AI-first for

Mainframe

Modernization
How Generative AI provides a way out
from legacy application constraint and
stagnation on the mainframe​
Mainframe modernization is now a key priority

Mainframes are still highly prevalent

across the global economy

An IBM study showed that

mainframes handle almost 70% of
Mainframe systems are at the heart of our the world’s production IT
economy - they manage our bank accounts, our
insurance policies, put food on the shelves of our
workloads.
supermarkets and keep our essential infrastructure
running. They are reliable, secure and scalable, and
have been serving us for decades.​
Mainframe modernization efforts in the
​
past have faced challenges

According to a recent IBM report(1), 45 of the top 50

banks, 4 of the top 5 airlines, 7 of the top global Ideally, we could modernize mainframe
retailers, and 67 of the Fortune 100 companies rely applications so that they accelerate, rather than
on mainframes as their core platform. ​
hold back, business change. ​

​
​

Mainframes have a proven capability to manage But mainframes are complex systems that have
scalability, security and resilience, making them a been built up progressively over many years.

good fit for transaction processing, financial

systems and record keeping.

Modernization teams have struggled to fully

understand the current state of applications. Due to
However..​
gaps in understanding, teams were unable to
​
effectively manage change impacts and transition
Legacy mainframe applications were not risks.

built to meet the needs of modern business​

These factors resulted in high modernization costs,

Most mainframe applications are built on aging or sub-optimal modernizations that re-create
technology (such as COBOL) that does not meet legacy on a new tech stack.

modern business needs for digital innovation,

business agility and cost efficiency.

Now, generative AI is removing the barriers..

Key issuesT

2 Manual, inflexible business processee

2 System complexitm
2 Declining pools of expertis<
2 Lack of documentationS
2 Niche technologiesS
2 Inefficient technology operationsS
2 Lack of integrated management visibilityS
2 Stranded data assetsS
2 Release management​integratiob
2 Vendor lock-inS
2 Difficulty accessing from digital channelsS
2 Maintaining regulatory compliance​

(1)
Source: https://www.ibm.com/topics/mainframe

2 | AI-first for Mainframe Modernization

Generative AI makes it possible​

Generative AI changes what’s possible and can increase modernization velocity by up to 70%

Thanks to revolutionary new capabilities, Generative AI creates completely new possibilities for mainframe
modernization and puts a modern core within reach. Gen AI techniques are highly applicable across the entire
modernization journey.

Modernization Optimize current Migrate applications to a Build next-generation

scenario mainframe systems cloud-native architecture replacement solutions

Generative AI  Understand legacy  Reverse engineering  Legacy app translation

accelerators cod current app to specificatioG
 Modern code on  Forward engineering  Modern code
mainfram refactored app generatioG
 SRE & AIops practice  Co-existence  Test case generatioG
 SDET & DevOps enablemen:  Documentation
practices  Cloud deployment generation
Outcomes Reduce operations costs Migrate apps to the cloud New experiences and re-
and unlock budgets to self to improve agility, imagined processes
fund innovation performance & security exploiting emerging tech

Optimizing on the mainframe​

Modernizing to cloud

Rapid results can be realized using Gen AI to Gen AI can also de-risk and accelerate the
address productivity, risk, and complexity within the migration of mainframe workloads onto cloud
mainframe environment. ​
platforms.​

​
​

Focusing on these opportunities in the short term Depending on technical complexity and business
can also free up capacity to re-invest into more value, three major modernization approaches are
transformational modernization activities.​
applicable.​

​
​

Gen AI tools now make possible:› Gen AI tools now make possible:›

‚u Legacy Understanding. Existing applications ‚u Rebuild. Many applications can be migrated to

can be reverse engineered to fill documentation Commercial, Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solutions. In
gaps, interactively explain specific code, and this scenario, Gen AI can understand existing
extract business rules business logic and generate specifications for
parity in new implementations.™
Žu Language translation. COBOL can be
translated to modern languages such as Java. Žu Refactor. Legacy code can be re-factored to
Unlike previous translation techniques, Gen AI modern languages with Gen AI, and then
creates flexible “modern” Java and not just additionally re-factored to run effectively on the
COBOL code re-written in Java syntax.™ cloud (e.g. containerization). ™

