IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl continues to build on its partnership with Microsoft, most recently adding new mainframe modernization support, security services, and cloud migration offerings.
In the big picture, Kyndryl’s strategy is make it easier for organizations to integrate mainframe-based data with cloud-based resources and combine that data with other information to build new applications. The company says that mainframe modernization can take a few forms; enterprise customers can keep data on the Big Iron, migrate workloads off, or create a hybrid environment.
In its most recent State of Mainframe Modernization Survey, Kyndryl found that more respondents reported increases in mainframe usage, while fewer are shifting workloads off the mainframe.
“In 2024, more respondents confirmed they are focusing on modernizing on the mainframe or integrating with cloud, and fewer are choosing to move workloads off the mainframe as their primary strategy—a five percentage point drop from last year (30% to 25%). Additionally, 53% of respondents saw their deployments on the mainframe increasing this year, with 49% saying their mainframe usage will increase again in the next 12 months,” Kyndryl stated.
With that in mind, Kyndryl and Microsoft expanded their mainframe modernization service to include closer ties with Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform including:
- Kyndryl integration services now let customers create new cloud-native applications using the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure and to re-platform other applications in parallel.
- Kyndryl extended Microsoft Azure DevSecOps pipelines to the mainframe, incorporating cloud and mainframe applications in the agile development process.
- By synchronizing mainframe data using Azure SQL Managed Instance and mainframe-based replication software, customers can implement and enforce data governance practices with Azure Purview across cloud and mainframe estates.
- Kyndryl said it will use AI to help customers unlock mainframe data for use in the AI-based Microsoft Fabric. By incorporating cloud-based contextualized data with a real-time copy of mainframe data, customers can take advantage of cloud-based analytics, Microsoft Copilot and Power BI to provide insights, visualizations and graphical dashboards without impacting mainframe utilization.
- Kyndryl’s security capabilities now integrate Microsoft Sentinel and authentication and policy frameworks with the mainframe, enabling a single control plane across the hybrid environments.
“Given the ongoing threat from cyberattacks, increasing regulatory pressures, and an uptick in exposure to IT risk, security remains a key focus for respondents this year with almost half (49%) of the survey respondents cited security as the number one driver of their mainframe modernization investments in the year ahead,” Kyndryl stated.
Two-thirds (66%) of respondents stated that an unparalleled level of security is the most important feature offered by mainframes, and 35% reported that increased security is an advantage of modernizing the mainframe.
The vendors also added a number of other general security services. For example, Kyndryl now integrates services with Microsoft Purview to assess and manage compliance across multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments. A global team of security experts recommend the most relevant assessments and advise on which policies and operational procedures to implement to help mitigate compliance risk, according to Kyndryl.
Kyndryl said it has also integrated services with Microsoft Entra to bolster security by offering simplified user authentication, identity governance and integrations to help secure access to their resources.
In addition, Kyndryl said it will offer XDR services with Microsoft Defender to enable threat prevention, detection and response against increasingly sophisticated attacks on customer assets, including email, identity, SaaS applications, cloud infrastructure and data, Kyndryl stated.
Microsoft was the first large cloud vendor to partner with Kyndryl when it spun out of IBM in 2021. The companies have consistently added to the partnership mix to incorporate everything from generative AI to cloud migration and mainframe modernization services.
Source:: Network World