Our High Level ASM Refactoring solution provides a turnkey modernization 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 HLASM and the mainframe. This reduces cost, allows for deeper integration, and enables customization to meet business requirements.
CHALLENGES
Developers who understand ASM 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 ASM will continue to rise.
Companies are rapidly moving to modern environments and practices such as DevOps and the Cloud. HLASM and the underlying systems that support it were not designed for modern IT, resulting in difficult integrations and limited flexibility.
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.
OUR SOLUTION
Our Automated HLASM Refactoring solution preserves the benefits of legacy systems while empowering organizations 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 containerized deployments and orchestration with Docker and Kubernetes.
There are several characteristics of HLASM that are unlike those of other languages which are impactful enough to require special consideration. For example, since HLASM 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 modernization of HLASM code incredibly difficult. By employing the unique combination of time-tested software and hardened ASM expertise that we offer, it is possible to reduce the high risk associated with migration and successful modernization of environments containing HLASM.
To account for the unique challenges assembler presents, our Automated Refactoring process follows two passes. During the first pass, all source HLASM 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. HLASM 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 HLASM programs and related databases are refactored, Java and C# developers can extend application functionality for Cloud optimization 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 optimization can be applied to deliver efficiencies and business benefits such as elasticity, granular service definition, and easy integration with Cloud-native services.
OUR PROCESS
We begin every modernization initiative with a discovery, free of charge. Our modernization 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 modernization approaches based on information gathered, as well as rough order of magnitude (ROM) pricing, and estimated project durations and resource requirements.
The assess and design phase is performed using our automated tools to fully catalog and develop a complete understanding of the application, infrastructure, and operational components of a mainframe environment. It exposes mainframe artifacts that organizations did not know they had, relationships they did not realize existed, and assets that are no longer in use. Assess and design activities provide stakeholders with valuable insight to inform application modernization 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.
The transform phase includes the bulk of the automated HLASM refactoring activities, the database and data modernization, 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.
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 modernization project as part of normal business operations. Fortunately, since all adjustments and optimizations 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.
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 modernized 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 modernized STARS can now deliver data in ways that will provide new value to customers countrywide.”
Li Phing,
Singapore Land Authority
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