For the last 30 years, mainframes have been the technological mainstay of countless organizations; the engines that powered companies to innovation and growth. But many IT managers today view these magnificent thoroughbreds with growing concern. While the business and technological environment has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades, legacy systems have remained insulated. In an age where today's cutting-edge technology may become a legacy tomorrow, can these monoliths built over 20 to 30 years ago still be relevant? Can they deliver the business functionality, operational flexibility and organizational agility that enterprises of the 21st century need for survival?

The answer is a resounding No.

Not surprisingly, most IT managers agree that their legacy systems must be transformed. But the question is how. Mainframes still power several mission-critical applications and are repositories of valuable business logic and knowledge accumulated over the years. The challenges IT managers face are: How do you transform legacy systems without any downtime for mission-critical applications? How do you make the business logic embedded in them available to newer applications? And, finally, how do you accomplish all of this within a viable time frame?

This Guide aims to provide an insight into "Managed Mainframes", Mastek's unique mainframe migration methodology that addresses exactly these concerns.