Mainframes manage large amounts of data reliably and securely, remaining an essential backbone of major industries. But in today’s adapt-or-die business environment, many organizations are seeing the need to modernize how they use the mainframe.
Often, they attempt to leverage the mainframe through workarounds that replicate data, rather than accessing the mainframe directly. This introduces the problem of synchronizing data that now resides in two places. Fail at synchronization and your data is no longer reliable. Plus, development of a band-aid style remedy can be slow, draining time and resources while deliv
ering limited results.
Yet modern applications – mobile, web, data and analytics, and more – demand access to the data and transactions on the mainframe. And neither the applications nor the mainframe can reach their full business value until they learn to work together. So how do you close the gap between the established and the innovative? How do you make the leap from the monolithic to modern applications?
The short answer: find the right tools. They’re out there, thanks to companies that have devoted decades to mainframe technology development.
Tap into legacy systems
Solution providers such as Adaptigent provide an architecture that can bridge the gap, allowing organizations to rapidly and cost-effectively create REST or SOAP interfaces via APIs to existing mainframe data and applications.
Imagine: a drag-and-drop environment that not only provides access to complex data and transactional elements from multiple sources, including the mainframe, but also combines and transforms these elements into any format needed, taking you beyond the green screen and into today’s app-centric, intuitive, and real-time world.
Stop-gap solutions may perform adequately in a limited way, but there is so much more that can be achieved. With APIs, you can tackle the challenge directly and deliver solutions that return competitive advantages and increased revenue.
For example, you can:
- Enable agents for real-time access to mainframe data in the field, allowing them to provide fast, accurate quotes, close deals and improve customer satisfaction
- Create new applications that streamline business processes for better efficiency and effectiveness
- Quickly and easily develop Web services to create right-sized composite business services from existing mainframe systems
The possibilities are virtually endless – with the right tools in hand.