The 2026 Arcati Mainframe User Survey, conducted in late 2025 and early 2026, reflects responses from validated participants and includes a comparable number of retained responses to the 2025 and 2024 surveys, providing a stable foundation for year-over-year comparison.
Most participants responded via email invitations distributed via Planet Mainframe and the Mainframe Virtual User Groups. Submissions underwent duplicate-detection and consistency reviews, and incomplete responses were excluded unless they met defined quality thresholds. This approach continues the emphasis of Arcati and Planet Mainframe on data quality over raw volume. After a thorough review, 92 responses were scored and considered in this report.
Distribution and Industry Representation
Respondents were primarily based in North America and Europe and worked in industries in which IBM Z has long played a central role in supporting high-volume, mission-critical workloads.
Figure 1.1: Respondent Industry Sector
Question: What industry sector are you in?
Respondents were primarily based in North America and Europe and worked in industries in which IBM Z has long played a central role in supporting high-volume, mission-critical workloads.
Technology companies—including software vendors and systems integrators—constitute a significant share of the respondent base, reflecting continued engagement within the broader mainframe ecosystem. Financial services and banking remain the largest end-user industry segment, followed by insurance and government. Additional responses span healthcare, retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, energy and utilities, and other commercial sectors.
This report will examine who uses the mainframe and how in 2026.
The 2026 Arcati Mainframe User Survey quietly dismantles one of the most persistent myths in enterprise technology: that relevance belongs only to what’s new. The data suggests something more enduring — that systems built for consequence remain essential when decisions matter.
0 Comments