From Mainframes to Microservices: How Traditional Enterprises Successfully Pivoted with SUSE

Let’s say a routine deployment fails on a Monday morning. The system that should handle it was state-of-the-art . . . five years ago, but now it needs patch after patch. Someone pulls last month’s ticket logs. Most are not new problems — they are the same slowdowns, permissions issues and integration gaps the team has worked around for too long.

In these moments, even small delays ripple across the business. Customers wait longer. Colleagues pause projects. Security updates slip. The team spends afternoons troubleshooting rather than building. The pattern repeats until someone asks why keeping old systems limping along became the norm.

When routine work starts to stall, the problem is rarely just technical. Legacy tools shape how teams spend their time and money. If patching and fixing are most of what you do, fewer resources go toward what could move you forward.

IT infrastructure modernization becomes the conversation you can’t put off. The question is where to start and how to set priorities that pay off for your business.

What is IT infrastructure modernization? 

IT infrastructure modernization means moving from old, patch-heavy systems to containers and microservices. Instead of fixing the same issues, you split your stack into smaller, easier parts. Updates are quick. Scaling is simple. You stop fighting fires and start building what matters.

Why is IT modernization important?

Everyone feels the pain of dealing with legacy systems, but the upside of modernization shows up differently depending on your role. If you’re running the business, it’s about saving money and not falling behind the competition. If you’re on the technical side, it means better performance and automating the stuff that slows you down. For the whole team, it’s just a better experience — less firefighting, more time for the work that matters.

Think about fixing the same bug over and over, or putting off updates until the weekend. With modern infrastructure, those problems fade away. Updates are smooth, security is less of a scramble, and projects move faster because you’re not wrestling broken tools.

Modernization isn’t a “nice to have” anymore — it’s the baseline if you want to keep up. When your systems are reliable, everyone finally gets to focus on their real job.

How do you know if your IT infrastructure needs modernizing?

You don’t need a system meltdown to tell you it’s time for a change. The real giveaway is when maintenance and quick fixes start eating into your day. Maybe costs keep creeping up, or team members invent new workarounds just to get things done.

If you’re seeing the same tickets pop up, dreading each update, or your stack just feels heavier every quarter, trust that instinct. The best teams don’t wait for a big failure — they watch for these signals and make improvements part of the routine. That way, your IT never gets in the way of what you actually want to build.

Types of IT infrastructure modernization

Modernization takes different forms depending on what you need to fix first. Some organizations start with cloud infrastructure modernization to reduce hardware costs. Others focus on automation to cut down manual work. The approach you choose depends on your current pain points and business goals.

Cloud migration

Moving workloads from on-premises servers to cloud platforms reduces the burden of hardware maintenance and gives you more flexibility to scale. Instead of buying new servers when you need more capacity, you spin up virtual machines or containers. Cloud providers handle the underlying infrastructure, security patches and backups.

This shift works well for organizations tired of managing their own data centers or those that need to scale quickly during peak periods. The trade-off is giving up direct control over your hardware in exchange for reduced operational overhead.

AI-driven modernization

AI is woven into the daily work of infrastructure teams. It checks for odd patterns, flags slowdowns and can tackle small fixes on its own. Instead of hunting for warnings or tuning settings by hand, you let AI catch what’s off and surface the details that need your attention.

Teams using AI aren’t drowning in alerts or chasing minor issues. They spend their time on bigger work, knowing they’ll catch problems early before costs or technical debt start creeping up. It’s less heroics, more steady progress.

Containerization and orchestration

Containers package applications with their dependencies so they run consistently across different environments. This approach solves the “it works on my machine” problem and makes deployments more predictable. Orchestration platforms handle these containers automatically, spreading the work around and switching to backup systems when something breaks.

Teams that deploy frequently or run multiple versions of applications see the biggest benefits. Development becomes faster because testing environments match production exactly.

Infrastructure automation

Automation replaces manual processes with scripts and tools that handle routine tasks. This includes automated provisioning of servers, configuration management and deployment pipelines.

