IT modernization should allow you access to any legacy applications that might still work, because there are some features your old mainframe might handle very well.
According to Andy Hoiles of IBM, security is a major concern for any company running off of a mainframe, and the natural features of a mainframe can play a role in the prevention of dangerous security risks. But the kind of security measure that a company takes on matters, because something that might seem efficient could actually prove to be cumbersome.
This is important because it means that, while outside security solutions and other means of augmenting existing systems can be used, they should work with the existing structure to tighten the controls that are already there.
Although Hoiles notes the danger that security threats can pose to any organization, he also points out that security functions are part of what has given the mainframe the ability to sustain itself over the years.
"Embedding security and availability or resiliency features within the hardware itself, or within the system microcode over its 50 year history, has given mainframe technology a distinctive edge over many of its rivals," an article in IT Web quotes him as saying.
In a more general sense, Fierce Homeland Security recently featured an article about Robert Stephan, a former member of the Department of Homeland Security who called IT infrastructure a "diaspora." In his estimation, the diffuse nature of the current system needs to be corrected through a coordinated effort.
Your business can look upon legacy modernization as a way to translate its mainframe into a new setting without having to perform a full overhaul, or lose the natural strength of its system. At the same time, any modernization tactics we help you with can be seen as a pathway to better practices.