By Petra Goude, Global Practice Leader for Core Enterprise & zCloud at Kyndryl

Modernizing IT systems like the mainframe can be a complex and challenging process, but an essential task for businesses to meet profitability and growth goals. Wherever they are on their journey, businesses need to have a robust strategy for modernizing mainframes as part of an increasingly hybrid cloud world. However, some companies run mission-critical systems and applications that aren’t cloud native — and they lack the in-house skills to maintain, modernize, integrate or migrate them. 

As organizations start or accelerate their digital transformation journeys, they often look for partners with hyperscaler and mainframe expertise, and the capabilities to help them manage complex IT transformation initiatives to achieve their business goals.

Kyndryl and Hyperscalers

We recently expanded our relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help customers simplify and accelerate their mainframe modernization initiatives. We also launched tailored capabilities to automate the provisioning and management of AWS mainframe modernization environments and help customers optimize deployments.

The new capabilities are designed to seamlessly integrate mainframe applications, data and operations with AWS technologies, or to move mainframe workloads to AWS. Now we can provide an end-to-end mainframe transformation factory and seamless hybrid estate management for joint customers. Additionally, we’re enabling the integration of AWS environments with Kyndryl Bridge, our open integration platform, for enhanced operational insights.

This news builds on the momentum we have with our hyperscaler alliances. In 2022, we teamed up with Microsoft to deliver cloud-based insights and innovation for mainframe customers. We jointly created IT solutions to further exploit mainframe data with the Microsoft Power Platform, making it easier for customers to increase access to valuable mainframe data and move the data to the cloud. This way, customers can unlock new uses and value streams from their entire data estate, and take advantage of machine learning, AI and analytics by having a holistic view of their data in a low code/no code programming environment.

Additionally, with Google Cloud we focus on a data-first approach to accelerate digital transformation and deliver meaningful business outcomes for our customers by unlocking their enterprise data. Google Cloud announced the Dual Run mainframe modernization solution to simplify and reduce the risk of migrating mainframe workloads to the cloud. Through our partnership, customers can accelerate their transformation journey with Kyndryl’s in-depth mainframe expertise and Google Cloud’s technology. Together, we can help modernize workloads on the mainframe, integrate them with the cloud and use the best tools to manage the risk of moving workloads to the cloud.

Optimizing Workloads with Hyperscalers

Industry analysts are positive about how we collaborate with hyperscalers to enable organizations to optimize their workloads across cloud and mainframe environments. Steven Dickens, VP and Practice Leader at The Futurum Group, wrote that Kyndryl is committed to helping customers place the right workloads on the right platforms and that we “excel in seamlessly managing, modernizing and migrating mainframe workloads within the hybrid cloud.”

As the world’s largest mainframe services provider, we recognize the journey to the cloud can be challenging and risky. With these new services for AWS, and the existing services with Microsoft and Google Cloud, we can support and enable application and mainframe modernization projects across all three hyperscalers — we’re ready to help customers with making the right decision for their business.