Mainframes in modern IT: Open the old silos with open source
Martin Reusch believes that instead of generally replacing them with new architectures, established mainframes should be integrated into modern infrastructures.
Modern and mainframe – these two terms are not contradictory for Martin Reusch. The Director Application Modernization & Connectivity DACH at Micro Focus supports the thesis: Before you simply replace old core systems in IT with new ones, you should consider that “different” and “new” are not necessarily better than “old” and “proven”. . The latter applies in particular to legacy systems on the mainframe that support the core business.
We want to lift the veil on the myth of the mainframe – and we asked true connoisseurs of the mainframe to do so. In this episode we talk to Martin Reusch. He is Director Application Modernization & Connectivity DACH at Micro Focus Germany. Micro Focus was founded in 1976 and over the years has established a leadership position in the COBOL market. Today, the British software group focuses on modernization, optimization, testing and management of large software applications – also on mainframes.
Because there is no “silver bullet” towards a modern and flexible IT infrastructure. Rather, each company follows its own path, in which both the cloud and the mainframe can play an important role. In an interview, he explains to us what is important.
Mr. Reusch, you see the mainframe market through COBOL glasses. How big is this market, which is not only about IBM z, but also about manufacturers like Fujitsu (BS2000), Atos/NEC (GCOS) or Unisys (Clearpath)? In Germany, but also worldwide?
There is a good reason why we are now focusing so much on IBM z: As far as the business case is concerned, the other systems can now be neglected. They are only used in such small numbers that they are simply no longer economically relevant.
The situation is very different with IBM z – this system is firmly embedded in the business world. In German-speaking countries we are talking about a number of users in the higher two-digit range. This number may sound small at first glance, but the users are real “big players” in the economy: large established banks, insurance companies, but also car manufacturers are among them. It can be assumed that there are around 3,000 IBM z customers worldwide.
How stable is this market? Or to put it another way: why are mainframe users migrating to other platforms?
Based on the information we have, it can be said that the z/OS market in Europe is growing – in terms of total performance capacity – but the number of companies is rather decreasing. The mainframe world is not left out of the cloud boom either – we ourselves are part of this trend to migrate mainframe applications directly to the cloud, because we support our customers with this step.
For example, AWS just published “Mainframe Migration Services” at Re:Invent, which are based on our technology, among other things. Our two companies have also entered into a strategic partnership there.
The mainframe still has its justification for many companies. But of course there are some legitimate reasons for re-platforming. Usually, the costs of the mainframe environment are listed here, as well as the commitment to a vendor (vendor lock-in). Another problem that our customers often encounter is that the established mainframe experts are slowly retiring and there is a lack of young people. In addition, companies today require more flexibility and scalability, which is easier to achieve in cloud environments.
Keyword application modernization: What are the reasons for continuing to run the COBOL programs on the mainframe after re-factoring?
As far as its tasks are concerned, the mainframe is absolutely state-of-the-art. For example, when it comes to repetitive tasks with high data throughput, there are good reasons to run COBOL applications on the mainframe.
On the one hand, mainframes are among the most secure systems of all, on the other hand, they are still hardly surpassed in terms of throughput and transaction rates. When it comes to data storage, the mainframe still does a good job, after all the systems were designed to manage large volumes of data quickly and securely.
