Mainframe architecture has been the computing standard for decades, but is it approaching extinction? 

The data center mindset is migrating from traditional mainframe to the cloud, increasing businesses’ agility — and reducing costs.

“We’d like to position it more as an evolution — we don’t think the mainframe is going to die,” said Stuart McGill (pictured), chief technology officer of Micro Focus International PLC. “This is a way to accelerate the future of mainframe applications.”

McGill spoke with John Furrier, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during AWS re:Invent. They discussed Micro Focus’ role in powering functionality behind business cut-over from mainframe to cloud using AWS’ mainframe modernization and migration services. (* Disclosure below.)

Customer needs dictate direction

Capability, expertise, technology and customer needs are the key elements Micro Focus provides to help businesses take advantage of AWS’ mainframe services, according to McGill. 

“If they would like their mainframe application to run in the cloud exactly as is so it supports their customers exactly as they expect today, we can do that. On the other hand, if they need to enhance that experience for their customers, take it into a different environment, containerize, leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning, then again, they can determine the journey,” he explained.

As infrastructure costs continue to increase, moving from traditional mainframe to cloud can be a path to decreasing spend and increasing functionality. Enhancing and improving what you have today to work for tomorrow is the name of the game. But it takes time.

“What you’re going to do is take it in chunks, typically 12 to 15 months, which is the biggest step of the journey going from mainframe to cloud,” McGill said. “The cost profile of your existing infrastructure is going to be incredibly expensive. So what you want to do is accelerate the change, delivered at a much lower cost.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent. (* Disclosure: Micro Focus International PLC sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Micro Focus nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE