A sweeping new survey from BMC Software‘s 20th annual Mainframe Survey shows that mainframes are no longer seen as legacy baggage, but as a thriving core of enterprise infrastructure. According to the survey of over 1,000 mainframe professionals, 97% of respondents believe the mainframe remains a long-term IT platform with increasing appeal for new workloads. The survey highlights a generational shift: Millennials and Gen Z now make up approximately 66% of the mainframe workforce, up from 37% in 2018. With this youth infusion comes greater optimism: among Gen Z, 73% expect the mainframe to grow and host new workloads, compared to 51% of Baby Boomers. Additionally, modernization efforts are accelerating—around 72% of organizations report increasing general-purpose mainframe capacity, many driven by new applications plus legacy ones, and 42% say application modernization is a priority in 2025 (versus 37% in 2024).
Sources: SiliconANGLE, BMC
Key Takeaways
– Younger professionals are reshaping mainframe perceptions: Millennial and Gen Z technologists are more optimistic and more likely to push for new workloads, cloud integration, AI, and modernization on the platform.
– Mainframes are experiencing real workload growth and modernization investment, not just maintenance: increased capacity, priority given to application modernization, more DevOps/AIOps adoption.
– Generative AI and automation play increasingly central roles, being integrated in mainframe environments; security and compliance remain consistent priorities while the mainframe modernizes rather than being deprecated.
In-Depth
For much of the last few decades, many in tech circles assumed that mainframes were on the decline—soon to be supplanted by more “modern”, nimble, cloud-native solutions. But the results of BMC Software’s 20th annual Mainframe Survey tell a different story. With 97% of mainframe professionals expressing confidence in mainframes as long-term platforms, the study finds mainframes not only surviving but flourishing. Far from being relics, mainframes are serving as pillars for modernization, automation, AI, and new workloads that are increasingly critical in competitive IT environments.
A major driver behind this shift is generational: Millennials and Gen Z now represent two-thirds of the mainframe workforce—up sharply from just 37% in 2018. Younger professionals are not just occupying seats; they are reshaping the culture and pushing innovation. Among Gen Z respondents, for example, 73% believe that the mainframe will grow and attract new workloads. By contrast, just about half of the Baby Boomer cohort shares that view.
Modernization is not just wishful thinking—it’s underway. Nearly three quarters of surveyed organizations report increases in general-purpose mainframe capacity, driven in part by new applications. Application modernization is rising in priority: 42% of respondents named it a key focus in 2025, up from 37% in 2024. Technologies like DevOps, Java, generative AI, AIOps, and agentic AI are more deeply integrated in mainframe environments.
At the same time, long-standing concerns like security, compliance, and operational stability have not fallen by the wayside—rather, they remain central to organizations’ thinking even as the platform expands into new use-cases.
In sum, the narrative around mainframes is undergoing a meaningful revision. Instead of obsolescence, what we see is resilience, relevance, and evolution. Mainframes are becoming foundational to digital transformation rather than being marginalized. As younger tech workers carry forward the torch, organizations that invest thoughtfully in modernization—balancing legacy realities with emerging tools like AI—appear poised to keep mainframes at the heart of mission-critical operations for years to come.