Our Automated Assembler Refactoring solution provides a turnkey modernisation of your assembler assets to Java or C#, and your associated mainframe databases to relational models deployed to the Cloud or on premises. These modern Cloud-enabled applications and databases are functionally equivalent to their legacy counterparts, eliminating the hassle and expense of assembler and the mainframe. This reduces cost, allows for deeper integration, and enables customisation to meet business requirements.
High Level Assembly Modernisation
Why modernize?
CHALLENGES
Scarcity of domain expertise
Developers who understand assembly and other mainframe languages are reaching retirement age and no one is being trained to replace them, resulting in a steadily diminishing talent pool. As this shortage grows, the costs and risk of relying on assembler will continue to rise.
Limited flexibility
Companies are rapidly moving to modern environments and practices such as DevOps and the Cloud. Assembler and the underlying systems that support it were not designed for modern IT, resulting in difficult integrations and limited flexibility.
Exorbitant costs
Mainframes cost as much as 4,500 per cent more to operate than equivalent Cloud counterparts. This figure is compounded by rising licensing and maintenance fees for ancillary mainframe applications and databases.
Automated Assembler Refactoring
OUR SOLUTION
Our Automated Assembler Refactoring solution preserves the benefits of legacy systems while empowering organisations to leverage the advantages of newer platforms, especially the Cloud. This unlocks a whole new world of quality and scalability from automated testing to quality assurance, and the ability to leverage containerised deployments and orchestration with Docker and Kubernetes.
There are several characteristics of assembly that are unlike those of other languages which are impactful enough to require special consideration. For example, since assembly is byte-oriented, it is common to come across bit-level instructions and pointers that do not have equivalents in other languages. The combination of system specificity, instruction intent obscured by byte-orientation, and a general lack of expertise available in the marketplace, render proper handling and modernisation of assembler code incredibly difficult. By employing the unique combination of time-tested software and hardened assembler expertise that we offer, it is possible to reduce the high risk associated with migration and successful modernisation of environments containing assembler.
To account for the unique challenges assembler presents, our Automated Refactoring process follows two passes. During the first pass, all source assembler programs and macros (except for user-generated macros) are processed directly.
In the second pass, complex user macros and code included in the areas of concentration identified during assess and design are handled with special care. Assembler listings are processed, producing an intermediate source program, within which all system and simple macros are retained in their original, compressed format. Complex user macros and select components are expressed in expanded format, as developed by the IBM HLASM compiler. If necessary, each macro and special case is converted individually using case-specific settings within our proprietary software to ensure code quality.
Once the assembler programs and related databases are refactored, Java and C# developers can extend application functionality for Cloud optimisation using standard DevOps tools and CI/CD concepts that simply aren’t available for mainframe applications. Precious business logic from the legacy system is preserved, while levels of optimisation can be applied to deliver efficiencies and business benefits such as elasticity, granular service definition, and easy integration with Cloud-native services.
Over 35 years of assembler and mainframe modernisation experience
More than 500 successful modernisation projects completed
Over 2.5 billion lines of code refactored through automation
Intelligent modernization, unparalleled experience
OUR PROCESS
-
Step 1: Discovery
We begin every modernisation initiative with a discovery, free of charge. Our modernisation experts work with you to understand and document your business and technical goals and objectives. Together, we gather information about your mainframe estate. Everything from infrastructure to language and database types and quantities are accounted for. The discovery concludes with a workshop where we recommend optimal modernisation approaches based on information gathered, as well as rough order of magnitude (ROM) pricing, and estimated project durations and resource requirements.
-
Step 2: Assess and design
The assess and design phase is performed using our automated tools to fully catalogue and develop a complete understanding of the application, infrastructure, and operational components of a mainframe environment. It exposes mainframe artifacts that organisations did not know they had, relationships they did not realise existed, and assets that are no longer in use. Assess and design activities provide stakeholders with valuable insight to inform application modernisation decisions such as disposition strategies and target environment architectures. It also mitigates cost and risk by highlighting potential challenges and how to overcome them. At the conclusion of the assess and design phase, all in-scope artifacts are accounted for, a detailed project plan is established, and the transformation process begins.
-
Step 3: Transform
The transform phase includes the bulk of the automated Assembler refactoring activities, the database and data modernisation, and build-out of the target operating environment. During transform, we refactor pre-defined work packets, perform functional tests, and deliver them into the DevOps pipeline. While customer teams build, test, and deploy these work packets in the target environment, we refactor the next work packet, iterating until the entire mainframe estate has been transformed.
-
Step 4: Test and deploy
The test and deploy phase begins with the receipt of work packets through the DevOps toolchain as they are delivered from iterative refactoring activities in the transform phase. If issues arise, the work packet is passed back to us where we review the code, adjust our tooling, reprocess the work packet, and send it back into the DevOps pipeline to resume testing and deployment. This process repeats until the entire refactored estate has been deployed.
Prior to go-live, we refresh the target environment by transforming a final snapshot of the mainframe environment to account for changes that have taken place throughout the modernisation project as part of normal business operations. Fortunately, since all adjustments and optimisations have been made to the automated refactoring tools and not the refactored code, this final refresh can be delivered into production over a weekend, eliminating code freezes.
-
Step 5: Support
We work closely with you and your team to ensure a smooth transition into production. Part of this transition includes the cooperative construction and testing of a go-live production cutover plan to reduce the potential risks associated with application deployments. We also provide on-demand assistance during the warranty period following production deployment, as well as post-transformation support of the modernised application.
“The refactored code and data tier acted as expected, enabling us to integrate with internal and external systems as needed, at the level of performance we required. The modernised STARS can now deliver data in ways that will provide new value to customers countrywide.”
Li Phing,
Singapore Land Authority
Additional insights to help you modernise
RESOURCES
-
Automate assembler modernisation
This whitepaper sets out the issues involved and outlines what you will need for a successful mainframe assembler modernisation.
Read whitepaper Whitepaper -
Fiserv I Information Technology
Financial services technology provider modernised its Galaxy platform. The project reduced the risk of failure, eliminated vendor lock-in and lowered operating costs.
Read case study Tools -
Mainframe Assembler: A Hidden Artefact in Your Legacy Environment Requiring Special Attention
Blog Read blog -
2021 Mainframe Modernisation Report
Report Read report -
Your Salvation is Automation: Leverage post-modernisation automation
Webinar Watch on demand -
Liberate legacy data
Whitepaper Read whitepaper
Explore our additional solutions
News & Opinions
Data Security & Application Modernisation
by Rob Anderson, Vice President of Marketing and Product for Application Modernization

The state of legacy IT skills shortages

Are you ready to embrace modernisation? Highlights from our …

Embrace Mainframe to Azure Migration with Advanced
