Today’s customers expect 24/7/365 service, and systems must be able to support STP and fast product development cycles. Old legacy systems that run on mainframes cannot keep up with these demands, and financial institutions are well aware that it will be increasingly difficult to compete when their core systems are not up to scratch. In addition, most commercial software is being developed in modern languages for a server environment, not for mainframes.
These issues are driving financial institutions to sunset their legacy systems and modernize their mainframes with the objective of lowering operating costs, gaining greater flexibility, accelerating new product development and creating competitive advantage. Modular, componentized approaches are a flexible and cost-effective way to accomplish this goal. Moreover, service-oriented architecture, Web services and EAI software are making it much easier for platforms to work well together.
To this end, firms no longer have to think in terms of being a Unix shop, a Linux shop, or a mainframe shop. They can operate a more complex environment without having a much greater support burden.
Ultimately skill set, scalability and cost are the major factors financial institutions will consider when they choose a solution. Here, six major players in mainframe modernization share their thoughts and talk about their offerings, all of which have had a significant impact on the financial services industry in the US and around the world.
Sherree DeCovny, Contributing Editor
Mainframe Modernization: What Microsoft Has To Offer
There are relatively few mainframes installed worldwide – probably around 7,500 IBM or plug-compatible mainframes, found primarily in the world’s larger enterprises. Their number has declined continuously since the heyday of the mainframe 30 years ago. Companies with mainframes are migrating off entirely or consolidating smaller systems onto bigger ones, and companies without mainframes are not buying them. Not only the population, but also the ecosystem is declining – the number of companies publishing software applications for the mainframe has declined to a handful, and the number of computer professionals with skills to support a mainframe is at an all-time low. The risk of staying on the mainframe has never been higher. Nevertheless, many companies do perceive a need to stick with their mainframes, and continue to run many of their mission-critical applications on them.
According to a recent analyst survey, the majority of senior IT executives with mainframes regard Windows Server as the most suitable non-mainframe operating system for running applications currently on the mainframe. Our job is to help those same executives understand that it is also feasible to migrate to Windows Server. Customers that have migrated individual workloads or whole systems to Windows attest to achieving superior performance, agility, and supportability at a dramatically lower TCO, without sacrificing their service level agreements with their customers. In addition, they have moved to a platform that is strategic to the company and are part of an overall ecosystem that is vibrant and growing – the number of ISVs and System Integrators alone measure in the tens of thousands. Last year alone, over 100 companies began migrations of their mission-critical workloads over to Windows.
To help our customers take advantage of the benefits of the Windows ecosystem, we have an arsenal of tools, partners with migration offerings, and dedicated services professionals with mainframe experience. We invite you to review a partial list at http://www.mainframemigration.org or at http://www.microsoft.com/mainframe, and look forward to working with partners and customers alike on a task that truly has amazing benefits.