Rocket Software believes that mainframes remain integral to enterprises’ IT strategies as they navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape. This will be especially evident because of the rise of cloud integration and AI-driven operations.
According to Rocket Software, in 2024, companies are increasingly adopting a hybrid approach that balances the robustness of mainframes with the flexibility of the cloud, providing a pathway to scale and modernize critical workloads.
“Mainframes are the processing power that gives organizations the reliability and availability needed to scale their workloads and applications,” said Praveen Kumar, VP for Asia Pacific at Rocket Software, an IT modernization and IT automation solutions provider. “Historically, every task or workload runs on the mainframe, even if services were available off-premises.”
Kumar noted that while some banks and financial institutions are expanding their mainframe capacity, others are transitioning to newer mainframe technologies. This evolution reflects a broader trend toward a hybrid approach. Companies leverage mainframes for core workloads requiring high security and availability, while utilizing the cloud for tasks that benefit from its scalability and agility.
The hybrid model allows organizations to capitalize on the strengths of both environments. Mainframes provide the reliability needed to manage essential operations, while the cloud offers the flexibility to innovate and scale AI workloads. This dual approach is becoming more prevalent as businesses seek to balance traditional infrastructure with modern demands.
“Having sufficient compute power is crucial to ensuring AI models deliver desired outcomes,” Kumar said. “The mainframe, as a critical system of record, is vital in this regard.”
This modernization is essential for enabling advanced analytics and ensuring that organizations can derive valuable insights from their data securely. Predictive AI, in particular, is well-suited for mainframes, as it utilizes historical data to enhance operational efficiency. This is especially relevant in mission-critical environments where trust in AI’s reliability is paramount.
Rocket Software envisions a future where the hybrid approach continues to gain traction. Many businesses, especially in regulated industries like finance, must maintain critical data on-premises due to compliance requirements. Mainframes, with their vast data processing capabilities, are indispensable for these sectors.
While many businesses ideally prefer to run workloads on the cloud, regulatory and compliance requirements require certain industries like finance to still have critical data on-premises. A hybrid approach enables businesses to still run mission-critical workloads on-premises while being able to make full use of the cloud.
“Mainframes harbor vast troves of data but migrating them to the cloud can be time-consuming and costly,” Kumar explained. “A hybrid cloud strategy allows businesses to direct data best suited for the cloud for analytics and such, or the mainframe for more critical workloads.”
According to Kumar, in the Asia Pacific region, where digital transformation is rapidly advancing, mainframes remain a cornerstone of enterprise IT strategies. Citing publicly available statistics, he noted that 70% of Fortune 500 companies’ data is still stored on mainframes, underscoring their continued importance despite the growing adoption of cloud technologies.
Challenges and opportunities in the Philippines
The Philippines is witnessing significant digital transformation, with organizations keen to embrace AI and cloud technologies. However, Kumar identifies scalability and cost as primary challenges. Hardware and software costs are rising, making it difficult for businesses to scale their IT infrastructure effectively.
“While there are smaller software providers that can help businesses implement hybrid cloud strategies, there is still the challenge of scale, especially when it comes to modernizing applications,” he said.
To overcome these challenges, organizations are turning to hybrid cloud strategies. This approach allows them to modernize their applications and manage data more efficiently. Data replication and synchronization between mainframes and the cloud are critical to ensuring seamless operations and maximizing the benefits of both environments.
AI’s impact on IT infrastructure
AI is transforming industries by enabling new capabilities such as fraud detection and risk management in banking. As organizations incorporate AI into their operations, modernizing IT infrastructure becomes essential. Mainframes, with their ability to handle complex and high-volume data processing, play a key role in supporting AI workloads.
“We believe companies are taking baby steps in that journey right now,” Kumar said. “Organizations are aware of the risks that come with AI. This is why BFSI players are being extra protective in their AI journey. For mainframes, AI is having a major impact through predictive analytics. This is modernizing mainframes so that they can integrate with the cloud, which accelerates their ability to unlock insights securely.”
As businesses seek to modernize their IT infrastructure amid the rise of AI, minimizing costs while maintaining quality is crucial. Kumar suggests leveraging existing infrastructure through a hybrid cloud approach. This strategy allows organizations to avoid the disruption of full cloud migration and ensures data security and reliability.
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