BMC Survey Unveils Mainframes Are Supporting Digital Business Growth, with 93% of Executives Reporting a Positive Long-term Outlook for the Platform

HOUSTON, Sept. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BMC, a global leader in IT solutions for the digital enterprise, today announced the results of its 2018 Mainframe Research Report, revealing increasingly optimistic attitudes towards mainframes. With 93% of executives and 92% of all respondents viewing the mainframe as a strong long-term platform – the highest level in five years – this year's survey also sheds light on how organizations are becoming more proactive with their mainframe strategy to facilitate the changing dynamics of modern digital business.

With perspectives from more than 1,100 executives and technical professionals, BMC's annual mainframe survey is among the industry's largest of its kind. Building off last year's survey – which dispelled common myths about the mainframe, including a perceived lack of modernization and support from organizations – this year's results continue to point toward the growing strength of the platform.

"Digitization and mobility are placing incredible pressure on both IT and mainframes to manage a greater volume, variety, and velocity of transactions and data, with workloads becoming more volatile and unpredictable," said Bill Miller, president of ZSolutions at BMC. "The 2018 BMC Mainframe Research Report shows a bright future in which the mainframe shines due to its strengths in scalability, availability, and security. At BMC, we are helping our customers evolve their mainframes' capabilities to advance their digital business strategies."

Modernizing with New Approaches
Organizations are working more diligently than ever to modernize and optimize their mainframe applications and operations, and they are exploiting automation to help transform the digital enterprise. Application and operations teams report taking advantage of new practices and technologies to modernize their mainframe environments:   

• 82% are using Java on the mainframe.
• 48% are using agile/DevOps practices in their mainframe environment.
• 42% ranked application modernization as one of their top four priorities. 
• 20% ranked AIOps and operational analytics as one of their top four priorities.    

Millennial Mainframers See Plenty of Upside
Changing demographics contribute to the mainframe's positive future. While staffing and skill shortages are still challenges for organizations as experienced mainframe talent retires, organizations are continuing to hire and invest in the next generation of employees.

• 63% of respondents reported they were under the age of 50, up from 53% in the previous year.
• 95% of millennials are positive about the mainframe's long-term prospects for supporting new and legacy applications.

"Today's digital economy presents complex challenges for the mainframe at a time when operational skills are pivoting to younger staff with less experience. Ongoing research is important to understand the evolving state and direction of the mainframe. Such studies can provide a valuable perspective to help mainframe organizations evaluate customer attitudes and expectations," Tim Grieser, research vice president, Enterprise System Management Software at IDC.

To further unleash the power and value of the mainframe, BMC recommends evangelizing the mainframe within organizations as the hub of today's digital business, embracing the new workforce, and engaging in new techniques and technologies to optimize the mainframe. BMC provides mainframe solutions designed to support the journey to self-managed systems with trusted information and policy-based actions, and to meet the 24x7 demands of digital business.

To read the full 2018 BMC Mainframe Research Report, visit https://www.bmc.com/info/mainframe-survey.html

To register for the results webinar on September 19, visit
http://ow.ly/YBHm30lAPSk

To read BMC blog posts about the mainframe industry, visit http://www.bmc.com/blogs/categories/mainframe/

To learn more about BMC's mainframe solutions, visit http://www.bmc.com/it-solutions/mainframe.html

Methodology
1,122 surveys were completed between May 15 and June 1, 2018. The survey was sent worldwide and offered in six languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. 66% percent of the respondents were technical professionals and managers, 31% were executives, and 3% were other.

About BMC 
BMC helps customers run and reinvent their businesses with open, scalable, and modular solutions to complex IT problems. Bringing both unmatched experience in optimization and limitless passion for innovation to technologies from mainframe to mobile to cloud and beyond, BMC helps more than 10,000 customers worldwide reinvent, grow, and build for the future success of their enterprises, including 92 of the Forbes Global 100.

BMC, BMC Software, the BMC logo, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software Inc., are registered or pending registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©Copyright 2018 BMC Software, Inc.

Editorial contacts:

Ana Gabriel
BMC
D: 408.546.1069
M: 510.219.6625
[email protected]

Francesca DeAnda
Bateman Group for BMC
[email protected]

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SOURCE BMC