Security, AIOps top mainframe customer challenges BMC says

This drop in confidence is even more pronounced in European respondents, with a 10 percent decrease, McKenny stated.

With official application of the European Union’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) coming in January 2025, and ransomware attacks continuing to make headlines, it is clear that ransomware controls, hardened security, and recovery capabilities are facing increased scrutiny, McKenny stated.  According to the survey 43%have built dedicated

capabilities to protect against ransomware and 29% plan to adopt such technologies.

DORA enacts a mandatory comprehensive information and communication technology (ICT) risk management framework for EU-based organizations.  Other compliance regulations such as NIS2 and SEC cyber rules also impact mainframe development.

While optimizing the costs of the mainframe was in second place on the survey list, the biggest technology driver on the list or priorities was the development of artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) and operational analytics which jumped to 45% — an 11% increase from 2023, according to McKenney.

“The increased prioritization of AIOps reflects surging interest in the implementation of emerging technologies on the mainframe. Those reporting the adoption of AIOps on the mainframe increased nine percent from the 2023 BMC Mainframe Survey, while 76 percent of respondents reported the use of generative AI (Gen AI) in their organizations,” McKenney wrote.