Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm, has launched a research study examining service providers that enable enterprises to modernize and support their mainframe computing environments.

The study results will be published in a series of comprehensive ISG Provider Lens™ reports, called Mainframes – Services and Solutions 2025, scheduled to be released in March 2025. The reports will cover companies that offer mainframe optimization services, outsourcing, mainframe as a service (MFaaS) and support for migrating applications to the cloud.

Enterprise buyers will be able to use information from the report to evaluate their current vendor relationships, potential new engagements and available offerings, while ISG advisors use the information to recommend providers to the firm’s buy-side clients.

Generative AI (GenAI) solutions requiring access to mainframe data have accelerated modernization demand in the last two years. Organizations are also looking to modernize their mainframe environments to reduce technical debt, enable AI technologies, improve business analytics and enhance compliance.

“New automation and GenAI capabilities, business resilience and carbon neutrality requirements are pushing companies to rethink their data center strategies,” said Heiko Henkes, managing director, ISG Provider Lens. “Mainframe outsourcing and MFaaS are common choices to reduce IT spending, increase automation, optimize performance and improve hybrid cloud integration.”

ISG has distributed surveys to more than 140 mainframe product and service providers. Working in collaboration with ISG’s global advisors, the research team will produce five quadrants representing the mainframe support services the typical enterprise is buying, based on ISG’s experience working with its clients. The five quadrants are:

• Mainframe Optimization Services – Evaluating providers of mainframe modernization that maintains the original programming languages, such as COBOL, while optimizing cost and performance.
• Mainframe-as-a-Service (MFaaS) – Assessing infrastructure service providers that offer shared IBM mainframes under a pay-per-use contract model.
• Mainframe Operations – Studying traditional outsourcing providers with extensive mainframe service experience who operate legacy mainframe technologies and recent mainframe releases.
• Mainframe Application Modernization Software – Examining software vendors that enable mainframe application assessments and transformations, including re-platforming, rehosting, refactoring, rewriting and re-engineering.
• Application Modernization Services – Evaluating application service providers that use advanced modernization methodologies to assess and rewrite legacy programming language applications.

Geographically focused reports from the study will cover the global mainframe services market and examine products and services available in the U.S., Europe and Brazil. ISG analysts Pedro L. Bicudo Maschio and Oliver Nickels will serve as lead authors of the report.

A list of identified providers and vendors and further details on the study are available in this digital brochure. Companies not listed as mainframe service providers can contact ISG and ask to be included in the study.

ISG will also publish the U.S. Public Sector Mainframes — Services and Solutions 2025 report, covering providers with experience in delivering mainframe modernization to state, local, municipal and educational entities in the U.S.

All 2024 ISG Provider Lens™ evaluations feature expanded customer experience (CX) data that measures actual enterprise experience with specific provider services and solutions, based on ISG’s continuous CX research. Enterprise customers wishing to share their experience about a specific provider or vendor are encouraged to register here to receive a personalized survey URL. Participants will receive a copy of this report in return for their feedback.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 900 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including AI, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,600 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

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