Can I use Wazi as a Service?

The answer is to that question now seems to be yes. And, just like in films where characters are suddenly whisked through a portal to a different world, it has happened. IBM mainframes now run in the cloud.

OK, maybe it’s not time for the full orchestra to start playing evocative and exciting music, but it is a step in an interesting direction.

So, what am I talking about? Well, back in March (see Mainframe as a Service), we looked at IBM’s announcement from February that it planned to make a mainframe development and testing environment available to customers in the cloud. And at the end of June the cloud-based mainframe arrangement became available.

If you want to read more details, including the availability date, you can find it here.

We’re told that the service won’t be visible in the IBM Cloud console except for IBM clients who have used “the IBM sales process to be allow-listed and to access the function”.

Once users have overcome that hurdle, they will be able to create and run custom images of their on-premise mainframe. And, certainly for the time being, they can develop and test applications on their cloud-based mainframe.

As we highlighted back in March, it’s an easier and faster way for organizations to develop and test mainframe applications. These applications can then be moved back to the physical on-prem mainframe and put into service there. This keeps developers happy, because they can get on with their job. It also keeps IBM very happy because so much of their income comes from mainframes and the processing that takes place on those mainframes. As we all know, mainframe pricing is typically based on consumption.

The other benefit for IBM – as we mentioned in March – is that it will increase its share of the cloud market, which is currently estimated at only around 4 percent. AWS is the largest player with around a third of the market.

Basically, how it works is that users create virtual machines in the cloud using Wazi as a Service. At the moment, these virtual machines can be created in London (UK), Tokyo (Japan), Toronto (Canada), and Sao Paulo (Brazil), with more expected.

So, there are benefits for mainframe users, and there are benefits for IBM. Is this test-dev cloud-based mainframe arrangement using Wazi as a Service as far as IBM is going with the project? The answer looks definitely like yes – for now. I would guess that IBM is not keen to change its tried and tested revenue stream and would be unwilling to let cloud-based mainframes take over as its primary source of revenue. However, things change all the time and a couple of years hence, IBM may well find that different criteria apply, and offering a cloud-based mainframe is the best way to not only stay in business but grow that business. We shall see.

In the meantime, it will certainly be interesting to hear what users of this new cloud-based mainframe system – Wazi as a Service – have to say about it.