IBM Buys Advanced’s Mainframe Modernization Division
For its first acquisition of 2024, IBM has announced that it will acquire application modernization capabilities from Advanced, a UK-based provider of mainframe modernization services. The pending acquisition will enhance IBM Consulting’s mainframe application and data modernization services while strengthening IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI strategy.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024 but, so far, the terms of the deal are undisclosed.
According to IBM, the move to strengthen its mainframe modernization consulting services is a response to the pressure on businesses to transform quickly to keep – or gain – competitive advantage. According to a recent IBM Institute for Business Value survey, 67% percent of executives surveyed say their organizations must transform quickly to keep up with the competition, and 68% of respondents say mainframe systems are central to their hybrid cloud strategy.
IBM has argued that digital transformation should not force businesses to choose between the mainframe and the cloud, arguing that a hybrid cloud approach that includes mainframe computing multiplies the value of the public cloud platform on its own. But the task of modernizing mainframe code and data can be incredibly complex for businesses to navigate on their own. IBM Consulting works with global enterprise clients throughout the process of modernization to keep businesses competitive and protected.
The planned acquisition of Advanced will bring IBM a range of strategic benefits, including a team with more than 30 years of experience, tools, and expertise supporting clients’ mainframe strategies and application modernization agendas. They will also bring expertise in an array of sectors, including financial services, insurance, automotive, travel and transportation, government, utilities, and media.
So far, IBM has made 35 acquisitions since Arvind Krishna began his leadership tenure in April 2020.
Source: IBM
UK’s Lloyds Banking Group Completes Migration to Z16 Infrastructure
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG), the UK’s largest retail and commercial financial services provider, has recently completed a successful migration to z16 infrastructure. In a LinkedIn post announcing the completion of the migration, Sarah Faulkner, Head of IBM Mainframe Services at LBG, likened the process to an undercover Secret Service operation, “operating under the radar, migrating critical applications and business services” to customers who never experienced a glitch in service.
According to Faulkner, LBG’s IBM Mainframe Services and TRP colleagues worked together for seven months with IBM and CIO application teams, to migrate 600+ applications and services and move to a new Architecture pattern.
In her post, Faulkner celebrates the flexibility of the Z mainframe infrastructure that kept applications running and transactions flowing throughout an incredibly complex migration.
For the success of the operation, planning and preparation is key, according to Faulkner:
“There are multiple steps required in order to support a migration of any critical business workload, upstream and downstream flows all require testing/change, 1000s of batch jobs, file transfers, transaction flows, configuration of databases, middleware, network, storage arrays….the list goes on!”
The immensity of the undertaking, combined with the fact that customers and businesses never felt the impact of the transition is why Faulkner refers to the team as “the secret service, working in the shadows, under cover of the maintenance windows. All this happened, and no one noticed, which is a testament to the team’s abilities to deliver on such a large-scale undertaking whilst maintaining BAU service.”
Source: LinkedIn
Broadcom Virtual Mainframe Tech Exchange 2023 On Demand Sessions Closing Soon
If you missed Broadcom’s 2023 Mainframe Tech Exchange, it’s not too late (yet!) to register to access on-demand sessions. The sessions will continue to be accessible through the end of February.
Sessions will include product roadmaps, roundtable discussions, and education sessions covering skills you can immediately put to use:
- AIOPs, Automation, and Performance: Alert Central, Automation Point, OPS/MVS, Dynamic Capacity Intelligence (DCI), Mainframe Application Tuner (MAT), Mainframe Operational Intelligence (MOI), Mainframe Topology, MICS Resource Management, NetMaster, SYSVIEW
- Core Infrastructure Management and Open Mainframe: Ansible, Common Components and Services, Easytrieve, Zowe
- Data Management (Databases): Datacom, IDMS
- Data Management: Db2 Tools: Db2 Administration, Db2 Backup/Recovery, Db2 Performance, Db2 Utilities. Output Management: Deliver, Spool, View, Web Viewer. Storage: CA 1 Flexible Storage, Vantage
- DevOps: Bridge for Git, Brightside, Code4z, Endevor, Gen, HostBridge
- General and NextGen Mainframer: Beyond Code Programs, General Mainframe Topics, Mainframe Essentials, NextGen Mainframer Topics, Software Management
- Security: ACF2, Advanced Authentication Mainframe, Compliance Event Manager, Data Content Discovery (DCD), Mainframe Security Insights Platform, Top Secret, Trusted Access Manager for Z (TAMZ)
- Workload Automation: Automation Analytics & Intelligence (AAI), CA 7 Workload Automation Intelligence, ESP Workload Automation Intelligence
Sonja Soderlund is an Oregon-based B2B freelance writer. Whether writing about mainframe computers, educational technology, or sustainable retail, she strives to bring clarity to complex issues. Connect with her at sonjasoderlund.com or LinkedIn.