2020 Mainframe Modernization and Integration Solutions Survey
Adaptigent’s Annual Mainframe Modernization & Integration Solutions Survey
Methodology
Our online survey was conducted in Q4 of 2019 with responses from 160 mainframe users in 11 different countries. Respondents represent a wide variety of industries, job functions and seniority in both the public and private sectors.
Survey Questions Index
Below is a list of the survey questions. To jump to a particular section in the survey, simply click on the link below the header topic you wish to view.
Migration and Integration Initiatives
1. Does your company have applications running on an IBM mainframe?
2. What mainframe integration initiatives are currently underway at your company?
3. What business goals are you trying to accomplish with your mainframe integration initiatives?
4. What mainframe migration initiatives are currently underway at your company?
Mainframe Integration Tools Utilized
5. What mainframe tools are you currently using to create APIs that support mainframe integration?
6. Do you use an ESB for connecting systems to your mainframe?
7. What ESBs do you use for connecting systems to your mainframe?
8. Do you use any pre-built mainframe connectors provided by your ESB?
9. What Red Hat products do you use?
ESB Satisfaction
10. On a scale of 1-5, please rate your overall satisfaction with your ESB’s pre-built mainframe connector.
11. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the extent to which you experience latency or slow response times from your ESB’s mainframe connector.
Modernization Challenges
12. On a scale of 1-5, please rate your overall satisfaction with your company’s ability to keep up with demands for APIs that support mainframe integration.
13. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the efficiency of your company’s development team in creating APIs that support mainframe integration.
14. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the extent to which each of the following initiatives pose a challenge to your company:
(a) Creating new APIs
(b) Upgrades and modifications to existing integrations
(c) Finding staff that can work with existing applications
(d) Internal attitudes toward mainframe integration
API Drill Down
15. How many new or updated APIs that support mainframe integration get added to IT’s project list on an annual basis?
16. How many active APIs that support mainframe integration is currently in development?
17. What is the current backlog of APIs that support mainframe integration?
18. How many full-time employees are dedicated to developing APIs that support mainframe integration?
19. On average, how many labor hours does it take your company to develop APIs that support mainframe integration?
Open Banking Familiarity
20. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how familiar you are with FedNow.
21. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how familiar you are with PSD2.
22. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how important preparation for Open Banking or FedNow is to your company.
Demographics
23. What best describes the industry that your company serves?
24. What best describes your job function?
25. What best describes your job level?
Migration and Integration Initiatives
1. Does your company have applications running on an IBM mainframe?
| Yes, we currently have applications running on the mainframe. | 66.3% |
| Not currently, but we have had applications running on the mainframe within the last two years. | 4.4% |
| No, we have not had applications running on the mainframe within the last two years. | 24.4% |
| I don’t know. | 5.0% |
Answered: 160
2. What mainframe integration initiatives are currently underway at your company?
| Connecting the mainframe to internal, on-premise systems. | 65.0% |
| Connecting the mainframe to internal, cloud-based systems. | 38.8% |
| Connecting the mainframe to external, on-premise systems. | 37.5% |
| Connecting the mainframe to external, cloud-based systems. | 30.0% |
| No mainframe integration projects are currently underway. | 11.3% |
| I don’t know. | 6.3% |
Answered: 80
3. What business goals are you trying to accomplish with your mainframe integration initiatives?
| I don’t know | 6.3% |
| Other | 3.8% |
| Regulatory compliance | 18.8% |
| Hybrid cloud infrastructure | 26.3% |
| Employee experience and satisfaction | 31.3% |
| Agile / DevOps | 48.8% |
| Customer experience and satisfaction | 48.8% |
| Internal infrastructure and operations | 51.3% |
| Cost reduction | 53.8% |
| Digital modernization and innovation | 53.8% |
Answered: 80
4. What mainframe migration initiatives are currently underway at your company?
| We have no plans to migrate applications off the mainframe. | 21.3% |
| We plan to migrate some applications off the mainframe at some point in the future. | 26.3% |
| We plan to migrate all applications off the mainframe at some point in the future. | 10.0% |
| We are actively migrating some applications off the mainframe. | 31.3% |
| We are actively migrating all applications off the mainframe. | 6.3% |
| We have already migrated all applications off the mainframe. | 5.0% |
Answered: 80
Mainframe Integration Tools Utilized
5. What mainframe tools are you currently using to create APIs that support mainframe integration?
| CICS or IMS gateway tools | 40.5% |
| IBM z/OS Connect | 39.2% |
| In-house manual coding | 31.7% |
| We are not using any integration tools | 12.7% |
| Rocket Software | 8.9% |
| Adaptigent Suite | 6.3% |
| Other | 15.2% |
| I don’t know | 12.7% |
Answered: 79
6. Do you use an ESB for connecting systems to your mainframe?
| Yes | 26.3% |
| No | 27.5% |
| I don’t know | 46.3% |
Answered: 80
7. What ESBs do you use for connecting systems to your mainframe?
| IBM App Connect | 47.6% |
| Tibco | 42.9% |
| Mulesoft | 23.8% |
| Other | 19.1 |
| Red Hat Jboss | 4.8% |
| Red Hat Fuse | 4.8% |
Answered: 21
8. Do you use any pre-built mainframe connectors provided by your ESB?
| Yes | 33.3% |
| No | 28.6% |
| I don’t know | 38.1% |
Answered: 21
9. What Red Hat products do you use?
| 3Scale | 2.7% |
| Cloud Suite | 8.0% |
| Fuse | 9.3% |
| OpenShift | 14.7% |
| OpenStack | 18.7% |
| Jboss | 29.3% |
| Other | 40.0% |
Answered: 75
ESB Satisfaction
10. On a scale of 1-5, please rate your overall satisfaction with your ESB’s pre-built mainframe connector.
| (1) Extremely Dissatisfied | (2) | (3) Neutral | (4) | (5) Extremely Satisfied | Weighted Average |
| 0.0% | 0.0% | 57.1% | 42.9% | 0.0% | 3.4 |
Answered: 7
11. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the extent to which you experience latency or slow response times from your ESB’s mainframe connector.
