Three drivers for modernizing apps on IBM Z®

There are three main industry trends that require greater connectivity between your mainframe and digital platforms, and three steps you can take to move forward with confidence.

As a proud partner in the IBM Z Modernization Center, Software AG helps organizations make their IBM Z applications an essential part of a hybrid cloud strategy.

While IBM Z platforms reliably run the world, your business is probably facing some of the three trends that require greater connectivity between the mainframe and digital platforms:

1. Cloud transformation. As you expand the use of hybrid cloud, applications and data moved to the cloud require connectivity to on-premises systems.
2. New business capabilities. Major initiatives require integration with existing business logic and data to deliver new capabilities and applications quickly.
3. Data analytics and modernization. Your organization needs to maximize the value of new data warehouse and data lake technologies (e.g., Snowflake) with existing data sets.

To meet these challenges, many companies are turning to API enablement as a no-code approach to integration. It’s an effective way to reuse investment in mission-critical business logic in new systems and projects, without touching the code on your mainframe. API integration helps to extend your core applications and data, so your mainframe assets communicate with new digital solutions that are running on-premises and on the cloud.

I recently had the privilege to talk about the benefits of API enablement at IBM Z day. One of the best parts of the session was hearing Betsy Bachmurski, Senior Application Project Lead, share the Delaware Judiciary’s experience with IBM Z application modernization.

API enablement in Delaware courts

Previously, the courts in Delaware had been restrained by legacy IT systems. It was taking days to sync data manually, leading to a poor experience on all sides of the bench. The Delaware Judiciary needed a better way to access and expose information from Adabas & Natural and other systems—and it turned to Software AG’s webMethods.

Now, the Delaware Judiciary can access all data from different court systems and keep it in sync—without touching the original programs running on its IBM Z platform. With webMethods EntireX API enablement, the judiciary creates web services and URLs, which app developers use to build new solutions for citizens, judges and attorneys. New and existing applications can talk to each other, and the courts can access all the data and updates within each other’s systems.

Three steps to move ahead

The Delaware Judiciary’s experience shows how powerful your mainframe’s data and business logic can be in building new digital capabilities. As your organization faces more demand for connected data and services, three steps can help you move forward with confidence:

1. Build on your investments. Your IBM Z likely contains decades of investment, including proprietary data, legacy applications and unique business logic. Expand your mainframe core through integration so that it becomes a VIP player in your connected enterprise.
2. Take incremental steps that add business value. Application modernization is a business-driven journey, not something you complete in a single step. When you take incremental steps that deliver value, you can win over business users and turn them into supporters. And, you’ll be able to respond to your organization’s changing needs.
3. Stay flexible with integration. Every organization uses IBM Z in unique ways, faces unique challenges, and can generate new value in unique ways. The right integration solutions give you freedom to choose the best ways to bridge your data and business logic with new digital solutions: cloud data lakes, API management platforms, data analytics, and more.

IBM Z delivers unmatched speed and reliability for your core systems. Through API enablement, you can easily modernize your mainframe applications, integrate your core with a growing ecosystem of apps—and ensure your IBM Z investments deliver value in the age of connectivity.

Download the ebook, Three Ways to Connect Your Mainframe to Digital, here.