Interview | Ed Airey, VP of Marketing, on the 2024 ISG Provider Lens™ Mainframe — Services and Solutions Report

Introduction

According to the 2024 ISG Provider Lens™ Mainframe — Services and Solutions report, an increasing number of enterprises are now considering mainframe modernization to reduce technical debt, enable AI technologies, and enhance compliance. This latest research revealed that—while some enterprises are prioritizing the migration of their mainframe applications to the cloud or containers—many more large mainframe shops are also choosing to modernize in place.

With mainframe application modernization and GenAI interest accelerating at breakneck speed in the U.S., it only seemed apropos to dive in this and other mainframe trends noted by the leading global technology research and advisory firm. I sat down with Ed Airey, VP of Marketing, to get his take on insights, challenges, and market drivers featured in the research, along with AveriSource's positioning in the always highly-anticipated ISG Provider Lens™ quadrant report.

Q&A

Jenny Allen, Managing Editor: You’ve been in the mainframe industry working with analysts all over the world for over ten years now. What makes ISG and the Provider Lens™ report unique as compared to other firms you’ve worked with? Could you tell me about the report’s methodology?

Ed Airey, VP of Marketing: "Yes, I’ve had the chance to work with many great research firms and analysts around the world, specifically within the mainframe modernization sector. I’ve worked with ISG for the last three-to-four years now and I think what makes them unique is their consistent approach to mainframe software and service delivery research and measurement.

For the last few years, they’ve consistently analyzed and interviewed the top mainframe vendors in this space, assessing their capabilities, product roadmaps, growth plans, go-to-market execution, customer wins and many other factors. The result has been an annual assessment and chart-based ranking of the mainframe modernization ecosystem.  There are very few research firms that are consistently tracking and analyzing the mainframe market and vendor ecosystem in this way, so I believe this gives ISG an advantage.

ISG’s methodology is quite detailed, but it also provides a balanced view, ensuring that both product and engineering progress, as well as go-to-market, revenues and customer adoption, are considered. As their mainframe research reporting is annual, ISG also examines progress against the prior year’s measurement, tracking key wins and advancements. To my knowledge, ISG is one of the few global research firms with this consistent and repeated approach to monitoring and reporting on the mainframe modernization software and services market."  

What does this report mean for AveriSource and its product offerings?

"The 2024 ISG Provider Lens™ Mainframe — Services and Solutions report will deliver immense value for the organizations that participate. For AveriSource, that value is important market recognition. That is, analyst recognition of the continued investment and development made within our technology to support world-class mainframe and midrange application modernization.

In addition, this research and vendor recognition by ISG provides the needed market and solution validation that larger enterprises look for as they analyze, evaluate and research mainframe modernization solution providers. I’d also add that the coverage within this report provides additional brand visibility within the larger mainframe modernization market, enabling AveriSource to reach new customers and partners with its offerings.

So, that value is received in many forms, from enabling existing organizations to thoroughly research and validate mainframe vendor solutions, to providing new market access to prospective enterprises planning their mainframe modernization journey. We expect this new ISG research to deliver continuous value for us over the weeks and months ahead."

What feedback did you receive from the ISG analyst team? Could you tell me about any questions that arose during the briefing?

"We covered many topics during the scheduled briefings with the ISG team. There was considerable time spent on the recent product innovations and new deliverables as part of our latest launch: AveriSource Platform™ 2.0. Significant investment and development was made in transforming the user experience to ensure a more productive, modern, and automated approach to mainframe application analysis, business rules extraction and code transformation. The new UX delivers on that commitment with intuitive dashboards, self-guided help, planning recommendations detailed reporting and much more. It’s quite a transformation and the ISG team agreed as per our new research and report ranking.

We also spent considerable time discussing our unique AI-modeling and code transformation capability. Our flagship offering, AveriSource Transform, enables the automated transformation of legacy code to modern Java or C#. This capability is not line-by-line refactoring, but rather an Accelerated Rewrite™ or reengineering of existing source code. The result of highly maintainable, object-oriented code. However, unlike other code transformation offerings, AveriSource provides modern Java or C# code with NO proprietary platform or runtime requirements, library dependencies, or vendor lock-in. You’re truly free to move the transformed code to your platform of choice. This was also an area where we spent considerable time with ISG analysts—and the recent research reinforces this capability's value." 

How is AveriSource positioned as compared to others in the market? What are its key differentiators?

"When we compared last year’s ISG report to the latest research, there are some interesting key points. As a result of continued investment and development in our AveriSource Platform, our ISG ranking, and chart placement moved vertically within the Product Challenger quadrant. The result demonstrates AveriSource’s progress against its larger product strategy and roadmap, and in support of customer-driven innovation and new modernization capabilities. This vertical movement on the chart is monumental and sets AveriSource apart from other vendors where less year-over-year vertical change was seen within the latest ISG mainframe research."

Where do you see AveriSource next year on the grid? How will you and the team be involved in elevating AveriSource's position?

"AveriSource remains committed to driving innovation and modernization capability within our industry leading AveriSource Platform technology. We’ll strive to move even higher on the ISG’s mainframe modernization chart in support of our expanded roadmap and strategy goals this year.

In addition, new company hires and investment in support of sales and go-to-market efforts will help drive new customer adoption, revenue growth, and market expansion—all crucial elements to advancing from left-to-right on the ISG Provider Lens™ quadrant. I have no doubt that our placement on next year’s ISG mainframe research will show an additional change and advancement in the areas of go-to-market, market visibility, and customer adoption. AveriSource will continue to work with leading global research firms, such as ISG, to support our customers along their mainframe modernization journey."

How did this research help to guide the AveriSource product roadmap?

"The result demonstrates AveriSource’s progress against its larger product strategy and roadmap and in support of customer driven innovation and new modernization capability. This vertical movement on the chart is significant and sets AveriSource apart from other vendors where less year-over-year vertical change was seen within the latest ISG mainframe research."

Anything else to add? How can folks reading this blog receive a copy of the research?

"Absolutely. We’ve partnered with ISG to provide a summary copy of the research with a deeper dive into the AveriSource Platform capability. That report is available for free and can be accessed on the AveriSource website.

I’d highly recommend reviewing this research if you’re preparing for your mainframe modernization journey, revisiting current strategy, or planning for what’s next. Or, if you want to see a more detailed walkthrough of the Averisource Platform, you can also book a complimentary demo on our website."

Closing Remarks

If you're interested in learning more about the AveriSource Platform, including how to get started on your own modernization journey, follow us on LinkedIn or sign up to receive the AveriSource Application Modernization Blog newsletter.

Each modernization journey is different and requires the right level of customization to meet both customer and partner needs. In a crowded market, only AveriSource offers a truly platform-independent approach to mainframe application analysis, business rules extraction, and code transformation—aligned to your strategy—on the mainframe and in the cloud.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more insights from our team of mainframe modernization experts! 💪