ranked #2 worldwide in product strength · second only to ibm · marketsandmarkets 2026

research

The mainframe exit,
documented.

Strategy, cost anatomy, failure patterns, vendor matchups — and the technical foundations underneath the platform. Everything we know, written down and left open.

10 pieces · ungated · no email walls · cite freely

topic
problem
date

showing 10 of 10

new · technical jul 18, 2026

Near-deterministic by design

Why Palm Ark refuses to guess: the framework that makes extraction repeatable, auditable, and safe to sign.

12 min read
new · benchmark jul 18, 2026

Gazelle — the bespoke model

Up to ~95% business-rule extraction where generic LLMs land ~30% — what a purpose-built model changes, with receipts.

10 min read
pillar · strategy jul 2026

The Exit Doctrine

Rehost, refactor, replatform, rewrite: the 7 Rs collapsed into the three decisions that actually matter.

14 min read
pillar · cost jul 2026

What leaving the mainframe actually costs

MIPS, MLC, people, parallel-run: the full cost anatomy of staying vs leaving.

16 min read
interactive jul 2026

The Mainframe Exit Calculator

Your run cost vs your exit cost, modeled in the open.

live model
post-mortems jul 2026

Why mainframe modernization projects fail

A library of documented failure patterns — and the controls that would have caught each one.

18 min read
comparison hub jul 2026

The vendor matrix

Every serious mainframe modernization option, refereed — including the matchups we’re not in.

12 min read
procurement · ungated jul 2026

The RFP Kit

A complete RFP template, 40 hard questions, a PoC scope, and a board deck — no email required.

22 min read
ai · palmbench jul 2026

Can AI convert COBOL?

What LLMs get right, where they hallucinate, and why determinism wins audits.

13 min read
erp dependency jul 2026

The ECC 2027 clock

Your S/4HANA program has a mainframe dependency nobody scoped. The deadline doesn’t care.

11 min read

start here

Three ways through the library.

for cios & ctos

  1. 1 · The Exit Doctrine
  2. 2 · What an exit costs
  3. 3 · Run your numbers
  4. 4 · Take the RFP Kit to procurement

forward any of these · no gate, no wall

for enterprise architects

  1. 1 · Near-deterministic by design
  2. 2 · Gazelle — the bespoke model
  3. 3 · The method
  4. 4 · PalmBench, in full

then join the room · palm neh

new to mainframes

  1. 1 · Can AI convert COBOL?
  2. 2 · Why projects fail
  3. 3 · The ECC 2027 clock
  4. 4 · Watch The Mainframe Empire

the field needs you · welcome in

quotable

Numbers you can take to a board.

Copy with the citation attached. Quote us; hold us to it.

~95%

business-rule extraction accuracy on PalmBench — vs ~30% from generic LLMs on the same program.

33–40%

of modernization scope removed before work begins, by Palm Key’s dead-code report.

#2

worldwide in product strength — second only to IBM. MarketsandMarkets, 2026.

Reading is free. So is asking.

When the reading turns into a decision, we scope a paid proof of concept — your code, your perimeter, receipts on the table.