- AWS
- Mainframe Modernization
Mainframe modernization with AWS
Transform mainframe systems with speed and confidence
Modernize with confidence
Transform your mission-critical mainframe workloads into agile, cost-efficient cloud services that lay the foundation for business innovation and AI readiness. AWS enables modernization at scale, driven by AI-powered automation, proven services and methodologies, and a global network of certified partners. Drawing on 19 years of experience and tens of thousands of successful migrations worldwide, AWS has refined the path to modernization success. Choose the modernization pattern that best fits your needs—from rapid replatforming to complete transformation—to navigate your journey with confidence. Organizations that modernize their mainframe workloads with AWS increase agility, unlock new value from their data, and reduce costs by up to 70%.
Why migrate to AWS?
reduction in required licenses*
43% faster time-to-market of new features*
Benefits
Reduce modernization timelines from years to months. Leverage the power of agentic AI services to analyze and document millions of lines of code, identify dependencies and missing artifacts, and transform legacy applications into modern cloud native solutions.
Drive business agility and enable rapid innovation by modernizing mainframe applications to cloud-native environments, unlocking access to 200+ AWS services and modern DevOps practices. Ensure business continuity running mission-critical workloads on AWS’s enterprise-grade infrastructure, designed for high availability and global scalability.
Uncover new opportunities from decades of operational data with AWS data replication solutions. Unlock the value of mainframe data by breaking down silos and enabling real-time analytics and AI capabilities in the cloud.
Reduce infrastructure costs by up to 70% and eliminate expensive licenses through AWS's flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing. Modern DevOps practices, advanced automation, and simplified management reduce operational overhead, enabling IT investment in innovation initiatives.
Your path to modernization
Navigate mainframe modernization with confidence and control. AWS supports flexible modernization patterns tailored to each workload—refactor legacy code, replatform existing applications, reimagine them as cloud-native services, or take a multi-pattern approach that combines strategies across your portfolio. Transform at your own pace with the freedom to evolve as your business does.
Reimagine
Redesign legacy applications, leveraging modern architectures to introduce new functionality. Reimagining provides a strategic path to enhance business capabilities and processes, accelerating innovation and time-to-market. AWS's agentic AI-powered services enable the transition from batch to real-time processing while supporting complete architectural redesign.
Watch Replatform, refactor, or reimagine? Choosing the best path for your mainframe modernization for more guidance on pattern selection.
Refactor
Transform mainframe applications into modern, cloud-native services while preserving critical business logic. Refactoring offers full-stack transformation to reduce costs, address skill gaps, and eliminate dependencies on legacy technology while enabling innovation and long-term agility. Leverage AWS's agentic AI-powered services to analyze complex applications, identify dependencies, and refactor legacy code into modern languages like Java.
Watch Replatform, refactor, or reimagine? Choosing the best path for your mainframe modernization for more guidance on pattern selection.
Replatform
Migrate mainframe applications to the cloud with minimal code changes. Replatforming provides a fast path to cost savings while keeping options open for future application retirement or modernization. AWS's mainframe-compatible runtime environment preserves invesments in COBOL and PL/1 applications, supporting familiar mainframe utilities and processes.
Watch Replatform, refactor, or reimagine? Choosing the best path for your mainframe modernization for more guidance on pattern selection.
Replace
Replace legacy applications with modern SaaS solutions or custom cloud-native services. Replacement offers a direct path to modern, ready-to-use functionality while eliminating technical debt and ongoing maintenane of aging systems. AWS's broad partner ecosystem provides proven SaaS alternatives tailored to your industry needs.
Augment
Unlock the value of mainframe data by breaking down silos and enabling real-time analytics and AI capabilities in the cloud. Data augmentation enables parallel processing and advanced analytics without disrupting core mainframe operations. Leverage AWS data replication solutions to ensure data consistency, uncover insights, and drive better business decisions while preserving your mainframe as the system of record.
Tools for transformation
AWS Transform for mainframe
AWS Transform for mainframe accelerates the migration and modernization of IBM z/OS mainframe applications, cutting modernization timelines from years to months. Powered by agentic AI trained on our 19 years of migration experience, the service streamlines core phases of modernization—from initial analysis and documentation to code refactoring and migration.
