COBOL, arguably one of the earliest of the 3rd generation programming languages, is still used extensively. In particular, IBM mainframe platforms are still home to a significant number of applications originally developed in this language that continue to power many Fortune 500 companies today. Furthermore, several shrink-wrapped software packages, originally implemented decades ago in COBOL, […]
Mainframe modernization can feel like a scene from Poltergeist, or any other thriller movie where the protagonist is trapped in an endlessly stretching hallway with a door that keeps receding into the distance. Ask anyone who’s survived a major enterprise upgrade. Transforming thousands of files and COBOL and JCL code into a form that will […]
In our last installment of this series on IBM zIIP processors, we defined what is meant by zIIP eligibility. We took a look at specific types of workloads that IBM has made zIIP eligible. This post will dig a little deeper into what makes a workload eligible for running on zIIPs. And we will also […]
Organizations that want to modernize COBOL applications have a broad range of options, depending on their unique circumstances and vision of leveraging the intellectual property (IP) contained in the logic and processes of the applications. They usually consider three key factors: Cost, Risk, and Control. Some organizations may determine the application has little future value […]
In the first article in this series on mainframe specialty processors, the zIIP is an “information” processor, where the IIP in its name stands for Integrated Information Processor. When the zIIP was introduced by IBM in 2006, DB2 Version 8 was the first subsystem to take advantage of the zIIP. Over the course of the […]
Migrating mainframe workload to the cloud entails more than simply a recompilation of code or transformation from one programming language to another. Mainframe applications are more than just an implementation of a business function in a particular programming language; the most common of which is COBOL. These applications have dependencies based on the platform’s unique […]
Modernization of legacy systems can be an essential enabler of any digital transformation effort – or a frustrating roadblock impeding all meaningful progress with digital efforts. For enterprises with hundreds or even thousands of mainframe-based COBOL applications, the modernization challenge can seem insurmountable. Such applications have accumulated over the years, the result of generations of […]
The never-ending and often contentious debate about the mainframe remains quite vocal in the marketplace. Whether it’s the technical mandarins of the mainframe shouting down anyone who challenges their core religious principles or the cloud intelligentsia looking down their noses at this 60-year-old platform, the arguments seem to show little sign of any reasonable compromise. […]
Have you ever had a conversation with someone about moving applications to the cloud, and all you hear in response is how it won’t work? It reminds me of a funny movie in the 70’s set against the backdrop of WW II. Clint Eastwood leads a band of renegade soldiers on a hunt for gold. […]
Tell an IT leader or a developer that the world runs on COBOL applications, and they will nod their heads knowingly. That’s because the core systems of some of the largest brands and most critical industries still rely heavily on their legacy systems. With 92% of IT leaders reporting in a Vanson Bourne survey that […]
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