Businesses that adjust to the volatile economic reality of today with a well-considered modernization strategy that not only delivers reduced costs, but also streamlined business processes and improved productivity while driving IT innovation are far more likely to exit the downturn with better market position and accelerated growth compared to competitors. This paper explores how migration of mainframe applications is helping organizations achieve this, includes practical case studies and industry analyst insights.
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Are you ready for
economic bounce back?Migrating your enterprise applications to lower cost platforms while maintaining existing business logic is a proven strategy for preparing for the economic recoverywhite paper | Are You Ready for Economic Bounce Back?
Executive Summary innovate and grow market share, as the recession receded, these two companies were positioned to grow more quickly than their We are in the midst of arguably the biggest global recession since remaining competitors and as a result, locked up dominant positions the Great Depression, almost certainly the biggest recession since in their respective industries.businesses became so dependent on IT for their ability to operate and compete effectively. Pressure is on to slash costs, particularly A time of recession is the best time to look for market requirements within IT, and to focus on nothing but keeping the lights on. However, that are unmet; this is where innovation can begin. Looking further the business that adjusts to this new economic reality with a well- back, take the example of Fortune Magazine. It was launched considered strategy is far more likely to exit this downturn with better in early 1930 in the midst of the Great Depression, and at a market position and accelerated growth compared to its competitors. comparatively high price. (1) Surely, doomed to failure therefore? But Fortune Magazine met a new requirement. Business This paper examines the concept that preparing for economic professionals could not find the information they found in Fortune recovery is not something that can wait; it is something that Magazine available anywhere else.businesses should plan for now. It will introduce enterprise application migration strategies that can be considered within any organization and also emphasize that the importance of forward thinking "A difficult economic environment and planning is never more important than during an economic downturn. It's actually relatively easy for an organization to cut costs, argues for the need to innovate more, but much harder to cut the right costs. Only by establishing a plan for not to pull back."economic recovery can businesses be well placed to both deal with the downturn right now and be ready for future challenges. Ken Chenault, CEO, American Express (2)One current area of focus for organizations should be how to drive innovation and improve the productivity of its enterprise application development teams, while also improving total cost of ownership Also consider the well-worn phrase 'necessity is the mother of (TCO). A variety of enterprise application modernization strategies invention'. Needs do not disappear during economic downturns, can be employed to enable organizations to meet these goals. One and organizations that innovate will almost certainly find themselves low-risk, high-return strategy is migrating enterprise applications best placed for the economic recovery. from the mainframe to Linux, Unix or Windows technologies. This has enabled organizations to significantly reduce costs while So, how do you continue to innovate and prepare your organization increasing performance and improving productivity, leading to for the economic bounce back? Key areas to consider here are: innovative approaches to their business initiatives. A recession how to reduce your time-to-market for new solutions, how to does not mean the end of innovation, quite the opposite in fact. prioritize the projects that deliver on the goals of the business, how Innovation during an economic downturn can have far greater to improve customer satisfaction and how to embrace and benefit impact than during boom times. Combine the drive for innovation from new technology.and improving productivity with improving business processes and lowering costs, and you have a complete strategy for preparing an From an enterprise application perspective, migrating enterprise organization to be best positioned for the economic recovery. applications from mainframe architectures to Linux, Unix or Windows technologies is a proven method for enabling The primary goal for any organization is to offer the best solutions organizations to drive greater innovation within their environments. and services to its customers, at the lowest possible cost. This is still This can be achieved by improving existing customer satisfaction, possible during an economic downturn - but only in a s... [download for more]
