Midrange and Mainframe Managed Services in Modern IT Environments
Best practices
In the age of cloud IT infrastructure, many organizations view midrange and mainframe systems as outdated — but despite data-processing advancements, these traditional technologies remain key components of digital transformation strategies.
A 2019 Forrester study, jointly commissioned by Ensono and Wipro, revealed that more than 40% of organizations still run mission-critical business functions like enterprise resource planning (ERP), human resource management, and finance and accounting on the mainframe. Clearly, this technology still has a place in modern IT environments. Partnering with an experienced mainframe as a service (MFaaS) provider enables companies to benefit from these systems’ time-tested performance, while reducing costs and continuing to move their organizations forward.
Effective midrange and mainframe managed services start with the understanding that these systems are equal, fully participating and strategic parts of a hybrid cloud IT ecosystem. Amid cloud computing advancements, midrange and mainframe managed services allow you to move forward while benefiting from the exceptional reliability, performance and security that have made these computers reliable data-processing technology for decades.
Midrange and Mainframe Benefits
In future-proofing your IT infrastructure and considering hybrid solutions, it’s important to factor in the distinct midrange and mainframe benefits. Mainframe systems deliver unmatched computing capabilities, processing data and running applications quickly, while providing secure data storage and maintaining confidentiality. Midrange computing systems offer many of the same benefits on a smaller scale and with lower maintenance costs. As IT leaders leverage cloud and non-mainframe technologies to optimize their hosting environments, understanding the strengths of traditional infrastructure lays the groundwork for a smart hybrid IT plan.
Protect data with trusted midrange and mainframe security
Midrange and mainframe security is a large part of why they have been reliable, trusted data processing systems for decades. For organizations that depend on secure (but still easily accessible) data processing, these traditional computing systems’ reputations are unparalleled. From encrypting data at a massive scale to using programming languages and data formats that are more difficult for cyber attackers to penetrate, mainframe and midrange systems provide important features that boost security. Ninety-two of the top 100 banks power their services with a mainframe environment, underscoring its reliability and the widespread trust in mainframe security.
Process quickly with powerful midrange and mainframe performance
Much of mainframe’s value lies in its ability to efficiently process massive amounts of data. Midrange systems also offer powerful processing for smaller workloads. Modern mainframe computers have expansive memory and the ability to process tens of thousands of transactions per second — and as many as 30 billion transactions per day. The newest IBM System Z can process 1 trillion transactions a day. This unparalleled computing capability is the reason so many organizations still count on mainframe performance for applications central to business operations.
As technology evolves, many organizations continue to rely on a mainframe to run emerging workloads. Over a quarter of IT decision makers surveyed by Forrester see mainframe as a place to run blockchain and containerized applications — a clear sign that the technology’s security and parallelization remain appealing amid cloud innovation.
Grow dependably with midrange and mainframe scalability
As your organization grows, midrange and mainframe scalability ensures you have the computing power to fuel continued business success. These traditional systems easily accommodate new processors, memory and storage, and can support as many virtual operating systems as needed at the same time. Midrange and mainframe’s scalability allows companies to add computing resources while lowering their total cost of ownership, helping them remain agile and prepare for future growth.
Plotting Your Midrange and Mainframe’s Future
While midrange and mainframe security, performance and scalability all stand out as valuable features, your company still needs a long-term transformation and management plan to fully take advantage of these powerful computing systems. From different hosting options to mainframe optimization solutions and subsequent modernization, these mainframe and midrange services ensure you benefit from the technologies’ strengths, while managing costs and moving toward the future.
Mainframe Hosting
Partnering with a midrange or MFaaS provider helps you keep applications running smoothly, while reducing your organization’s costs and administrative burden. From fully outsourcing mainframe hosting to leaning on mainframe support services to manage your in-house infrastructure, you have an array of options for upgrading your hosting system.
- Fully Managed Hosting: Tapping a trusted managed mainframe services partner allows you to take a hands-off approach to hosting, enabling investment in other areas of your business. Through fully managed hosting, you outsource midrange and mainframe hosting to providers like Ensono, using their mainframe, data center and IT experts. This approach gives you access to modernized hardware, expert staff, economies of scale and enhanced buying power, lowering costs while also reducing your involvement.
- Remote Hosting: Remote hosting is a version of midrange and mainframe support services that gives your team the support to boost performance without required migration to a new system. This approach allows you to maintain your existing data center while leveraging a provider’s mainframe and IT staff. Working with Ensono mainframe and midrange experts — or those from another provider — empowers you with more resources to address issues, optimize your mainframe and prepare for the future.
- Remote Infrastructure Management: Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM) involves a low-risk transition to remote management solutions. This hosting solution lets your organization maintain control of your mainframe and data center, supplementing your systems with a managed mainframe services provider’s expert staff. RIM mainframe and midrange services allow you to retain ownership of the hardware and software while leveraging your partner’s expertise and IT connections.
Mainframe optimization and hybrid IT solutions
The right MFaaS partner will help optimize your midrange or mainframe and prepare it to accommodate a broader, future-facing IT strategy. Midrange and mainframe optimization services like improving security, managing applications and optimizing code enable you to continue to reap the rewards of traditional functions while moving toward hybrid IT solutions. These systems’ security, performance and dependable uptime are valuable assets for your organization, and customized midrange and mainframe optimization can position you to take the next step of modernizing your infrastructure.
Selecting a Midrange and Mainframe Service Provider
The benefits of midrange and mainframe systems may be clear, but these computing systems still require proper deployment and optimization to drive business success. The right managed service provider is critical to fully leverage a mainframe or hybrid IT environment. IT leaders face constant pressure to deliver more revenue-generating capabilities faster while avoiding security risks, excessive costs and operational disruptions. Your organization needs a partner that understands these pressures, and leverages their data-processing knowledge to reduce costs and set you up for smooth transformation.
A primary step in the buying journey is identifying whether you’re looking for a MFaaS provider for full outsourcing or a consultative partner that adds to your team’s capabilities and knowledge. Look for companies with diverse IT infrastructure expertise that have the experience and resources to guide your organization down the right path. Midrange and mainframe outsourcing companies should recognize that modernizing doesn’t just mean migrating to the cloud. Modernizing can mean gradually enhancing your existing midrange or mainframe to increase agility and compatibility with other IT solutions.
Ensono is proud to be one of the premier midrange and mainframe outsourcing companies, helping customers across industries accelerate digital transformation. Our portfolio spans traditional IT infrastructure, like midrange and mainframe, and covers AWS, Azure and private clouds. This wide-ranging expertise equips us with the ability to provide custom MFaaS solutions that future-proof your operations.
We continue to innovate models in mainframe and midrange services along with deeper transformation abilities, putting us in a unique position in the global mainframe market. Ensono understands the power of midrange and mainframe technology, and we work with your organization to preserve the security and traditions of your legacy data processing solution while optimizing it for the road ahead.
As a trusted midrange and mainframe service provider, our capabilities include service management and support, consulting services, monitoring and management, infrastructure visibility and disaster recovery. We have the depth of knowledge to manage your midrange or mainframe environment and harness these systems’ capabilities to benefit your organization.
Looking to maintain and future-proof your midrange or mainframe system? Contact Ensono to learn more about our customized midrange and mainframe support services.