The decades-long history of the mainframe has centered on the value the platform can provide for mission-critical data and transaction processing tasks.
Today, the mainframe remains the most essential platform for mission-critical operations across the enterprise landscape, despite the ongoing evolution of cloud computing and the rest of the distributed systems world.
Nevertheless, the broader context of business and technology transformation drives change for the platform, as modernizing and optimizing the mainframe in place become critical priorities.
In fact, the business drivers for mainframe transformation are so urgent that mainframe leaders can no longer sit back while the rest of the organization transforms.
Such change is always difficult. Change that rises to the level of transformation can be daunting. Understanding an organization’s motivations for such transformation, therefore, is a critical first step to long-term success.
Within the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector, seven interrelated mainframe transformation drivers provide the motivation for this change.
The Seven Core Drivers of Mainframe Transformation
Given the mainframe’s long-standing mission-critical role, business priorities must be sufficiently urgent to drive transformation on the platform.
BFSI mainframe leaders will likely recognize several of these drivers.
Mainframe transformation driver #1: reducing complexity (cybersecurity driver)
The mainframe is but one system among many, as it is a full participant in today’s complex cloud native world. With this complexity comes costs as well as risks: the risk of failure as well as the ever-present cybersecurity risk.
BFSI enterprises require modern tools that deal with constantly evolving cyber threats, including real-time monitoring, encryption, and threat detection powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
Furthermore, technical debt challenges, including outdated code, tools, and processes, add to this complexity.
Transforming the mainframe in place reduces this debt. For example, moving to cloud storage for mainframe backup addresses the cost and complexity of traditional tape systems while eliminating their technical debt.
Mainframe transformation driver #2: dealing with disruption (cybersecurity driver)
Cyber threats and technical debt aren’t the only sources of potential disruption. In addition, organizations must deal with digital transformation pressures, shifting regulations, and the evolving customer expectations that come with a dynamic, competitive landscape.
Innovation also leads to disruption, as BFSI enterprises leverage new technologies and approaches like generative AI, AIOps, DevOps, hybrid cloud integration, and a plethora of other drivers of change.
Success in the face of such disruption requires a multi-pronged approach that includes continued investments in cybersecurity as well as a greater focus on resilience.
Mainframe transformation driver #3: cost efficiency (modernization driver)
Mainframe organizations seek to streamline operations and limit inefficiencies across the technology and process landscape while simultaneously reducing costs. This streamlining must maintain the resilience for which these companies have always relied upon the mainframe.
Cost efficiency is especially important for BFSI enterprises, as the mainframe is both mission-critical and always on. Even a savings of a few percent can add up to millions of dollars per year for a 24 x 7 system like the mainframe.
Modernizing the mainframe in place is an important tool for maintaining cost efficiency without sacrificing resilience, as such a strategy extends the life of the platform while leveraging it to meet changing business needs.
Mainframe transformation driver #4: operational efficiency (AIOps driver)
Cost efficiency is not the only mainframe efficiency driver. Operational efficiency focuses on maintaining the mainframe’s “never fail” role in the IT estate.
BFSI enterprises have always been able to trust the platform to have near-perfect uptime – and this promise must continue as such organizations leverage the platform for new applications and services.
The operational efficiency driver is responsible for increased attention to IT operations management and is thus responsible for increased investments in AIOps and other modern management technologies.
Mainframe transformation driver #5: improving time-to-value (DevOps driver)
Today, the need for speed drives rapid change across the mainframe landscape, just as it does for the distributed computing world.
On the mainframe, increasing time-to-value requires faster delivery of applications, which in turn speeds up the deployment of new financial services across BFSI product lines.
To achieve this acceleration, BFSI mainframe development teams have been adopting DevOps and platform engineering best practices, extending state-of-the-art app development approaches from the cloud world to the mainframe.
Mainframe transformation driver #6: leveraging a shifting workforce (modernization driver)
As experienced mainframe professionals retire, BFSI mainframe organizations must bring on new generations of mainframe talent.
This new talent grew up on the Internet, and entered the workforce leveraging modern, cloud-centric technologies and approaches like DevOps.
Hiring such younger professionals onto mainframe teams should not be an exercise in stifling their expectations of technology. Rather, it’s an opportunity to bring new ways of thinking and solving problems to the venerable mainframe shop.
Mainframe transformation driver #7: regulatory compliance (business driver)
BFSI has always consisted of regulated industries, so compliance has been a long-standing concern for every mainframe organization in the space.
Nevertheless, today’s regulatory climate is remarkably dynamic, considering global trends in security, privacy, and resilience.
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) in Europe, as well as similar regulations in other jurisdictions, are important examples. DORA requires financial institutions to strengthen their operational resilience and cybersecurity postures – priorities that align with other drivers of mainframe transformation in their organizations.
The Intellyx take
It’s important to note that these drivers are interrelated. Different organizations may not even see them as distinct.
Depending on the specific business circumstances, one transformation driver may be the top priority for an organization, while a different driver is more of a concern for a different company.
Furthermore, organizations must weigh every transformative change on the mainframe against the risks inherent in migrating off the platform, including the loss of institutional knowledge, potential downtime, and security risks.
As a result, it’s important to actively assess and prioritize the transformation drivers within the organization. It’s useful to have a checklist like this one to ensure that you’re weighing the various drivers of transformation against each other as you plan the continuing role for the mainframe into the future.
Copyright © Intellyx BV. BMC is an Intellyx customer. Intellyx retains final editorial control of this article. No AI was used to write this article.