Instead of logging into each server to make changes manually, you tell the system what you want and it handles the details.

Organizations with large infrastructure teams find this approach reduces human error and frees up time for strategic work. The initial setup requires investment, but the long-term savings in labor and reduced downtime make it worthwhile.

Edge computing integration

Edge computing brings processing power closer to where data is generated. This reduces latency for applications that need real-time responses and decreases bandwidth costs by processing data locally instead of sending everything to centralized servers.

Companies with IoT devices, manufacturing operations or applications that serve geographically distributed users benefit most from edge infrastructure. The challenge is keeping everything working smoothly when your infrastructure is spread out across many different places.

Benefits of modernizing IT infrastructure

When you modernize, work gets better for everyone. The constant emergencies drop off. You’re not losing weekends to outages or scrambling through midnight fixes. Teams stop pouring energy into temporary patches and finally get the space for real projects. Better working conditions, fewer interruptions and the chance to focus on work that actually moves things forward — that’s what real infrastructure improvement feels like day to day.

Reduced downtime and better reliability

Modern systems fail less often and recover faster when they do break. Instead of scrambling to fix servers at 2 a.m., your infrastructure monitors itself and handles many problems automatically. When issues do occur, you get clear alerts about what went wrong and how to fix it, not cryptic error messages that require detective work.

This reliability ripple effect reaches every corner of your business. Sales teams can access customer data when they need it. Remote workers stay connected without dropped calls or slow file transfers. Your website stays up during traffic spikes instead of crashing right when potential customers want to buy something.

Stronger security with less effort

Current security tools integrate with your existing systems instead of requiring custom patches and workarounds. Multi-factor authentication also works smoothly rather than breaking half your applications. Security updates install automatically during maintenance windows without requiring a team of people to test every possible scenario.

You spend less time explaining security gaps to auditors and more time preventing actual threats. Modern infrastructure includes security by design rather than adding it as an afterthought.

Lower total cost of ownership

The math becomes clear once you account for hidden costs. Yes, modern infrastructure requires upfront investment, but you save money on maintenance, emergency fixes and the opportunity cost of your team spending time on repairs instead of improvements.

Cloud services often cost less than maintaining your own hardware when you factor in power, cooling, physical space and the staff time needed to keep everything running. Automation reduces the manual work that eats up expensive engineer hours.

Faster development and deployment

When infrastructure works predictably, development teams can focus on building features instead of fighting their tools. Testing environments spin up quickly and match production exactly. Code deployments happen more frequently with less risk because the underlying systems are stable and well-understood.

New features reach customers weeks or months faster because developers spend their time coding instead of troubleshooting infrastructure problems.

Challenges to the modernization of IT infrastructures

Every modernization project starts with good intentions. But most organizations hit the same roadblocks, so knowing what to expect helps you plan better.

Budget and resource constraints

Here, the pain isn’t always visible. Modernization means spending while supporting both old and new stacks, often at the same time. Sometimes budget blockers don’t show up as a hard “no” — they show up as small missing things: delayed license renewals, postponed hardware refreshes, deferred training. The result is less momentum, more duct tape.

Skills gaps and training needs

This one is rarely about just one missing skillset. You might have great Linux admins, but suddenly need Kubernetes experience. Or maybe your automation tools are new to half your team, and just keeping everyone’s confidence up is a full-time job for a while. The answer is usually a mix of outside help, peer support, and patience more than a single quick fix.

Data migration problems

Some upgrades are routine. Others involve data formats that haven’t changed in years — or ever. One team’s “just a CSV” is another’s data headache. Even with good planning, you’ll run into missing records, misnamed fields, or ghost integrations. The real trick is catching what matters before someone in finance or compliance does.

Keeping the business running

This one isn’t about a list of tasks. It’s people asking, “Can I get my report tomorrow?” or “Will this update break the dashboard?” There’s never a true “quiet weekend,” but you can get predictable by being honest about what’s at risk, what’s locked down, and what counts as done. Sometimes it’s not about zero downtime — it’s about zero confusion on what’s changing and when.

