Modernizing mainframes in a cloud-native world

Kyndryl is a global IT services firm that was spun out of IBM in 2021. It employs more than 90,000 skilled professionals, and customers include 75 of the Fortune 100 companies. In the telecoms sector, Kyndryl is partnering with CSPs as they migrate their legacy IT systems and mainframe computer applications and workloads to cloud and cloud native. In this Q&A TM Forum chief analyst Mark Newman talks to Hemang Davé,, Client Technical Leader and Chief Technology Officer at Kyndryl MCE, about CSPs’ cloud transformation projects.

What workloads are CSPs still using mainframes for?

Mainframes have been systems of records (SORs) for CSPs over many decades. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and many core network technologies are, and continue to be, on mainframes.

What do you see as the main challenges that CSPs face in modernizing the applications that are on their mainframe computers?

There are several challenges CSPs face today. The first is a lack of entire workload visibility. Most CSPs have been running thousands of workloads on mainframes over the last four decades. They struggle to understanding exactly what is running on mainframes and how it is tied to their business functions.

Skillset is another challenge. Over the last decade DevOps has brought development and operations together. Now we are seeing convergence of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT). This requires the workforce to be fluent in operational technology and information technology spanning cloud and mainframes.

Do many CSPs believe that it is possible to take a cloud-native approach to modernizing these applications?

Most CSPs believe that cloud native approach is one of the ways to modernize existing mainframe applications while acknowledging that cloud-native is not the only approach.

How should operators go about prioritizing the modernization of mainframe applications and workloads?

First and foremost, CSPs should have an outcome-based, five-to-seven-year business and strategy roadmap. Then they can use it to map business priorities into technology priorities. This will help them priorities for modernization. I also recommend that when CSPs modernize their workloads and platforms, besides security and cloud native capabilities, they should also prioritize sustainability. Sustainability should be a part of design. For example, applications should have the ability to sense traffic and to reduce and expand their footprint dynamically when needed. They should also prevent unnecessary movement of data across networks, which will help with power usage reduction.

AT&T has been recently experimenting with turning off their 5G mid-band radios on cell towers during off-peak hours and bring them back online during peak usage. This has helped AT&T not only save on their electricity bill but also to become greener.

Is it always possible to build a strong ROI around the modernization of applications and workloads?

It is not always easy and straightforward to calculate strong ROI around modernization. Several factors attribute creation of strong ROI. Often it is not clearly understood current and future technology spend. In many cases, organizations struggle identifying monetary value of business and technology functions. Having said that, it is always possible to produce directional ROI value around modernization of applications and workloads.

Which are the functions that CSPs should seek to perform in-house - in terms of mainframe modernization - and when should they work with a partner such as Kyndryl?

Kyndryl was IBM Global Technology Services division. As of November 2021, Kyndryl became an independent company with 90,000 employees worldwide. Kyndryl is the largest managed infrastructure services company in the world with $19B in revenue. Kyndryl employees have been an integral part of Mainframe operations at CSPs and other companies for decades. Their knowledge of Mainframe technology as well as knowledge of clients’ business and needs is unparalleled. Kyndryl also brings an unprecedented level of partner ecosystem including Microsoft, other hyperscalers, and technology partners. I would always recommend that CSPs rely on the expertise of Kyndryl’s trusted workforce when modernizing mainframe workloads.

Is it realistic for every CSP to migrate all their mainframe applications to cloud native and over what period?

It is not realistic to assume that CSPs, or for that matter anyone, can transform all of their applications into cloud native. Most enterprises will have some level of hybrid workloads across multiple technology and hyperscaler platforms. It is reasonable to say that most CSPs will be able to transform a significant portion of their mainframe applications to cloud native over four-to-six based on their business needs.