guide their daily decision-making.
Simplifying mainframe management: Our vision for the industry’s first copilot for mainframe
Today, BMC AMI stands for “automated mainframe intelligence,” a suite of software solutions designed to support the vast majority of your mainframe management and help you make smarter, faster, and more confident business decisions. We are excited to introduce our statement of direction for the BMC AMI Platform, envisioned as the industry’s first mainframe copilot. This platform is designed to be the first stop for the next generation of mainframe talent to onboard, modernize, and operate using a cloud-native service catalog and AI-infused experiences with the new BMC AMI Assistant. Today, we are also announcing our managed beta program for code explain functionality in BMC AMI DevX Code Insights, which is the first example of the BMC AMI Assistant in action.
What will it look like? BMC’s approach to the future of mainframe management
Unified access to solutions
The platform will include a unified access point for all BMC AMI solutions you have licensed. A single, persona-aware management console will display the capabilities relevant to each user. Whether you prefer the robustness and privacy of an on-premise setup or the flexibility of a private cloud deployment, you will be able to use a common tool set between environments without losing functionality or context. This integration epitomizes our commitment to deliver BMC AMI services on a cloud-native platform that scales securely and deploys quickly.
Subject matter expert in a box
The BMC AMI Platform will feature the BMC AMI Assistant, a chat-based, AI-powered assistant available for developers, operators, system programmers, and IT managers to use for real-time explanations, support, and automation. Whether help is needed to debug code, understand system processes, or make informed decisions and take actions, the BMC AMI Assistant will provide expert guidance instantly, enhancing productivity and reducing downtime. Users will leverage BMC AMI Assistant Tools to capture their rich local knowledge and integrate it seamlessly into the BMC AMI Assistant.
Generative AI services infused into BMC AMI solutions
One of the standout features of our platform will be the infusion of the BMC AMI Assistant directly into our solutions, starting with the BMC AMI DevX Code Insights feature, Code Explain (currently in beta testing). This integration means no more context switching—customers can leverage powerful AI capabilities right within the products they use every day. By embedding AI services into our solutions, we ensure a smoother, more efficient user experience, enabling businesses to derive more value and insights effortlessly.
Flexible AI model integration
To accommodate the flexibility needed to support AI policies and data privacy requirements, users will be able to use BMC large language models (LLMs), integrate their own LLM, or continue using a familiar one. This means users can enhance our solution with their own organizational knowledge, ensuring that their unique business insights are effectively utilized. This feature empowers businesses to customize AI capabilities to best fit their specific needs and preferences, further exemplifying the theme of cloud flexibility meeting mainframe simplicity. Additional flexibility will be provided to allow users to host LLMs wherever needed—in the cloud or on-premise—enabling them to comply with company AI policies and keep data private.
Innovative solutions for the future
BMC’s comprehensive suite of solutions will include AI services, data services, RESTful APIs, CLIs, and SDKs. These tools are intended to empower organizations seeking mainframe transformation to access BMC AMI solutions for DevOps, operations, hybrid cloud data management, data, security, and storage management.
Our approach is designed to ensure that organizations can seamlessly integrate these solutions into their existing infrastructure, providing a consistent and unified experience across all platforms. This not only aims to simplify mainframe management, but also enables organizations to innovate and adapt rapidly to changing business needs.
Empowering the next generation of mainframe professionals
As we look to the future, our focus is on empowering the next generation of mainframe professionals. The BMC AMI Platform is being developed to enhance their mainframe experience with AI-powered guidance to ensure their impact in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Call to action: Embrace innovation and simplicity in your environment
The BMC AMI Platform represents a new era in mainframe management, but like any journey it cannot be taken alone. That’s why we are introducing our new Design Program, with the ability to participate in the public beta for new Gen AI features, with more features to come. Several customers have already signed up to participate, and I hope you will also consider it. To learn more, feel free to reach out to me or my team
You’ve never mainframed like this before
As we embark on this journey, we are reimagining what mainframe management can be with the industry’s first copilot for the mainframe. This will be the first stop for the next generation of mainframe talent to onboard, modernize, and operate. By blending the unparalleled reliability and performance of mainframes with the agility and innovation of cloud-native and AI technologies, we are poised to revolutionize the mainframe landscape. This is not just an evolution; it’s a bold step into a future where mainframe professionals can operate with unprecedented ease, efficiency, and effectiveness. Welcome to a new era of mainframe excellence—you’ve never mainframed like this before.