§u Modern Engineering. New requirements can be §u Rehost. Stable applications that need to migrate
implemented in Java using modern DevSecOps to either decommission hardware, or co-exist
practices. Within this context, Gen AI can with other apps, can run on virtual mainframe
accelerate new development, increasing environments. AI can assist in identifying
productivity.​ dependencies and integration points for clean
scoping.​

​
3 | AI-first for Mainframe Modernization
Accelerating your modernization journey​

Optimize for business benefit​

To maximize the value of modernization activity, Migrate to Build next-

different strategies should be adopted for different cloud-native generation
applications.​

Expected change volume

Infrequently changing applications that are not Modernize on Migrate to
constraining the business will benefit most from mainframe cloud-native
automation and platform optimization and will
likely not justify more invasive modernization.​

Applications that are functionally fit for purpose but Understand and Migrate to
are creating significant business constraint should document cloud-native
be a focus for technical refactoring.​

Applications that offer insufficient functionality or

Level of mainframe constraint
ineffective experiences should be a focus for
business-led re-implementation.​
Determining modernization target by app​
​

Sequence for self-funding​

Case Study​

In capital-constrained environments, there are Building a best-in-class scalable order

opportunities to sequence modernization to management platform for a North American
subsidize development activities through savings in retailer

operations costs.​

​
The client had a large footprint of legacy
Operations automation, infrastructure right-sizing mainframe applications that was misaligned
and developer productivity acceleration are all to their vision, constraining change, and
high-priority early-stage activities that create undermining customer experience.​

headroom to re-invest in modernization. For this ​

reason, having a partner that handles operations, Cognizant re-engineered the order-
modernization and new development within a management system within Google Cloud
single delivery organization enables much more Platform using a modern architecture and
efficient re-balancing of focus as efficiencies consolidating across lines of business.​

increase.​
​

​
Modernization of 5M lines of code was
​
successful and now processes over $10B of
Accelerate with AI and Automation​
annual digital sales. The modernized solution
​
enables new marketplace and partnership
All stages of modernization can be enhanced by capabilities. The new cloud platform greatly
adopting a range of Gen AI, AI and automation enhances business agility with auto-scaling,
tooling, including:​
self-heal and zero-trust security capabilities.

a ​
H Analysis and understanding of legacy
environmentsa
H Translating and re-factoring legacy code into
modern codea
H Acceleration of new code development\
H Automation of DevSecOps and production
operations​

4 | AI-first for Mainframe Modernization

 Partnering with Cognizant​

Cognizant will partner to deliver your outcomes​

Cognizant has all the capabilities needed to drive end-to-end core modernization. We have already
assisted over 500 clients on their mainframe journey and can draw on the capabilities of over 10,000
mainframe application services professionals.​

What’s unique about Cognizant:​

Ÿ
P We combine end-to-end consulting, development, and operations enabling us to modernize in-flight
and seamlessly re-invest efficiency savings into modernization
P We take an AI and automation-first approach throughout and integrate cutting edge Gen AI
capabilities at every stageŸ
P We operate with a flexible approach and domain specialization that is focused on delivering the best
business outcomes for each client​

Our platforms​

Cognizant’s platforms take the best capabilities available in the market, pre-integrate them and then
add accelerators.​

Flowsource is our platform for augmented engineering that brings together developer workflow, code
generation and DevSecOps into an integrated system of work. Flowsource can accelerate new modern
engineering development in a way that is transparent, risk managed, and sustainable.​

Skygrade accelerates cloud modernization and enables effective multi-cloud management. Skygrade
includes AI-powered tooling to analyse legacy applications, define code dependencies, re-factor code,
re-platform code and range of other tasks to de-risk and simplify modernization.

Neuro provides autonomous operations capabilities to monitor production environments, use AI to

determine root causes of issues and self-heal incidents. Neuro can enable operations cost reduction to
fund modernization and can also de-risk the transition period of mainframe modernization programs.​

Our partnerships​

Our partnerships all include aligned methods and integrated 


tooling across mainframe, private cloud and public cloud tech stacks.

Authors

Ravi Kumar S
 Pra a

s d San ara
k n
 Pra om i an
d B j i
 i e
M k Tu rne
r


CEO, Cognizant

EVP, Software and Global Head of Digital Global Head of 


Platform Engineering Engineering Practice SPE Offerings

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6 | A modern core​