A look at the future of mainframe modernization with hybrid cloud

The value packed into mainframe data is immense. It’s decades of transactional data and history, it’s a comprehensive log of customer engagements, and it’s a view into how the operations of a business have evolved. But for as much value as it already holds, there’s even more potential waiting to be found. This is part of what has been driving the push to modernize mainframe systems for years now. As new technologies and strategies emerge, modern mainframes need to be flexible and resilient enough to support those changes.

At the same time, many organizations have been pushing to adopt cloud-based approaches to their IT infrastructure, opting to tap into the speed, flexibility, and analytical power that comes along with it. Particularly as markets become more competitive, the ability to feed data into analytical models in cloud-native environments can help deliver real-time insights and ultimately carve out a competitive edge.

To get the best of both of these environments, many organizations are opting to take a hybrid approach—leveraging the security and trusted reputation of mainframe systems with the analytical prowess and flexibility of cloud environments. And as hybrid strategies become more common, they will also impact the way businesses define successful mainframe modernization for the future.

Bringing the mainframe and cloud together

Choosing to adopt a hybrid cloud approach to tackle mainframe data is more than just a modernization project. It’s a decision that maps back to the overarching goals of a business and how they want to leverage their data. Bringing mainframe data into a cloud environment has the ability to unlock a new level of real-time analysis and insight from data that can reshape the way operations are managed across the enterprise.

Among other benefits, a hybrid cloud approach to mainframe modernization allows organizations to:

• Leverage cloud-native technologies which, in turn, help optimize workloads for performance and scalability. This integration enhances the overall efficiency of IT operations.
• Improve skill sets across teams and boost financial flexibility by better utilizing existing mainframe expertise while also building new skills related to cloud technologies. In doing so, this generates greater financial flexibility by optimizing the allocation of existing resources.  
• Better leverage their mainframe data with near real-time access. This is made possible by incorporating cloud-based advanced analytics and AI applications and allows businesses to move toward a more data-driven decision-making process.

Laying the foundation for successful hybrid cloud

But for all those benefits, it’s important to not lose sight of the fact that a hybrid approach requires a robust, modern, IT infrastructure to support it. Accomplishing that means working with a partner that not only has a deep history of mainframe excellence and solutions that accelerate modernization, but also support bringing those systems together with cloud-native technologies.

Whether it’s data intelligence tools that help democratize data and break down siloes, or data replication solutions that allow users to leverage mainframe data in cloud analytics models without exposing it to undue risk, the right modernization partner can help transform operations from the ground up.

Learn more about how Rocket Software can help you make the most of a hybrid cloud approach to modernization.