Enterprises in the U.S. and Brazil stepped up their modernization of mainframe applications and increased outsourcing of related capabilities last year, according to a new research report published by Information Services Group a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
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“All forms of modernization can simplify and improve operations while reducing costs.”
The 2023 ISG Provider Lens Mainframes — Services and Solutions report for the U.S. – with additional coverage of Brazil – finds most organizations are steering their budgets toward investments that generate results in the near term, but nearly all recognize the importance of mainframe modernization.
“Companies are moving away from traditional mainframe infrastructure because the benefits of doing so are simply too great,” said John Schick, Americas leader, Mainframe Modernization and Optimization, for ISG. “All forms of modernization can simplify and improve operations while reducing costs.”
Mainframe trends are largely the same in the U.S. and Brazil, where most legacy systems are supported by IBM or Unisys, ISG says. Most enterprises are pursuing one of three major strategies to modernize their environments: re-platforming (running legacy applications in the cloud with emulators or compilers), rewriting (maintaining mainframe applications while converting them to new programming languages), or reengineering (extracting code requirements and using AI to write new code).
Mainframe migrations to the cloud have accelerated for several reasons, including performance gains, cost savings and the ability to standardize the process with DevOps and continuous integration tools. Integrating mainframe data into cloud-based data stores for access to analytics tools is a particularly fast-growing trend, the report says.
ESG (environmental, social and governance) objectives are driving some mainframe strategies, ISG says. Moving legacy applications to the cloud allows companies to use carbon-neutral data centers, and cloud-based operations can provide more flexibility to comply with data sovereignty, data loss prevention and access control regulations. Most enterprises do not have the documentation to prove compliance on their own mainframe infrastructure, the report says.
“Replicating a mainframe in multiple jurisdictions would be an extremely expensive compliance strategy,” said Jan Erik Aase, partner and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research. “By contrast, all hyperscalers operate cloud data centers in diverse locations and are committed to meeting ESG targets by 2030.”
The report also explores other mainframe trends in the U.S. and Brazil, including the growing importance of automated application testing and the rising need for training of mainframe migration practitioners.
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The 2023 ISG Provider Lens Mainframes — Services and Solutions report for the U.S. evaluates the capabilities of 56 providers across six quadrants – five of them focused solely on the U.S.: Mainframe Modernization Services; Mainframe Application Modernization and Transformation Services, U.S.; Mainframe as a Service (MFaaS); Mainframe Operations; and Mainframe Application Modernization Software. A sixth quadrant – Mainframe Application Modernization and Transformation Services, Brazil – focuses on Brazil.
The report names Capgemini, DXC Technology, Ensono, Infosys, Kyndryl, TCS and Wipro as Leaders in three quadrants each. It names Accenture and HCLTech as Leaders in two quadrants each. Advanced, Astadia, Avenade (Asysco), Atos, AWS, Cognizant, GFT, Google, Heirloom, LTIMindtree, Micro Focus, Mphasis, TmaxSoft and TSRI are named as Leaders in one quadrant each.
In addition, DXC Technology, FNTS, Hexaware and mLogica are named as Rising Stars — companies with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition — in one quadrant each.
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