How to build an infrastructure modernization strategy in six steps

Building a modernization strategy means making smart choices about what to change, when to change it and how to avoid common mistakes. The key is starting with a clear plan rather than jumping into upgrades and hoping for the best.

1. Audit your existing infrastructure

Before you change anything, understand what you have now. Document every server, application, network connection and database. Note which systems talk to each other and how data flows between them. This sounds boring but saves massive headaches later.

Look for patterns in your trouble tickets. If the same systems cause problems month after month, mark them as high-priority candidates for replacement. Talk to teams about their daily frustrations with current tools. Often the biggest pain points are not obvious from reports alone.

2. Set your modernization goals

Decide what success looks like before you start spending money. Are you trying to reduce downtime? Cut maintenance costs? Improve security? Speed up deployments? Different goals lead to different technology choices and timelines.

Make your goals specific and measurable. “Better security” is vague. “Reduce the time to deploy security patches from two weeks to two days” gives you something concrete to work toward and measure progress against.

3. Choose your technologies

Pick technologies that solve your specific problems rather than following industry trends. If your main issue is server crashes, focus on reliability improvements. If security gaps keep you awake at night, prioritize tools that strengthen your security posture.

Research how other organizations with similar needs have approached modernization. Talk to vendors but remember they are selling solutions. The best technology for your situation might not be the newest or most popular option.

4. Create your modernization plan

Break the work into phases that minimize risk and business disruption. Start with systems that are least critical to daily operations. This gives your team experience with new tools before tackling mission-critical infrastructure.

Plan for rollback procedures in case something goes wrong. Test your backup and recovery processes before you need them. Build in extra time for training and unexpected issues because they will happen.

5. Conduct a modernization trial

Run a pilot project before committing to organization-wide changes. Pick one system or process that represents your broader challenges but won’t bring down the business if something goes wrong.

Use the pilot to test your team’s skills with new technologies, validate your cost estimates and identify problems with your plan. Adjust your approach based on what you learn before scaling up to larger systems.

6. Use analytics to support ongoing modernization

Monitor performance metrics before, during and after each phase of modernization. Track system uptime, response times, security incidents and team productivity. This data helps justify continued investment and guides decisions about future improvements.

Set up dashboards that show the business impact of your modernization efforts. When systems run more reliably and teams ship features faster, make sure leadership can see the connection to infrastructure improvements.

How SUSE can support your IT infrastructure transformation

SUSE understands the challenges you face when modernizing infrastructure because they’ve helped thousands of organizations make this transition. Their approach tackles the real problems we’ve discussed: legacy system dependencies, skills gaps, budget constraints and keeping businesses running during changes.

Addressing legacy system dependencies

SUSE’s multi-Linux support helps you modernize without throwing away existing investments. Instead of replacing everything at once, you can modernize systems gradually while keeping critical applications running on familiar platforms. Their approach lets you rehost legacy applications, refactor them for cloud environments or break them into microservices at your own pace.

This flexibility solves the dependency mapping problem many organizations face. You can modernize one system while others continue running on existing infrastructure, reducing the risk of breaking critical connections between applications.

Handling skills gaps and training needs

Moving to container-based infrastructure means learning new tools, but SUSE makes this transition easier. Their Kubernetes distributions like k3s and RKE2 come with up to five years of enterprise lifecycle support, giving your team time to build skills without pressure.

SUSE Application Collection simplifies Kubernetes operations by providing ready-to-use applications. Your team can focus on learning core concepts instead of building everything from scratch. The vendor-agnostic approach means skills transfer to other platforms if your needs change.

Modernization without limits

SUSE Rancher Prime is built so you can modernize however you want, wherever you already run workloads. Want containers in the cloud, on-prem or at the edge? It’s one dashboard, one toolkit, every Kubernetes cluster managed in one place. No juggling tools, no getting trapped by a vendor’s one-way roadmap. You decide what comes next — and Rancher keeps up.

