Offers Fujitsu customers seamless shift from mainframe to open systems and the cloud

L^zLabs today announced that it has signed an agreement with Fujitsu Technology Solutions to add its flagship solution, the L^zLabs Software Defined Mainframe^®, to the suite of tools and services in Fujitsu’s Global Application Modernization Integration practice. The agreement will give Fujitsu customers, globally, the option to run legacy mainframe applications on modern platforms such as cloud and commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, without any recompilation of application code.

The Fujitsu Global Application Modernization service is designed to enable customers to make the most out of their older strategic applications by enabling them to provide business benefit in today’s digital environment. By offering the L^zLabs Software Defined Mainframe^® as part of its tools and services suite, Fujitsu will help customers escape the high recurring cost of mainframe software and hardware, whilst preserving their enormous investment in legacy applications, data and business processes. This new environment works without forcing recompilations of COBOL or PL/I application programs or making complex changes to the applications that support the enterprise business environment.

LzLabs’ solution solves the legacy mainframe application problem where over 3,000 of the world’s largest companies have no escape from expensive and outdated application architectures, which still power 70% of the world’s commercial transactions. 

“When speaking to international organisations, we often find their fundamental business processes are supported by legacy applications, written in age-old coding languages that require significant time and investment to adapt,” said Geoff Peters, Deputy Head of Legacy Modernization at Fujitsu. “With the LzLabs Software Defined Mainframe®, this process can be bypassed almost entirely, opening up a world of cost-effective and flexible IT to customers who previously felt trapped. As more companies seek to modernize, we expect the Software Defined Mainframe® to play an important part in the Fujitsu Global Application Modernization Service,” commented Peters.

Thilo Rockmann, Chairman of LzLabs, said: “We’re excited to be working with Fujitsu, whose expertise in application modernisation and global reach already enables customers around the world to take major steps in the modernization of their critical IT infrastructure. Achieving the lift-and-shift of legacy COBOL and PL/1 mainframe applications onto COTS hardware and cloud will be a huge leap forward for many large businesses, and through this collaboration is now an option for those looking to future-proof their businesses.”