Businesses depend on OpenVMS software for two main reasons: it performs critical tasks and is very dependable.
But now that the underlying VAX hardware is not supported by the manufacturer, your business could face severe problems. These older machines are likely to break down and can be hard to fix. What will happen if they stop working?
VAX virtualization offers an ROI-driven and frictionless solution to this problem in the form of a virtualization layer that offers a reliable operational environment for your business-critical legacy applications.
This article will delve into the process: explaining why it’s important, how it works, and providing a practical business case.
2 Major Challenges of Outdated VAX Infrastructure
Are you still using old Vax hardware and thinking your legacy applications are safe? Think again. Here are some risks you could be overlooking every day:
1. You may be spending more than half of your IT budget just on maintenance
Running old VAX hardware is often more expensive than using modern servers.
According to ITPro, the operating costs for an old server can grow from 24% to 44% in a period of three years, which is almost half of your IT budget.
Wondering what factors contribute to this high cost?
First things first, legacy VAX hardware is prone to unplanned downtime, which can suddenly stop your daily operations, costing you millions.
Secondly, there are rare replacement parts and a shortage of skilled individuals who understand this architecture. Clearly, anything that is scarce tends to become costly. And you are stuck with paying more than what could cost much less with modern servers.
Higher power consumption and the need for larger data center space (due to the size of old servers) are other factors that contribute to this cost dynamics.
2. Your Business-Critical OpenVMS Applications are at Risk
OpenVMS applications themselves are working fine. They perform highly important tasks for businesses. Therefore, they are not the problem – the VAX hardware is.
Due to the unreliable VAX hardware environment, applications become vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, hardware failures, and production issues.
All of these risks not only increase costs but also damage customer trust and brand perception.
How Virtualization Emerges as an Ideal Solution
At this point, the challenges of end-of-life VAX servers are clear. But how can you replace these risky servers, knowing the fact that you can still run your reliable OpenVMS software? How to escape the cycle of excessive maintenance expense and constant worry?
This is where Vax virtualization comes in, offering the best of both worlds. Instead of running your applications on old, on-premises VAX hardware, virtualization creates a virtual version of that hardware, which runs on modern, industry-standard x86 machines.
You can think of this virtual server as a replica of the original hardware, creating an interface that matches it exactly.
Consequently, your trusted OpenVMS environment operates just as it always has, but on new, efficient hardware.
Imagine your entire VAX workloads (software, databases, and all) copied to a modern server. No code changes are needed. No complex and risky migration projects. It really is that simple.
Benefits
This approach directly solves the core problems of on-premises VAX infrastructure.
Here’s how:
It minimizes operational costs. Yes, modern servers use less power and occupy far less space in your data center. Virtualization also removes maintenance headaches. For example, you don’t need to look for rare replacement parts for your old machines or engineers who know the architecture well. This significantly lowers your IT budget.
It reduces business risk. Modern hardware, such as x86, is far more reliable than legacy hardware. This stability protects your business-critical software from unplanned downtime. Your regular operations can continue without the threat of a hardware-related shutdown.
Security comes next. Your old VAX servers simply lack the security features needed today. Modern servers running on platforms like Windows or Linux get regular security updates. Virtualization moves your OpenVMS environment to a host that benefits from current security protocols.
Finally, it gives you incredible flexibility. As technology is growing faster than ever, you can easily shift your virtualized environment to newer and faster hardware. You can even migrate to the modern cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, Google, Oracle, and more) without changing your application’s code. This ensures your systems stay agile and ready for future business needs.
Making the Business Case: Return on Investment (ROI)
The conversation always boils down to return on investment.
Fortunately, building the business case for VAX virtualization is easy, provided you know what to take into account and what not. The ROI shows up in real, measurable savings and long-term value.
Let’s break down how virtualization pays for itself.
Calculate Your Direct Cost Savings
First, look at your current operational expenses. How much do you spend on VAX hardware maintenance contracts? What about the cost of finding and hiring specialized technicians?
These are often significant, recurring expenses that virtualization eliminates almost immediately.
Then, consider your data center cost dynamics: power bill and rack space.
By consolidating multiple legacy servers into a single & virtual data center, you cut down on electricity and cooling bills. In fact, many organizations see a reduction in data center footprint, lowering their IT budget.
Quantify the Cost of Risk
How much does unexpected downtime cost your company? For many, one hour of production stoppage can result in thousands (even millions) of dollars in revenue loss. And the old VAX hardware increases the probability of such failures.
Modern hardware is just more reliable. By moving to a virtualized environment, you drastically reduce the risk of hardware-related breakdowns, saving millions.
Factor in Long-Term Value
Decoupling your proven OpenVMS applications from obsolete hardware gives them a reliable environment.
Apart from that, cloud hosts allow you to leverage the benefits of modern cloud platforms, such as agility and scalability.
Most businesses fail to see the bigger picture and ignore opportunity costs. But as a smart IT decision-maker, you can’t afford to miss that. Legacy infrastructure lets your IT team spend most of their time on hardware maintenance when they should focus on innovation instead.
Virtualization takes workloads off their shoulders, allowing you to delegate them to other priority tasks that will yield long-term benefits.
When you add all of the above, the business case becomes obvious.
Final Words
Surprisingly, many businesses are still not taking action with their old VAX infrastructure. Perhaps they believe that they still have time.
Remember, over the next five to ten years, technology will grow ONLY.
So, legacy VAX hardware is not today’s problem. Running your OpenVMS app on a modern computer will pave the foundation for reliability, cost-saving, and future growth.
Now the question is, can you afford to ignore it?