Application Modernization

Application Modernization is a proven approach to extending the ROI on legacy software applications written in archaic languages such as PL/1, Fortran, Pascal, Basic and COBOL. Over the years many companies have developed valuable equity, intellectual property and business logic using legacy platforms such as IBM MVS, CICS, IMS, COBOL, DCE/RPC, OS400/RPG, OS390 and Cool:Gen/IEF. As new platforms evolve and older one’s fade, companies are faced with having to abandon working applications and invest in new ones in order to remain current and manage operational risk.

At eCube Systems, we use Application Modernization to help companies leverage existing investments in legacy technology as they move to support contemporary service oriented architectures such as .NET, J2EE, LDAP and SOAP. Whether a company wants to transform, integrate or maintain a Application platform we help them reach their goal without abandoning the ROI already in hand.

eCube’s key Application Modernization offerings:

• Lower operational risk by support un-supported platforms
• Lower the cost of owning and using your own proprietary IP by moving it to open systems and removing the need to pay high maintenance costs
• Deliver integration with contemporary architectures, such as .NET, J2EE, SOAP, LDAP and WS Management Suites
• Provide methodologies for reusing existing business logic on new platforms

The Problem

The problem with most legacy applications is that they have been modified and updated for many years by many different programmers, and sometimes those changes constantly require more maintenance. Also, while many changes have been made to the application software, the supporting documentation may not reflect the current functionality and the programming style often contains limitations inherent to the era in which it was developed. Many times the programming model was single tier, with the legacy application's logic imbedded in the presentation layer or the database had imbedded business rules in it. As the business has expanded, newer functionality was developed with newer technology and now there is an overlap in functionality between the two systems. These factors contribute to the staggering cost of maintaining these legacy applications or continuing their development. Consequently, there is an urgent need to modernize these applications to make them more maintainable without disrupting their current use and to safeguard the information they contain.

In many cases, IT managers choose the simple solution of discarding the application completely, and start again with a new system. This may not be appropriate for many reasons:

• Depending on the documentation and the evolution of the legacy application, there may not be enough knowledge of the software in the organization to know what it does and therefore re-write it.
• The application may actually be well written, Memory and CPU efficient, work quite well, and its behavior may be well understood. A new replacement system may perform much worse, require costly training and may not have the same functionality. Hence, it may be worth (cheaper) modernizing the legacy application.
• The legacy software application contains years of accumulated experience, which may not be documented elsewhere, so discarding the software may be discarding extensive knowledge and possible a scientific or competitive advantage.
• A typical large legacy application system has many users, who typically have exploited undocumented features and side effects in the software. It may not be acceptable to demand that users learn a completely new system if there is no discernible benefit. Many times it is better to retain the interfaces the users know and replicate exact functionality of the legacy code, both explicit and implicit.
• In many cases an evolutionary is better than a revolutionary approach to modernizing their software

Application Modernization addresses the consequences whenever a new technology becomes the generally accepted new paradigm. Vendors begin to discontinue support for products built on older technologies in favor of new ones. Companies start to recognize “technology gaps” (of varying degrees of severity) between their current implementations and the latest way of doing business. These gaps in maintenance, interoperability and expertise invariably have a negative impact on agility, viability, cost and operational risk.

However as the industry shifts to a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and to utility computing based on Web Services and SOAP -- the 4th major paradigm shift in 10 years -- addressing these issues has never been as pressing. Application Modernization addresses the risk and expense.

Application Modernization Solutions

eCube Systems provides Application modernization and transformation products and services that bridge legacy technology gaps. It enables customers to extend technology ROI, manage risk and leverage existing business assets. eCube uses application modernization to help companies bring “transformed” legacy applications into synchronization with the latest technology. To maximize legacy ROI, eCube has developed three primary offering categories for application modernization: Legacy Support and Maintenance (LSM), Legacy Transformation Services (LTS) and Legacy Transformation Products (LTP). This portfolio offers extraordinary ROI on legacy technology investments, allowing Fortune 1000 and Global 500.

With NXTera 5.0 and NXTware EV, eCube Systems provides an Evolutionary approach to integrating legacy applications with a systematic phased solution called Enterprise Evolution. This legacy application modernization process is based on the evolution of existing business logic and the integration/Implementation of contemporary platforms, such as .NET, J2EE, Web Services, HTTP/Servlets and XML.

eCube's Legacy Application Modernization process is called Enterprise Evolution and it enables companies to extend the value of existing applications. Enterprise Evolution employs a phased approach so that the users can continue to use the existing legacy application solution while phasing in components of the modernized system. As part of the assessment phase, Enterprise Evolution refractors the legacy software to defend it from “software hardening” the growing inflexibility of legacy systems and enabling it to participate as an enterprise service provider.

Legacy Application Modernization has a cost, but it shouldn't be performance. In many cases IT organization are finding that developing Enterprise solutions that are used to integrate legacy systems together have created a bottleneck that severely impacts performance. A true application modernization strategy embraces a commitment to steady improvement in performance and the fulfillment of service level goals.

Correspondingly, risk is the something every business executive has to deal with. Whether a company decides to “stay put”, use their existing legacy application, or modernize, there is risk involved. eCube is committed to balancing the risk, with proven technology, proven enterprise solutions and software modernization methods that insure the value of IT efforts moving into the future. Legacy Application modernization means that old applications can be maintained, renewed, evolved, transformed or harvested to speed new development in such a way as to assure the ability of every enterprise solution to meet its commitments to the business and exceed expectation to reliability.