How Legacy Mainframe Modernization Promises Better Present and Future?

In the world where everything comes with an expiry date, is your enterprise too stubborn to abandon the crumbling, almost ready-to-expire legacy systems? If yes, there could be many reasons behind it.

First, you find your mainframe applications performing well and don’t feel the need for the change. Second, you have apprehensions regarding the threats and challenges involved in the transition. Third, you have never consulted an expert in legacy mainframe modernization services and are not at all familiar with the associated benefits.

However, your enterprise must have started experiencing difficulties with the existing systems and applications, though you are reluctant to acknowledge them openly.

In any case, the change is inevitable! Your enterprise would, either now or in near future, recognize how it is possible to gain competitive advantages by adopting mainframe application modernization. The short-term risks involved in the process should not deprive your enterprise of gaining the long-term benefits of legacy mainframe modernization discussed below.

According to ‘Application Modernization Services Market‘ report the legacy application modernization services market size is expected to grow from USD 6.87 Billion in 2017 to USD 16.67 Billion by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.4% during the forecast period.

Reducing Dependency and Gaining Control

Decades-old mainframe and aged programming language codes used in the legacy systems have become too difficult to manage. It is especially true when many new-world languages are creating the right buzz in rendering more agile applications. Your enterprise’s dependence on the legacy systems is slowly taking control out of your hands and has started making application management a nightmarish experience for the managers.

With the help of legacy application modernization services, you can put an end to these scenarios. The modernized applications would be in absolute sync with ‘digital transformation’ and would help your enterprise leverage the benefits of this lucrative concept.

Switching to the Modern Platforms

If you delve deep into the structure of your existing mainframe, you will find millions of chunks of COBOL codes that are truly a misfit in the fast-changing digital landscapes. In addition, the present systems are still using the traditional database management systems like virtual storage access method (VSAM). You might have not yet noticed it, but continuing with these ‘old-school’ platforms is actually slowing down your enterprise operations.

With mainframe modernization services, you will be importing your enterprise applications to sophisticated platforms. For example, replacing COBOL with the new-age programming languages like Java and .Net and traditional data repositories with the contemporary database management systems like SQL can bring your enterprise systems to the forefront.

Modernizing the Infrastructure

Alongside legacy application modernization through mainframe modernization services – the need to modernize the IT infrastructure is equally critical to set up a completely valuable enterprise environment. If you are ready to adopt the new programming languages and databases for your applications, you should simultaneously consider taking your infrastructure to the cloud to increase benefits exponentially.

You must already be familiar with how the applications running on the cloud offer much flexibility and mobility. Enterprises continue to draw benefits out of this by freely accessing the applications from anywhere and at any point in time.

Improved Enterprise Efficiency

Companies of all sizes and from different industries are constantly experiencing the increasing eves of activities. For example, the need for custom application development is swelling up with each passing day. The volume of business transactions is also going up. The legacy systems with restricted or unresponsive availability and reliability are posing a hindrance to maintain the overall efficiency in an enterprise.

Modernization of these systems makes it truly responsive and scalable that maintains the required sync with the changing requirements of every enterprise. A modernized mainframe would be capable of interacting with the entire enterprise set up at different levels, making the overall operations increasingly efficient.

As per CIO’s article:

89% companies are targeting mainframe application modernization to reduce the number of systems that don’t talk to each other

While 85% view application modernization as a means to move forward as a business

Better Support and Associations

You may start fearing about your enterprise being left alone in the rising trend of legacy software modernization, and there’s a concrete reason behind it. Just take a look, and you may find a number of vendors (offering software development services and other solutions) switching to legacy mainframe modernization. In the same way, many of your business providers and partners might also have invested in mainframe application modernization services already.

If that’s the case, you may soon find it hard to align your enterprise’s needs and operations with these parties that are vital for your business growth. The mismatch between your enterprise’s mainframe and their modernized applications may create a void which would be difficult to fill.

