Our Automated Programming Language One (PL/I) Conversion solution delivers modern Cloud-enabled applications and databases that are functionally equivalent to their legacy counterparts, eliminating the hassle and expense of PL/I and the mainframe. This reduces cost, allows for deeper integration, and enables customization to meet business requirements.
CHALLENGES
Developers who understand PL/I and mainframe technology are reaching retirement age and no one is trained to replace them, resulting in a steadily diminishing talent pool. As this shortage grows, the costs and risk of relying on PL/I will continue to rise.
Companies are rapidly moving to modern environments and practices such as DevOps and the Cloud. PL/I and the underlying systems that support it were not designed for modern IT, resulting in difficult integrations and limited flexibility.
Mainframes running PL/I cost as much as 4,500 per cent more to operate than equivalent Cloud counterparts. This figure is compounded by the rising licensing and maintenance fees for ancillary mainframe applications and databases.
OUR SOLUTION
Our Automated Conversion solution utilizes refactoring to provide a turnkey modernization of your PL/I codebase to object-oriented Java or C#, and your associated mainframe databases to relational models deployed to the Cloud or on premises. This preserves the benefits of legacy systems while empowering organizations to leverage the advantages of newer platforms. It 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.
Our Automated PL/I Refactoring solution delivers modern Cloud-enabled applications that are functionally equivalent, and can be extended and maintained using any modern IDE. The solution supports all aspects of mainframe-based PL/I applications, including databases (e.g., Db2, IDMS, IMS, and VSAM), TP monitors (e.g., CICS, IMS TM), JCL and supporting utilities (e.g., IDCAMS, SORT, etc.).
Automated PL/I Refactoring revolves around an iterative incremental methodology. An initial refactoring pass of the PL/I code is performed to determine the level of program remediation necessary to perfect results. The solution also allows for customization of rules in all phases of the refactoring process according to specific customer requests for target architecture and code syntax. Individual customer requirements are incorporated back into the tooling after each pass, and the result is functional equivalence with maximum readability and performance.
PL/I refactoring presents unique challenges including the handling of pre-processor statements like %DECLARE, %INCLUDE, %IF - %THEN - %ELSE, %DO - %END, etc. Pre-processor's separate program and include file construct has to be preserved, otherwise overall maintainability of the target application will suffer. When PL/I source contains pre-processor statements, the source code is different from the code passed to the PL/I compiler. The pre-processor statements are executed just before the compile and may alter the source code by adding or removing code parts. Our Automated PL/I Refactoring solution uses a combination of sources before and after pre-processing, which allows complete coverage of PL/I functionality, improving the maintainability of the refactored code.
Once the PL/I applications and 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 PL/I 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.
“We chose Advanced for its tool’s capability to preserve application business logic while moving to a modern environment. The modernized application allows faster development of new application features so that we can more rapidly respond to our customers’ needs.”
Arne Hansson, IT Manager,
Volvofinans IT AB
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