FinTech Magazine February 2024 | Page 17

Q . Mainframe modernisation is a key concern for banks today . How important is it to modernise legacy infrastructures , and how do banks go about doing it ?

» Mainframe technology has been around for decades and still serves as critical infrastructure for many of the world ’ s largest financial institutions .

However , there are very few vendors that serve the existing mainframes and their services are becoming more expensive every year .
Additionally , the people operating these platforms are ageing out of the workforce and it is becoming nearly impossible to find people with the right skill set to maintain mainframe operations – posing a major operational risk for banks that will only get worse .
But most importantly , new developments on mainframes are slow and expensive , limiting the ability of companies to innovate and launch new capabilities to keep up with the market .
Luckily , technology has come a long way recently , bringing automation into the mainframe modernisation process . Modernising mainframe applications is becoming cheaper and faster than ever before , making it so much easier to justify these projects . fintechmagazine . com 17