Glasgow and Zurich, 1 November 2017 – ECS and LzLabs today announced that they are joining forces to help FTSE 100 customers cut IT costs by migrating bespoke mainframe workloads onto Linux, commodity hardware and the cloud. As LzLabs’ first UK IT services partner, ECS will provide professional services to FTSE 100 clients who choose to deploy the LzLabs Software Defined Mainframe®.
LzLabs chose to partner with ECS, the UK’s largest independent IT services firm, on the strength of its relationships with large businesses including three of the top four UK banks and two of the largest retailers.
Like other large enterprises, nearly all ECS clients continue to rely on mainframes for their core business transactions because of their investment in legacy applications, data and business processes. LzLabs provides a way for these organisations to reduce the high cost of mainframe environments by using containerisation to move workloads to Linux, commercial of the shelf (COTS) hardware and the cloud.
The LzLabs Software Defined Mainframe moves workloads without recompilation or data changes, with the benefit that applications continue to provide the required compatibility, yet offer the flexibility to add modern APIs that meet today’s users’ expectations. Running in open environments, these applications are more easily integrated with mobile, IoT, cloud and DevOps strategies, and no longer require management by a diminishing mainframe workforce.
The partnership with LzLabs boosts ECS’s propositions focused on enterprise cloud adoption and agile enterprise environments. It also complements the existing partnerships with Delphix and Docker.
“Mainframe customers face the dual challenges of reducing IT costs and modernising services. And as the pool of COBOL programmers shrinks, the skills required to maintain legacy mainframe applications are becoming harder to find. With LzLabs there is finally an alternative. This is a powerful proposition for all enterprises looking to reduce their dependence on mainframes and increase innovation,” said Paul Thomson, Group CEO, ECS.
Mark Cresswell, CEO of LzLabs, said, “ECS has an enviable client roster, particularly in financial services. With an estimated 70% of financial transactions still running on mainframes, there is an urgent need to update these legacy systems. The combination of our technology and ECS’s know-how will give large UK businesses a way to dramatically reduce the cost of running their core applications. It will also deliver new and improved services to their customers – whether consumers, partners or internal users.”
