Application modernization for IBM Z architecture – IBM Z and Cloud Modernization Center

IBM Z application modernization patterns

Patterns represent architectural best practices for specific business challenges. Each pattern directly addresses business challenges and provides a path to incremental and independent adoption for customers. These application modernization patterns cover aspects that are specific to IBM Z and common patterns that are applicable to all platforms but specialized for IBM Z. One pattern that is specific to IBM Z is “Collocate applications with IBM Z applications and data”, which has had successful business adoption. Similarly, a common industry pattern that is often applied on IBM Z is event sourcing, which is being specialized as “Respond to IBM Z application events”. The goal is to define and align these patterns in a consumable form to drive adoption.

Based on common characteristics, the patterns for IBM Z application modernization can be divided into four categories, as shown in the diagram.

Application centric: Drive enhanced function and flexibility through new application components that are developed as cloud-native functions, which either extend or enhance application components. New application components can either invoke applications on IBM Z or the applications can also invoke these new cloud-native functions.
Data-integration centric: Gain data-driven business value as applications share system-of-record (SOR) data either through direct access, replication, caching, or data virtualization concepts that combine data assets across the enterprise.
Event driven: Leverage dynamic interaction between loosely coupled applications, applications, and new cloud-native applications, exchanging information through events to improve performance and experience.
Lifecycle enablers: Derive deeper insights about the environment and enable agile solution development through techniques and tools that support DevOps practices and software pipelines.

Lifecycle enablers (process centric)

Application discovery for business alignment pattern

Extract consumable information about your software assets and build an inventory of applications and their resource usage and dependencies. Visualize information flow across application components, perform impact analysis, and generate reports to act on your modernization strategy and plan increments with confidence.

Enterprise DevOps pattern

Extract consumable information about your software assets and build an inventory of applications and their resource usage and dependencies. Visualize information flow across application components, perform impact analysis, and generate reports to act on your modernization strategy and plan increments with confidence.

Application centric

Expose through APIs pattern

Access mainframe applications and data by using standards-based REST APIs with IBM® z/OS® Connect EE. Manage APIs by using industry-standard API management solutions, including solutions by IBM.

Extend with a new function pattern

Augment core applications on IBM z/OS with new cloud-native components that are integrated through REST APIs. The cloud-native application can be pre-existing or developed by using enterprise DevOps and containers that run on IBM z/OS or IBM LinuxONE.

Collocate applications pattern

Collocate applications on IBM Z in a container that can access existing data or applications with order of magnitude reduced latency to meet SLA objectives.

Enhance an existing function pattern

Incrementally rewrite a part of a mainframe application driven by an immediate business need. Use cloud-native principles, enterprise DevOps, modern languages, and container technology on IBM z/OS or IBM LinuxONE. Integrate new functions by using APIs to or from assets by using the co-existence model.

Refactor into discrete services pattern

Refactor functions into reuseable components for agile development and sharing by applications.

Data-centric integration

Enable modern access to IBM Z data pattern

Provide modern support for accessing IBM Z data through SQL-based query and through REST APIs. Simplify new application development by using this modern data access without disrupting data management and recovery processes on IBM Z to maintain data consistency.

Virtualize IBM Z data pattern

Access data across IBM Z and other data sources, including joining data, without the need to copy and replicate that data. Deliver more current and accurate data with in-place data access to consuming applications, including analytics.

Cache IBM Z data pattern

Improve application response time and scalability by storing optimized copies of IBM Z data. Free compute resources and increase throughput by offloading application logic to the caching layer, especially for read-heavy applications.

Transform IBM Z data pattern

Incrementally build new modernized systems-of-record (SOR) data stores by tapping into IBM Z data traffic through a data adapter to transform to the modernized data format.

Replicate IBM Z data pattern

Replicate data in real time by capturing change log activity to drive changes in the target. Enable newer applications to access a broader range of data stores and access methods through replication.

Event driven

Respond to IBM Z application events pattern

Respond in near real-time to events that occur within IBM Z® applications.

Respond to external events pattern

Share events that are generated in IBM Z applications so that new application logic can be developed to respond to such events without introducing risks in core applications. Analyze data as part of application logic to generate an event.

Optimize CQRS pattern

Deliver an efficient CQRS system that is based on IBM Z to optimize the synchronization between the command access, which is SOR data that is updated by online and batch applications, and the query access, which is an information model that is aligned with the needs of the new applications. Optimize by using IBM Z Digital Integration Hub to deliver a non-disruptive, low-latency, high-throughput, and cost-attractive solution.