Fujitsu’s VME customers run critical custom-built applications on its mainframe-based operating system, but were starting to struggle with rising developer costs and challenges with modernization.
Fujitsu offers application management services for VME application suites, which utilize an IBM solution to analyze mainframe-based application landscapes—simplifying development and management.
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Offers customers the best of two worlds: stability of the mainframe and agility for the digital age
Fujitsu wanted to help its VME customers bring their enterprise applications into the digital age. It provides new services that utilize IBM® Application Discovery and Delivery Intelligence to analyze applications—helping to break down siloes of knowledge, accelerate application development and simplify management, unlocking new agility.
For decades, mainframes have been the platform of choice for organizations looking for the processing power, reliability, availability and Security that distributed solutions struggle to match. However, in today’s digital age, users are re-evaluating their mainframe landscapes in the face of challenges around licensing costs, technology expertise and the perceived complexity of application development. The situation is no different for companies that have developed bespoke, business-critical applications on one of Fujitsu’s mainframe operating systems (OS), Virtual Machine Environment (VME).
Mike Smith, VME Programme Manager at Fujitsu, takes up the story: “We have a number of longstanding customers such as government departments, banks, insurance companies and others, who over many years have developed bespoke applications running on VME.
“Though extremely secure and stable, legacy mainframe environments can be difficult to modernize. Over time they tend to become more customized and complex, and knowledge is often siloed. Lacking a clear overview, it can be difficult and risky to make changes, which limits business agility.
For these reasons, in 2007, Fujitsu announced that it would be discontinuing VME licenses in 2020—but as the deadline approached, it recognized its customers’ ongoing requirements for their VME applications.
“Many of our customers still relied heavily on VME, and we didn’t want to pull the rug out from under their feet by suddenly ending support for it,” notes Mike Smith. “Instead, we developed services to host and manage their VME applications either in our own data centers or on their premises. In parallel, we wanted to help them modernize their environments, to extend the value of their investments in the mainframe.”\
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