BMC: Integrating mainframe systems into modern CI/CD pipelines

"The pervasive factor is probably that the mainframe is a centralised system with a reputation for high reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS). Because of this hard-earned reputation, engineering departments viewed procedural alterations with high suspicion."

"Waterfall meant that application innovations were only deployed after a highly considered process that took considerable time to achieve. Each stage needed to be completed to a high specification; this created drag on the release cycles."

"But today, much faster innovation is required, and so the legacy approach is not 'fit for purpose' to maintain the speeds the business needs."

Mainframe systems historically operated in isolation with strict procedural controls to ensure high reliability, availability, and serviceability. This cautious approach led to Waterfall development methodologies that required sequential, heavily gated progress through multiple stages. While this ensured quality, it significantly slowed release cycles and innovation deployment. Modern business demands faster innovation cycles to remain competitive, making legacy workflows obsolete. Organizations now recognize the necessity to modernize mainframe processes and integrate them into contemporary CI/CD pipelines. This modernization effort addresses both technological and demographic challenges, as legacy engineering skills transition out of enterprise development teams.

Read at Developer Tech News