While the primary focus for most IT leaders is geared towards IT transformation and adopting the systems and applications that will allow them to better support today’s digital demands, the IBM z Systems™ mainframe remains the foundation for the majority of enterprise business applications. However, traditional mainframe solutions often come with a high price tag, and many operations continue to be challenged with the fundamental problem of high fixed costs that do not effectively serve corporate interests. In addition, any system alterations or adjustments that need to be made over the course of time can be very costly and often require considerable justification efforts.
In order to compete and remain relevant in today’s digitally connected world, enterprises must adopt a new way of thinking that embraces the next generation in technology. It used to be that IT organizations would leverage centralized computing to enable the in-house deployment of all central servers’ computing resourcing, administration, and management. While this logic may have worked in the past, the digitally-driven competitive climate we’re faced with today offers little tolerance for inflexible and inefficient operations. To sustain productivity and effectively accommodate market and business demands, IT organization must adopt those solutions that offer cloud-based agility and variable pricing models, which can be difficult to realize with an in-house operation.
Bottom line Benefits of Mainframe Outsourcing
The need for modern enterprises to reduce costs, mitigate risk, and enhance the customer experience is continuing to rise, and as such, organizations must alter their approach to mainframe management in order achieve the level of agility and efficiency needed to compete in today’s marketplace. Existing approaches to mainframe management are far too slow, reactive, costly, and reliant on the individual expertise of mainframe technicians. On contrary, mainframe outsourcing enables organizations to pursue IT transformation in a way that leverages the agility and flexibility of the cloud while alleviating organizations of the cumbersome nature of traditional mainframe management. More specifically, mainframe outsourcing can facilitate significant reductions in operating expenses, more efficient and effective resource allocation, and enhanced forecasting and budgeting capabilities.
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Cost Reductions
For many organizations, outsourced solutions have become an essential part of their infrastructure architecture and environment. As arguably the most significant benefit, IT outsourcing helps enterprises to remove the financial burden of maintaining physical systems and its subsequent resources in-house. Rather than incurring the expenses needed to support a physical space, power and cooling, and employ an in-house specialist, organizations can transfer those responsibilities to an IT service provider that specializes in mainframe management.
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Improved Resource Allocation
As previously mentioned, mainframe outsourcing allows organizations to lessen their daily workload by allocating those tasks to an external IT service provider. Not only does free up internal resources by allowing them to focus their efforts on higher priority projects, but it also increases business agility due to the amount of specialization and expertise that is gained when leveraging an outsourcing solution. Ultimately, this helps organizations to generate additional organizational efficiencies and optimizations while also helping to create a more productive and effective business operation.
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Enhanced Forecasting and Budgeting Capabilities
In addition to minimizing operating expenses and helping to create a more efficient, effective, and productive operation, mainframe outsourcing offers a more predictive cost model than in-house solutions. Without being tied to fixed personnel or service levels, organizations are able to ensure that costs remain lower and more consistent. Through this, enterprises are able to improve their forecasting and budgeting capabilities, which allows for increased agility, scalability, and adaptability.
To learn more about mainframe best practices and technologies, as well as how to best manage a mainframe environment to reduce costs, improve services, and avoid risks, download “The CIO’s Guide to Mainframes: In-house vs. Outsourced”.
