ConvTek migrates your legacy mainframe applications to an open system (Windows, UNIX, Linux, zLinux) server with as little transformation as possible, by deploying CICS and JCL emulation solutions from Micro Focus, Fujitsu, or Celerity Solutions.  This approach dramatically lowers the effort, risk, and cost of the re-hosting.  It also brings an earlier elimination of the mainframe operating costs, which can be re-invested into post re-hosting improvements such as a DBMS migration, the replacement of CICS user interfaces with Web user interfaces, and the integration of new technology such as SOA, Web services, .NET or J2EE.

Objectives

Re-host legacy mainframe applications to open system servers with as little transformation as possible to:

• Lower the re-hosting effort, risk, and cost
• Eliminate mainframe operating costs earlier

Re-invest the savings in mainframe operating costs into post re-hosting application improvements.

Justification

Forward-thinking businesses migrate off the mainframe because:

• Mainframe operating and development costs are excessive
• The mainframe is not the natural platform to integrate new technology such as SOA, Web services, .NET or J2EE.
• Mainframe application development or evolution is unacceptably slow, which frustrates both IT customers and business managers
• Mainframe skills and support are diminishing
• The mainframe technology is becoming obsolete and the mainframe is no longer a strategic platform

Today’s open system servers have become a robust and cost effective alternative to mainframes.  Migrating legacy applications to open system servers:

• Drastically reduces application operating costs, while improving batch jobs and online transactions processing throughput
• Offers a greater choice of competitively priced technology, and facilitates the integration of new technology such as SOA, Web services, .NET or J2EE.
• Provides greater agility to application development and evolution, which allows keeping pace with fast changing business requirements, consequently raising customer and management’s satisfaction levels
• Increases application developer productivity, while evolving application developer skills, and allowing to tap into a growing skills and support market
• Positions legacy applications for future evolution on a strategic platform

Compared to re-writing or replacing with packaged applications, migrating legacy applications to open system servers allows to:

• Take advantage of contemporary platforms and technology while maximizing re-use of existing and proven application business logic
• Minimize and automate required application changes
• Dramatically shortens delivery time while reducing risk and cost

Migration Approach

ConvTek’s migration approach consists in:

• Re-hosting the applications with as little transformation as possible, by deploying emulation middleware from Micro Focus, Fujitsu, or Clerity Solutions that support CICS programs and JCL streams in open system environments, and eliminate the need for converting them
• Addressing potential application improvements in the target open system environment after re-hosting

With this approach, application transformation is typically reduced to:

• Addressing unsupported JCL features
• Converting non-supported languages like Assembler to COBOL or C
• Optionally converting programs and data from EBCDIC to ASCII

Eliminating most application transformation requirements has many benefits:

• It reduces the re-hosting challenges and effort
• It consequently reduces the duration, risk, and cost of the re-hosting
• It allows earlier elimination of the mainframe costs, which pays for post re-hosting application improvements

Migration Software

The application re-hosting relies upon the following Micro Focus Migration Toolkit:

• Revolve® Enterprise Edition
• Mainframe Express® Enterprise Edition (MFE EE)
• Net Server®
• Server Express®

Micro Focus Server™ for Mainframe Migration is deployed to support the re-hosted applications in production or DR including CICS and JCL emulation.

Application development in the open system environment relies upon the following Micro Focus products:

• Net Server®
• Server Express®
• Revolve® Basic Edition

Fujitsu or Clerity Solutions products can be used alternatively to Micro Focus.

Phase 1 - Evaluation

Objective - Evaluate, budget, and plan the migration.

Description – Evaluation activities include:

• Building the project environment
• Transferring mainframe application components to the project environment
• Analyzing the inventory to:
• Assess its size, boundaries, and content
• Understand the application content
• Identify potential migration issues and solutions

• Developing a migration budget and plan

Phase 2 - Re-Hosting

Objective – Re-host mainframe applications on new open system platform with as little transformation as possible.

Description – Re-hosting activities include:

• Building environments for tests, development, production, and DR
• Converting unsupported languages such as Assembler to COBOL or C
• Migrating the JCL streams and replacing unsupported JCL utility steps or features
• Migrating the COBOL programs
• Building and running production and test data files transfer procedures
• Migrating the job scheduling
• Migrating the printout management
• Testing a representative application sample in EBCDIC reference environment
• Converting the application from EBCDIC to ASCII/ANSI
• Migrating to ASCII/ANSI project environment
• Publishing to and verifying the target development environment
• Testing the migrated applications in the test environment
• Testing the migrated applications in the production environment
• Verifying the DR environment
• Switching production from mainframe to open system

Phase 3 - Expension

Objective - Transform the migrated applications to take full advantage of open system ASCII Web environment.

Description – Expansion activities, which are optional and depend on long term application development plans, may include:

• Eliminating attributes such as file allocation and storage that are ignored in the new environment but still present in the JCL to facilitate JCL maintenance
• Converting JCL to COBOL or Korn Shell Scripts
• Converting application data from EBCDIC to ASCII
• Converting data structures to DBMS such as DB2 or Oracle
• Replacing CICS user interface with Web user interface

Team and Logistics

The re-hosting and conversion tools are initially installed on a ConvTek-provided system then reinstalled on a customer-provided system when available.

ConvTek conversion specialists work remotely, but the ConvTek project coordinator and test support team work onsite.

Project Timeframe

Depending on size and complexity: