Modernise mainframe to attract top talent

In my previous Industry Insight, I revealed the reality of the mainframe and that is that the ‘big iron’ is not going away any time soon, with at least 70% to 80% of corporate data residing on it.

Yet even as the mainframe remains the cornerstone of the majority of global corporations’ IT operations, it is not without challenges. One such issue is finding the talent necessary to maintain, modernise and revitalise mainframes.

According to Arcati, finding and keeping those with mainframe skills was an obstacle for 40% of organisations in 2018, down from 45% in 2017. Mainframe developers also tend to be closer to retirement: 29% of mainframe developers are over 60, and only 7% are under 30.

Continuing to attract mainframe talent is not sustainable without a fundamental shift toward a modern mainframe experience. Traditional tools and processes do not appeal to this next generation of developers, and they need a framework that will allow them to utilise their existing cloud-based skillset.

While it is acknowledged that bridging the skills gap is difficult, it is not insurmountable. Young developers prefer to work with modern tools and interfaces, so the prospect of using green Cobol screens doesn’t exactly fill them with excitement, nor does it provide the same development experience as they are used to with other technologies. 

Making it a requirement that these young guns work with legacy tools and approaches can render it difficult to retain top talent. Companies need to implement modern development and automation tools if they are to overcome this hurdle. 

While the concern around skills availability is very real, what is not understood is that modern tooling is available to support modern ways of working with the mainframe. Agile methodologies can be utilised and integrated with mainframe-focused and open source tools – very familiar environments for young developers just entering the marketplace.

Mainframe is considered a large obstacle to DevOps velocity, but one that cannot be ignored.

While mainframe environments remain stalwart platforms with unmatched reliability, they are not designed for rapid change, whereas speed, flexibility and transitory apps have become the norm in distributed systems. 

The mainframe is not going away. In fact, enterprises plan to increase their spending on mainframe systems.

It’s acknowledged that not all apps can be modernised quickly, and in the case of legacy mainframe modernisation, that can take years. Moreover, mainframe vendors have tools that push DevOps for mainframe closer to an everyday reality.

So just to reiterate the blatant fact – the mainframe is not going away. In fact, enterprises plan to increase their spending on mainframe systems.

According to Forrester, nearly half of enterprises with mainframes expect to see their usage increase over the next two years – an 18% increase from the previous year. Only 14% expected mainframe usage to decrease, compared to 24% in the previous Forrester survey.

Whatever their long-term decision about mainframes, large enterprises now compete with sprightly, disruptive start-ups in every industry, and that means they must find an immediate way for mainframes to address DevOps. In doing this, they will also protect their mainframe investment.

Organisations that devise and implement a strategic mainframe investment plan right now will be the ones that will not only gain more value but also resolve issues across the entire IT landscape.

They will also grow revenue, and attract and retain the much-needed talent to continue leveraging the power of mainframes for years to come.

Forrester also notes that IT leaders are integrating the mainframe into new platforms, or leveraging DevOps processes to drive new business, as opposed to just focusing on cost-efficiencies.

This approach permits them to keep valuable intellectual property (IP) on the mainframe, while leveraging cloud-based tools, otherwise now known as the connected mainframe. This permits corporations to leverage cloud technologies and their mainframes as they engage in digital transformation initiatives.

An IDC 2017 report found that organisations that adopt the connected mainframe strategy achieve more than 300% return on their investments over five years.

Now that’s a statistic that should get any CTO/CFO upright in his chair and paying attention.

Furthermore, the IDC found that early adopters of a connected mainframe strategy who modernised and integrated their ‘big iron’ to drive business transformation, increased revenue by an average of almost $200 million per year. This was attributed to shortened development cycles which benefit both users and customers, and to enhanced developer productivity, all of which translate, in real terms, into the introduction of new services in a matter of weeks as opposed to months.

In my third and final Industry Insight in this series I will explain why focusing on the customer experience is crucial to a good mainframe investment protection strategy.