AWS Mainframe Modernization
AWS Mainframe Modernization combines proven toolchains, automation, and built-in resilience with flexible pricing to help reduce costs and accelerate modernization. Through modern application stacks and integrations, organizations can strengthen operational resilience while enabling business innovation.
AWS Migration Acceleration Program
The AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) for Mainframe helps organizations reach their migration goals through proven methodologies, AWS services, tools, and incentives. Our three-phase approach - asses, mobilize, and migrate & modernize - reduces complexity and maximizes success. With MAP, organizations can confidently transform their mission-cirtical mainframe workloads while reducing risk and costs.
AWS Mainframe Modernization Competency Program
The AWS Competency Program recognizes, validates, and promotes AWS Partners with demonstrated technical expertise and proven success in large-scale mainframe modernization. This designation helps customers identify trusted partners for their transformation journey, showcasing partner services and offerings across industries, use cases, and workloads.
Learn more about AWS Mainframe Modernization Competency Partners
End of support notice
AWS Mainframe Modernization Service (managed runtime environment experience) is no longer open to new customers starting November 7, 2025. For capabilities similar to AWS Mainframe Modernization Service (managed runtime environment experience) explore AWS Mainframe Modernization Service (self-managed experience) or AWS Transform for mainframe.
Analyst recognition
AWS is a leader in ISG Provider Lens Mainframe Application Modernization Software U.S. quadrant 2025 report
AWS has been named a Leader in the ISG Provider Lens™ Mainframe Application Modernization Software report for the fourth consecutive year. This recognition from Information Services Group (ISG), a leading global technology research and advisory firm, underscores AWS's continued innovation and market leadership in mainframe modernization solutions. ISG's report highlights AWS's comprehensive portfolio, particularly the AI-powered capabilities of AWS Transform. These innovative solutions are enabling enterprises to accelerate their modernization journeys, reduce risk, and achieve successful outcomes at scale.
Industry expertise
Financial services
Modern finanical services organizations face unprecedented pressure to innovate and compete in an evolving digital landscape. Confidently modernize misison-critical mainframe systems into secure, high-performance cloud services that enable real-time operations and drive innovation. With AWS's AI-powered automation and proven methodologies, leading institutions are modernizing complex workloads—from core banking to claims processing—reducing costs and unlocking new capabilities for growth.
Read about how Citizens Bank transformed their digital banking experience
Public sector
Transform mission-critical mainframe applications into modern, secure cloud services that enhance government operations and citizen experiences. AWS enables public sector modernization at scale, combining AI-powered automation with proven methodologies that maintain strict security and compliance requirements. Government agencies that modernize with AWS reduce infrastructure costs, improve service delivery, and gain the agility to rapidly respond to changing needs.
Automotive and manufacturing
In today's innovative automotive and manufacturing industry, mainframe modernization is key to maintaining competitive advantage. AWS helps manufacturues transform legacy systems into cost-efficient cloud services that accelerate product development and streamline operations. With AI-powered automation, leading automotive companies are modernizing complex mainframe workloads with speed and simplicity, laying the foundation for continued innovation.
Learn how Toyota accelerated mainframe migration with AWS Transform
Healthcare and life sciences
Healthcare and life sciences organizations need agile, data-driven systems to accelerate research, improve patient care, and meet evolving regulatory requirements. AWS helps providers and payers transform mission-critical mainframe workloads into secure, scalable cloud services that enhance operations and enable innovation. Leading healthcare organizations are modernizing mission-critical workloads with AWS to reduce costs while maintaining the highest standards for data privacy and regulatory compliance.
Explore more mainframe modernization customer success stories
Driving transformation together
AWS and our mainframe modernization partners have helped hundreds of organizations successfully transform complex mainframe environments into agile cloud services with speed and confidence. From initial assessment and planning through implementation, AWS and our partners provide innovative tools and specialized expertise to ensure successful outcomes during modernization and beyond.