Why Mainframe in The Cloud is Not Enough

We’ve recently seen Unisys touting its ClearPath MCP Software Series for Azure. This solution promises to rehost your entire Unisys MCP mainframe application portfolio over a weekend with no migration tooling, no code changes, no recompiling, no re-architecting and no refactoring. While this solution is certainly a viable option, it does not really do anything to modernize your application other than relocate it to a cheaper platform. So why is this a problem?

Cloud and Ongoing Development

This approach means that you still have a siloed mainframe environment that, while it may cost less, is not suited to take advantage of all the benefits cloud has to offer, nor does it address the dwindling pool of resources skilled in Algol, WFL, Unisys systems administration, and other specialized technologies.

Furthermore, if you’re using hierarchical databases, that data remains difficult to access for use by external applications, and you do not realize the benefits of cloud-based PaaS usage, such as AzureSQL.

Similarly, if you have core business processes trapped in the silo, those are much more difficult to reliably integrate with 3rd-party entities and contemporary technologies. What about containers and microservices? And what about the ongoing development and maintenance process itself? How does this approach help accelerate delivery and provide continuous deployment and continuous improvement? It doesn’t.  

Unlock the Potential of Legacy Investments

Legacy Modernization is about more than just saving money by running systems in a less expensive environment. It’s about breathing new life into decades-old, strategic applications that would cost tremendous amounts of time and money to simply replace from scratch and making them more efficient to maintain and enhance.

At Astadia, we take a holistic approach to ensure that our clients’ long-term vision is realized. While taking a least-change, least-risk replatforming approach, we modernize all aspects of your legacy portfolio and processes to unlock the true potential of legacy investments.

For example, when Astadia undertakes any mainframe to cloud project, we exploit the power and efficiencies of DevOps to accelerate delivery. Using modern DevOps and Application Development Tools, we develop and implement repeatable processes to automate the instantiation of fully configured development environments as well as to automate the full testing lifecycle, which not only speeds delivery but also reduces human error.

And the same tools we use for re-deploying legacy systems to a modern cloud environment can then be used to further modernize legacy systems through the development and deployment of containers and microservices.

These tools and processes are left behind for the client to leverage and streamline application maintenance and modernization in the cloud environment, improving agility and response to market trends. So not only do we replatform client systems to a cost-effective environment (achieving an average of 60% - 80% in cost savings), we set our clients up with a modern development platform that will serve them well for decades to come.