An article by Wolfram Greis, Managing Director of the European Mainframe Academy GmbH
“From a technical perspective, there is currently no platform more modern than the mainframe. What many mainframe-based companies need to focus on is modernizing their application landscapes." - Wolfram Greis
Mainframe: The Backbone of Modern IT
A decade ago, the IT world was confident the cloud would make the mainframe obsolete. Instead, the mainframe has proven more relevant than ever – serving as the stable, secure, and high-performance core of modern hybrid infrastructures.
“There is currently no platform more technically advanced than the mainframe,” says Greis. Far from being outdated, it continues to evolve, integrating seamlessly with cloud and container technologies.
Modernization over Abandonment
The term mainframe modernizationis often misunderstood. It’s not about replacing the mainframe but modernizing the surrounding applications. Many COBOL programs written decades ago still run flawlessly – yet recompiling them today can deliver up to 40 % better performance. Adapting applications for microservices or migrating them to Java while staying on the mainframe is often the safest and most cost-efficient modernization path.
Hybrid, Not Cloud-Only
For critical sectors such as banking, moving core systems entirely to the public cloud remains impractical due to compliance and security concerns. “The hybrid model combines the flexibility of the cloud with the reliability of the mainframe,” Greis explains. Critical workloads stay on-premises, while less sensitive processes can leverage the cloud’s elasticity.
Efficiency, DevOps, and Sustainability
Running Linux and z/OS on the same physical system provides unmatched performance, security, and energy efficiency. It is worth noting that a Linux version with zCX—the container extension for z/OS— can be implemented directly within z/OS. Integrating mainframes into DevOps toolchains enables agile development and automated deployment – bridging traditional enterprise computing with modern software delivery. In fact, mainframes are among the most energy- and space-efficient computing systems available today.
Artificial Intelligence: A New Era
With IBM’s z16 architecture and the Telum processor, AI has been brought directly onto the mainframe. Embedded AI enables real-time fraud detection, intelligent workload automation, and predictive analytics. AI is also supporting code modernization: while fully automated conversions often create complex code, AI-assisted, human-guided migration leads to far better long-term results.
Conclusion: Integration, Not Replacement
For Wolfram Greis, the mainframe’s future lies in smart integration, not migration. “Leaving the mainframe isn’t a strategy – modernization is,” he concludes. The European Mainframe Academy continues to lead this transformation through expert training, industry collaboration, and academic partnerships – empowering professionals to shape the data centers of tomorrow.