-
Critical applications are still running on legacy infrastructure
-
Mainframe-as-a-service allows enterprises to tap into cloud-like benefits without having to move to the public cloud
-
A range of companies, including Atos, Cognizant, DXC and Ensono, offer MFaaS products
Plenty of enterprises and a good chunk of government and education institutions are still running critical applications on decades old mainframe infrastructure. While some are spearheading the journey to the cloud themselves, that’s not the only option for organizations looking to gain cloud-like scale, security and agility.
One common solution is mainframe-as-a-service (MFaaS) which allows enterprises to run their legacy applications in a cloud-like data center operated by a third party. These services typically include data center facilities, hardware, software, disaster recovery, security and database services and mainframe administration, and they are offered via a subscription model.
In a more recent example, Lumen announced it was updating its legacy mainframe infrastructure by tapping into French digital transformation company Atos’ mainframe-as-a-service (MFaaS) offering.
In Lumen’s case, Atos will replace three of the operator’s existing data centers with a single facility and will transition its critical applications to a new platform hosted there.
Michael Grunberg, CEO North America for Atos' Tech Foundations division, told Silverlinings that Lumen will take a phased approach to the transition, which will be completed in the first year of the deal. He added the changeover process involves "staging a landing zone target including objective settings and controls, replicating data using a secure connection, testing and validation of application function and data and cut-over activities."
Atos isn’t the only company offering mainframe-as-a-service. DXC Technology, Ensono, Capgemini, Cognizant, Kyndryl and Infosys all have MFaaS offerings. IBM launched its MFaaS offering in 2022 and AWS also offers Mainframe Modernization services.
Why MFaaS?
But why would an organization choose MFaaS rather than spearheading a transition to the public or private cloud themselves?
“Outsourcing enables clients to assess their spending and find opportunities to optimize operations, replace middleware tools and add automation,” Information Services Group (ISG) wrote in a February 2023 report commissioned by DXC. “When opting for a mainframe-as-a-service (MFaaS) deal, additional savings are from opting for a shared environment and gains of scale that reduce licensing costs.”
Indeed, Grunberg said with the transition Lumen will gain "the ability to spin up or spin down their needed MIPS based on applications moving in or out of the mainframe." MIPS stands for Millions of Instructions Per Second, and is a reference to the compute load and capacity required.
It's worth noting that Atos has had a rocky road of late. The company is considering selling off its Big Data and Security unit to cover financing maturities while it works through a messy deal to sell its Tech Foundations business and Atos brand to EP Equity Investment.
Asked whether it is confident it can execute on the multi-year deal with Lumen in this environment, Grunberg said "Yes. Absolutely. Activities of our business are targeted at enabling the focus on the technical foundation and innovation for hybrid cloud and infrastructure, digital workplace and services."