Migrating from the mainframe

Many companies share an interest in making mainframe migration easier and more efficient for customers. The Mainframe Migration Alliance (MMA) brings these companies together to inform businesses about the benefits of mainframe migration and help them transform their IT into a strategic asset.

Thirty or so years ago, the mainframe was the only way to achieve a highly scalable, highly reliable platform for a company’s most mission critical applications. But we’ve come a long way since the birth of the mainframe, and all that scalability and reliability is now easily attainable via Windows, at a fraction of the cost of a mainframe.

In addition to the price of equipment, several other facets of the Windows environment can contribute to efficiencies and reduced cost: the supplier limitations of the mainframe are simply not there in a Windows environment, which offers boundless choice of products and suppliers. The greying pool of mainframe developers also means that Windows far surpasses the mainframe in terms of supportability, and most users, whether end users or developers, are familiar with working in a Windows environment.

When you consider these facts, it becomes crucial to consider Windows as a viable alternative to the mainframe.

Please review the articles and resources listed below for more information on migrating from mainframe systems to the Microsoft Windows platform. I hope you find this helpful, along with additional information and resources that are available at www.mainframemigration.org.

Spyros Sakellariadis, PhD
Director, Mainframe and Midrange Alliance Programs, Microsoft