Bid adieu to the bygone era because it is time to move forward. Contact us today!

Improved Integration

The fast-paced digital world is introducing a new kind of application almost every day. Then, there are technological improvements that are increasing the use of modern technologies like Big Data, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, and more. Needless to say, each of these advancements is leaving an impact on how the enterprises operate. Relying on legacy systems may prevent your enterprise from integrating well with these advancements.

Why just full-fledged applications? Even developing a small plug-in would force you to think about whether it would integrate with your existing systems or not. In other words, legacy systems have limited room to support the desired integration.

Enhanced Staff Productivity

This can be understood in regard to your IT staff as well as the general staff. The existing mainframe system is causing to keep your enterprise and its IT department unaligned in an overwhelming manner. How?

The IT people spend a significant amount of their work time in maintaining the legacy applications that indeed require more and frequent maintenance. As a result, they have to compromise in time and efforts, which they should be devoting to the software development service.

At the same time, your employees may also be at the receiving end not just due to frequent maintenance but also because of the limited potential of the legacy systems. Through legacy modernization services, you can eliminate these drawbacks and provide your staff with a modern working environment.

Another report by ResearchAndMarkets forecasts for 2020-2025 – Application Modernization Services market worldwide is projected to grow by US$20.7 Billion, driven by a compounded growth of 20.1%.

Surviving the Competition

Just like your vendors, partners, and associates, there is a high probability that your competitors are also taking legacy software modernization absolutely seriously. With more effective and agile applications and systems in hand, many of your direct rivals in the industry might already be leading the race. Even the startups in your specific niche might be ready to capture the market through new applications and mainframe-based on cutting-edge technologies.

Through mainframe migration, you can actually create the new revenue sources and also revive the existing ones. It happens because the new technology-based enterprise solutions are always useful in building new services and business processes and enhancing the overall existence of an enterprise.

Accomplish Compliance

Another aspect in which the legacy mainframe applications may prove damaging to your enterprise is meeting the compliance standards in a number of ways. For example, the enterprises must abide by the rules and norms set up within their respective niches or industries.

One good instance is the need for health-related organizations to comply with the HIPAA standards to ensure data safety and security while maintaining their patients’ records.

It is simple to understand that the legacy systems that are four to five decades old are not designed to meet the changing and complex requirements of these standards. The need is to invest in mainframe application modernization services these challenges and prevent your organization from violating any of the prescribed norms.

Cost Saving

The legacy applications are costing hefty to your enterprise in ways more than you can think of. First, you might be experiencing interruptions in the working of these applications due to their poor integration with the outside world. Second, their slow speed might be decreasing the overall enterprise productivity. Third, their maintenance is not only time consuming but can eat a significant part of the IT budget you allocate.

Many enterprise owners consider cost adjustment due to mainframe modernization services a financial risk. The fact is that this may last for a short period of time, but its benefits would last for longer. Not only would you start saving in running and maintaining the legacy systems, but you would also add to your business profits through increased efficiency and productivity.

Read More : Mistakes Which Collapse Legacy Application Modernization Process

Finally, It’s Migration and Not Replacement

It is important to note down that legacy system modernization refers to the process of migrating to the new systems through incremental improvements and the addition of compelling capabilities. It is not that you would be completely revamping the present systems radically.

In this way, your enterprise would achieve quality applications that are not only better performing but also more secure. So, the process of mainframe modernization is in itself beneficial as it takes enterprises to a better position without demanding forceful system replacements.

Mainframes are the backbones of enterprises as they are responsible for an average of 70% of the activities that are performed in the everyday routine. However, continuing using them without modernizing is like keep driving a car without routine servicing. It is obvious that the process has its risks and changes in the form of software modernization traps, but you can handle them with the support of an expert legacy application modernization company like Radixweb. Keep in mind that legacy modernization services are not just a one-time effort, but it is a cycle that you need to keep pace with the changing needs.