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Summer Mentorships 2026: Mainframe Modernization

By | September 14, 2026

Written by Rhian Barton, Open Mainframe Project Summer Mentorship 2026, mentee researcher, guided by mentor Bruno Azenha

I am a Mainframe Infrastructure Engineer and Degree Apprentice at Barclays Bank, currently pursuing a degree in Digital and Technology Solutions specialising in Mainframe at Manchester Metropolitan University. 

This post marks the completion of my 2026 Open Mainframe Project Summer Mentorship, where I worked with my mentor, Bruno Azenha to produce a whitepaper exploring: What does it mean to modernise the mainframe?

This blog post builds on my midterm update and reflects the full journey from early research and conceptual framing to a structured, publication-ready whitepaper.

Problem Statement: Defining Mainframe Modernisation

Throughout the mentorship, it became clear that modernisation is best understood as the process of evolving existing applications, development practices, and hardware. Rather than treating modernisation as a single transformation, my whitepaper frames it as an ongoing evolution that improves capability, developer experience, automation, and alignment with wider enterprise practices. This structure helped me make sense of the different drivers behind modernisation, the patterns across different mainframe ecosystems, and the organisational factors that influence how successfully these changes can be adopted.

Midterm Progress: Building the Foundations

In the first half of the mentorship, most of my time was spent researching and forming a conceptual understanding of modernisation. I explored:

  • Why organisations may look to modernise
  • How applications can be evolved or transformed
  • How DevOps tooling reshapes delivery practices
  • How hardware platforms continue to advance
  • Whether these ideas apply across both IBM and non-IBM ecosystems

By midterm, I had a clear outline, a research plan, and a shared understanding of the three-pillar model that would anchor the paper.

Final-Term Progress: From Research to a Structured Whitepaper

During the second half of the mentorship, my work shifted from exploration to synthesis. I focused on:

Developing the Three-Dimension Framework:

I researched how hardware evolves, how applications can be modernised, and how DevOps practices improve delivery, and then turned that research into structured sections for the whitepaper. This helped build a clear narrative around what modernisation looks like in practice and how organisations can approach it in a sustainable way.

Analyzing Vendor Ecosystem Patterns:

I researched how various mainframe ecosystems are changing and how their strategic direction impacts modernisation. Using that work, I helped build out the part of the whitepaper that explains the different ecosystem patterns. This comparison helps organisations understand why modernisation looks different depending on the platform and what kinds of approaches make sense in each scenario.

Organisational Enablers & Change Management:

I spent time researching the organisational side of modernisation, such as skills, governance, cultural change, and risk management and used that work to help shape the organisational section of the whitepaper. This part of the paper explains why modernisation isn’t just technical, and how people, processes, and decision-making play a huge role in whether modernisation succeeds.

Whitepaper Assembly & Review

I focused on shaping the full whitepaper. I organised the research, refined the structure, and made sure the sections flowed logically. I also had the draft reviewed several times, which helped me tighten the content and improve clarity. By the end, I had a complete, well-formed whitepaper ready for the Modernization Working Group to review

What I Learned

This mentorship has been an invaluable experience, and my biggest takeaways include:

  • Modernisation is multi-dimensional: It is not just rewriting code or upgrading hardware, but evolving the entire ecosystem around the mainframe.
  • Vendor direction matters: understanding the different ecosystems and their trajectories is essential for long-term planning.
  • Organisational factors are a critical part in business strategy: Skills, culture, governance, and risk management help to shape the success of technical change.
  • Whitepaper writing is a craft: Structuring complex topics into a clear, neutral, and actionable document requires discipline and iteration.

Conclusion

This mentorship has been a defining part of my academic and professional journey. The whitepaper produced provides a practical, structured way for organisations to understand and plan mainframe modernisation, and I’m proud of the depth and clarity achieved. I look forward to continuing this work, contributing to the Modernization Working Group, and applying these insights in my role at Barclays.

 

Stay tuned for more mentee blogs as our Summer Mentorship Program continues!

 

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