Not every app is ready to go cloud-native. That’s where SUSE Virtualization comes in. Keep your VMs running right alongside new container workloads. Move at your own pace, knowing everything is managed, secured and automated under a single roof.

With SUSE, you don’t have to rip and replace or stick with what you’ve always done. Run both VMs and containers, refine your mix as you go and expand when the time’s right—with no limits and no lock-in.

Keeping business running during modernization

SUSE Edge integrates edge computing with cloud native containerization, perfect for organizations that can’t afford downtime during transitions. Manufacturing companies use SUSE Edge to modernize factory floor systems while keeping production lines running.

The platform handles IoT devices, industrial control systems and legacy equipment through a single interface. Real-time monitoring and automated deployment reduce the manual work that often causes outages during infrastructure changes.

Solving data migration complexity

SUSE’s containerization approach simplifies data migration by packaging applications with their dependencies. This reduces compatibility issues and makes testing more predictable. The platform supports gradual cloud migration strategies that let you move data in phases rather than all at once.

Enterprise lifecycle support means you have expert help available when migration issues arise. The vendor-agnostic approach also means you’re not locked into specific data formats or storage solutions.

Supporting different modernization approaches

Whether you’re moving to cloud, implementing automation or building edge computing capabilities, SUSE provides tools that work across on-premises, cloud and edge environments. Their solutions support hybrid deployments so you can move workloads gradually instead of making risky big-bang changes.

For organizations focused on security improvements, SUSE builds protection into the platform rather than adding it afterward. Integrated security features help you meet compliance requirements without complex custom configurations.

SUSE’s approach to modernization reflects real-world constraints: limited budgets, existing skills and business continuity requirements. Their solutions are designed to help you succeed with modernization rather than just sell you new technology.

Supporting AI and future capabilities

SUSE provides an on-premise AI platform that lets you control your data while building modern capabilities. This approach addresses security concerns while providing AI-driven automation and insights that support ongoing modernization efforts.

SUSE’s approach to modernization reflects real-world constraints: limited budgets, existing skills and business continuity requirements. Their solutions are designed to help you succeed with modernization rather than just sell you new technology.

IT infrastructure modernization: Final thoughts

IT infrastructure modernization builds a foundation that lets your team focus on innovation instead of constant repairs. When you modernize IT infrastructure thoughtfully, you move beyond keeping up with technology trends to creating real business advantage.

The journey from outdated infrastructure to modernized IT infrastructure takes planning, but the benefits compound quickly. Reduced downtime means better customer experiences. Automated processes free up skilled staff for strategic work. Modern infrastructure adapts to new demands without requiring complete rebuilds.

Organizations that modernize thoughtfully see measurable improvements: faster deployments, stronger security, lower operational costs and teams that can respond to business needs at the speed markets demand.

SUSE provides the enterprise-grade Linux foundation and management tools to support your modernization journey. Ready to explore how SUSE can help improve your IT infrastructure? Contact our team to discuss your specific modernization goals.

IT infrastructure modernization FAQs

How does IT infrastructure modernization impact businesses?

IT infrastructure modernization improves business performance through reduced downtime, faster deployments and lower operational costs. Organizations typically see fewer system outages, faster application deployment and significant cost savings from automated processes. Teams spend less time on maintenance and more time on strategic projects that drive revenue growth.

How long does IT infrastructure modernization take?

IT infrastructure modernization usually takes 12 to 36 months, depending on the size and complexity of the organization. Small to medium-sized businesses often complete modernization in 12 to 18 months, while large enterprises may require 24 to 36 months. The timeline is influenced by factors such as the current age of the infrastructure, the number of applications, team skills and the selected modernization approach. Phased implementations enable organizations to see benefits within 3 to 6 months of starting.

What is the first step to modernizing your IT infrastructure?

The first step in IT infrastructure modernization is conducting a comprehensive audit of your existing systems. Document all servers, applications, databases and network connections. Identify which systems cause the most problems through help desk tickets and team feedback. This audit reveals dependencies between systems and helps prioritize which components to modernize first based on business impact and technical debt.