The virtual machines are intended for mainframe test and development environments, creating actual virtual production mainframes in the cloud.

The service uses Wazi which is an IBM development environment for mainframe applications. Test and dev was one of the first workloads suggested as an ideal candidate to run in the cloud.

This infrastructure-as-a-service offering is pitched as a way to reduce the time and resources required to develop mainframe applications.

IBM said the new offering is currently a "closed experimental" technology. The service will become generally available in the second half of 2022 when IBM turns 112.