At SHARE Orlando, Amanda Hendley, Managing Editor of Planet Mainframe, shared insights from the 2026 annual Arcati survey. She cut through the industry hype to focus on what the data say about the current state of the platform. The overarching theme? While the core mainframe is as stable as ever, platform connection efforts are experiencing growing pains with hybrid cloud and AI.
Watch the presentation for more insights.
The Core is Stable, the Edges are Under Pressure
The report revealed a strong pattern: businesses remain deeply dependent on the mainframe.
- Revenue Centrality: Over 78% of respondents reported that their business revenue or transactions are totally dependent on the mainframe.
- Mission Essential: Workload environments are mission-essential, that’s clear. Interestingly, the rise of hybrid diversification is not decreasing mainframe use. Instead, the two are pacing together.
Hendley noted that if 75% of your revenue depends on the mainframe, it more than justifies allocating a significant portion of the IT budget to the platform to ensure it remains modern and up to date.
Modernizing the Mainframe, Not “Mainframe Modernization”
Hendley pointed out a shift in how the industry defines “modernization.” Five years ago, the term often implied moving off the platform. Today, it means keeping the mainframe a core component of the enterprise and modernizing integrations.
- Selective Application Strategy: About 31% of organizations plan to maintain their core applications, while 34% are looking to replace specific parts. Very few—less than 5%—have plans to decommission the platform entirely.
- Current Release: Most organizations stay within the past two releases of z/OS and DB2, indicating a measured, planned approach to upgrades rather than a reactive rush.
The “Multi-Role” Workforce
The workforce data showed a trend toward role consolidation. As teams get smaller, individuals are wearing more hats.
- Role Compression: 30% of respondents reported having two or more roles within their organization. Common pairings include System Programmers taking on security roles and DBAs managing performance.
- Tenure Shift: There is a clear shift toward mid-career professionals entering the mainframe space, moving away from the traditional “new-to-Z” vs. “long-tenured” binary.
Hybrid Complexity and the AI “Solution”
The “pressure at the edges” of mainframes is most visible in hybrid environments. While security has matured, observability remains a major friction point.
- The Observability Gap: Managing performance across hybrid boundaries is challenging because reporting is often siloed. Organizations are struggling with central reporting and the rising complexity of governance in highly regulated environments.
- AI Expectations: While 49% expect AI to have a “minor impact,” use cases are rapidly expanding in anomaly detection and security monitoring. Hendley noted that the number of companies discussing AI in their business has tripled in the last six months.
Decision Support Questions
5 questions to take back to your leadership team:
- Are we making investments where our systems actually matter to our revenue?
- Is our modernization sequence thoughtful or reactive?
- Are we running ourselves ragged by lacking centralized observability?
- Is our AI strategy aligned with our integration governance?
- Are we modernizing our tools, or just expecting our current staff to take on more roles?
Final Takeaway
The 2026 Arcati survey data suggests that the best path forward is “modernization of the mainframe.” This involves:
- Investing intentionally in platform performance
- Attending to observability gaps
- Ensuring that workforce productivity is supported by automation rather than simply expecting headcount to take on a fifth or sixth role.
Thank you to the Arcati strategic research partners: Broadcom and DataKenetics. Also, a shout-out to the strategy sponsors: BSecure, BMC, and Vertali. Finally, we’d like to express our gratitude to the Guide and Directory sponsors: Action Software and OASPG.
Next
- Read the full 2026 Arcati report online.
- Download Hendley’s slides.
- Skip to your favorite section of the report.
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