| (1) No Latency | (2) | (3) Some Latency | (4) | (5) High Degree of Latency | Weighted Average |
| 0.0% | 57.1% | 42.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.4 |
Answered: 7
Modernization Challenges
12. On a scale of 1-5, please rate your overall satisfaction with your company’s ability to keep up with demands for APIs that support mainframe integration.
| (1) Extremely Dissatisfied | (2) | (3) Neutral | (4) | (5) Extremely Satisfied | Weighted Average |
| 4.6% | 13.6% | 40.9% | 30.3% | 10.6% | 3.3 |
Answered: 66
13. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the efficiency of your company’s development team in creating APIs that support mainframe integration.
| (1) Extremely Inefficient | (2) | (3) Neutral | (4) | (5) Extremely Efficient | Weighted Average |
| 4.6% | 10.6% | 39.4% | 33.3% | 12.1% | 3.4 |
Answered: 66
14. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the extent to which each of the following initiatives pose a challenge to your company’s mainframe integration efforts.
| (1) Not At All | (2) | (3) Somewhat | (4) | (5) Very | Weighted Average | |
| Creating new APIs | 11.1% | 15.9% | 42.9% | 23.8% | 6.4% | 3.0 |
| Upgrades and modifications to existing integrations | 4.9% | 21.3% | 42.6% | 21.3% | 9.8% | 3.1 |
| Finding staff that can work with existing applications | 4.8% | 14.3% | 36.5% | 25.4% | 19.1% | 3.4 |
| Internal attitudes toward mainframe integration | 8.1% | 9.7% | 43.6% | 22.6% | 16.1% | 3.3 |
Answered: 64
API Drill Down
15. How many new or updated APIs that support mainframe integration are added to IT’s project list on an annual basis?
| 1-25 | 42.5% |
| 26-50 | 10.0% |
| 51-100 | 17.5% |
| 101-250 | 5.0% |
| >250 | 10.0% |
| None | 15.0% |
Answered: 42
16. How many active APIs that support mainframe integration are currently in development?
| 1-25 | 40.5% |
| 26-50 | 16.7% |
| 51-100 | 4.8% |
| 101-250 | 4.8% |
| >250 | 11.9% |
| None | 21.4% |
Answered: 42
17. What is the current backlog of APIs that support mainframe integration?
| 1-25 | 37.8% |
| 26-50 | 13.5% |
| 51-100 | 8.1% |
| 101-250 | 8.1% |
| >250 | 5.4% |
| None | 27.0% |
Answered: 37
18. How many full-time employees are dedicated to developing APIs that support mainframe integration?
| 1-10 | 50.0% |
| 11-50 | 25.0% |
| 51-100 | 4.2% |
| 101-250 | 0% |
| >250 | 6.3% |
| None | 14.6% |
Answered: 48
19. On average, how many labor-hours does it take your company to develop APIs that support mainframe integration?
| 1-20 | 25.0% |
| 21-40 | 28.1% |
| 40-60 | 25.0% |
| >60 | 21.9% |
Answered: 32
Open Banking Familiarity
20. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how familiar you are with FedNow.
| (1) Not at all | (2) | (3) Somewhat | (4) | (5) Very | Weighted Average |
| 87.1% | 4.3% | 7.1% | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1.2 |
Answered: 70
21. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how familiar you are with PSD2.
| (1) Not at all | (2) | (3) Somewhat | (4) | (5) Very | Weighted Average |
| 77.1% | 8.6% | 10.0% | 2.9% | 1.4% | 1.4 |
Answered: 70
22. On a scale of 1-5, please rate how important preparation for Open Banking or FedNow is to your company.
| (1) Not at all | (2) | (3) Somewhat | (4) | (5) Critical | Weighted Average |
| 65.2% | 15.2% | 12.1% | 6.1% | 1.5% | 1.6 |
Answered: 66
Survey Demographics
23. What best describes the industry that your company serves?
| Other (please specify) | 12.4% |
| Banking | 17.1% |
| Financial Services | 16.2% |
| Education | 11.4% |
| Public Sector | 10.5% |
| Insurance – Health | 7.6% |
| Manufacturing | 5.7% |
| Computer Software | 4.8% |
| Financial Technology | 3.8% |
| Insurance – Property & Casualty | 3.8% |
| Telecommunications | 2.9% |
| Retail | 2.9% |
| Logistics & Distribution | 1.0% |
Answered: 105
24. What best describes your job function?
| IT | 42.4% |
| Application Development | 27.3% |
| Systems Engineer | 13.1% |
| Product Management | 5.1% |
| Programmer | 5.1% |
| Sales | 3.0% |
| Digital Strategy | 1.0% |
| Other (please specify) | 3.0% |
Answered: 99
25. What best describes your job level?
| Entry Level | 0.0% |
| Intermediate | 36.4% |
| Middle management | 34.3% |
| Senior Management | 25.3% |
| Executive/C-Level | 4.0% |
Answered: 99
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