GCP – Accelerate Mainframe Modernization with gen AI from Google Cloud and its partners

Modernizing mainframes has been a long and expensive process for too long. Today, we’re launching new solutions that bring the combined strength of Gemini models, and our partners’ technologies and services to accelerate mainframe modernization.  

Google Cloud generative AI products for mainframe modernization 

Google Cloud currently offers three products for mainframe customers looking to reimagine their mainframe applications (significantly change the code logic and design), focusing on assessment, code transformation and testing.

1. Google Cloud Mainframe Assessment Tool (powered by Gemini Models)
Google Cloud’s Mainframe Assessment Tool (MAT), now generally available, allows customers to thoroughly assess and analyze their entire mainframe estate, including applications and data, enabling informed decisions on the optimal modernization path. MAT provides in-depth code analysis, generates clear code explanations, summarized application logic and specifications, automated documentation creation, identification of application dependencies, and the generation of initial test cases. This accelerates understanding of the mainframe code and jumpstarts the modernization process. Learn more. 

2. Google Cloud Mainframe Rewrite (powered by Gemini Models)
To modernize your mainframe applications, Google Cloud’s Mainframe Rewrite, now available in Preview, helps developers transform and reimagine legacy mainframe code into modern languages, such as Java and C#. Mainframe Rewrite provides an IDE environment for developers to iteratively modernize legacy code, test and deploy the modernized application in Google Cloud. Learn more.

3. Dual Run
To de-risk the modernization journey, customers can use Google Cloud Dual Run to thoroughly test, certify, and validate the modernized mainframe applications. Dual Run allows users to verify the correctness, completeness, and performance of the modernized code during migration and before the new application goes live in production.

By replaying live events from the production mainframe onto the modernized cloud application, Dual Run compares the output between the two systems to detect any differences. Learn more.

Get started with Google Cloud Mainframe Assessment Tool, Mainframe Rewrite and Dual Run.

Now you can use our partners’ technology, too 

For customers who want to take a more interactive and incremental approach to mainframe modernization, our partner Mechanical Orchard offers a platform that rapidly rewrites mainframe applications into idiomatic modern languages  without changing the logic. Once this is achieved, the modern code lends itself to more rapid transformation. This kind of gradual transformation is also the foundation of the AI-accelerated Mainframe Modernization collaboration between global consultancy Thoughtworks and Mechanical Orchard.

The Mechanical Orchard’s modernization platform combines data capture agents with a highly disciplined methodology to modernize legacy systems incrementally and non-disruptively. It reconstructs system behavior from real data flows, rewriting components piece by piece using generative AI into modern, idiomatic, and deterministic code. By shifting integration and testing earlier, it also reduces risk, and ensures old and new code are functionality equivalent by refining itself until it matches the legacy system’s output. Workloads are migrated individually to the cloud production environment. This approach reduces project risk and disruption and can provide faster time to value.

The primary goal is to create a functional equivalent of the legacy system, ensuring that the new code produces identical outputs for every input. Mechanical Orchard supports COBOL-era systems and can generate code in languages like Java, Python, and others.

Google’s leading delivery partners go further to accelerate and de-risk modernization

Our new Mainframe Modernization with Gen AI Accelerator program adds another vital ingredient – the strong experience and capable teams of our expert delivery partners who will bring the above tools to life for customers. We are thrilled to welcome Accenture, EPAM and Thoughtworks to the program. They bring rich and practical experience in how to best use these AI-powered solutions to maximize modernization. Their experience in establishing modern engineering practices and providing comprehensive enablement for customer teams will empower organizations to fully embrace their cloud-native future and achieve lasting success. 

The program has three phases:

1. Highly detailed assessment: This phase analyzes the environment using the Google Mainframe Assessment Tool (MAT) enhanced with Gemini models and combined with the partners expertise. From this detailed assessment, customers will receive detailed documentation about their mainframe applications (knowledge base and explainability of the mainframe applications), modernization recommendations, and a modernization plan with estimated timelines, resources, and specific approaches.

2. Proof of value stage

3. Executing the modernization at scale

For a limited time, qualified customers can access this assessment (typically done in four to eight weeks) conducted by select partners at no-cost (excluding underlying Google Cloud infrastructure usage).

Put us to the test

Google Cloud and partners are ready to apply generative AI to one of the most important modernization challenges. Let’s start with an assessment.  For more details and inquiries please write to mainframe@google.com.

Get started with Google Cloud Mainframe Assessment Tool, Mainframe Rewrite and Dual Run.