We’re speaking with Stephane Croce, CEO of COBOL-IT about the recent announcement of a strategic OEM agreement with HTWC, and recent successes COBOL-IT has had in Enterprise Application Modernization projects.

COBOL-IT has announced a strategic OEM agreement with HTWC. Could you tell us about the significance of this OEM agreement?

Sure. HTWC has over 20 years’ experience working in the area of enterprise application modernization, using re-hosting technologies. They have tools and personnel to cover all aspects of the migration, from analysis, to conversion, and they have an excellent reputation for identifying customer needs, and contributing project management to ensure success. We’ve been working closely with HTWC for over a year now, and we’re starting to see the fruits of our labors. Large, enterprise-class clients are getting into production on schedule, and reporting better than expected performance, and cost savings. With the OEM agreement, we are assured that our products will have the highest level of compatibility, and that our customers will have the highest level of service.

What typically is involved in an is enterprise application modernization project?

Enterprise Application Modernization refers to the process of moving an application off of a Mainframe, and onto one of the “Open Systems”, which are the Unix/Linux, and Windows operating environments. The primary motivator is typically cost-savings, but Enterprise Application Modernization is also a strategic move, with the calculation being that the money the corporation saves can be re-invested in extending the capabilities of the application in the open systems environment. Re-hosting is an approach to Enterprise Application Modernization in which the emphasis at the outset is on preserving functionality “as is”. This sounds like a modest goal, but it reduces risk, eliminates the need for re-training, and can be accomplished relatively quickly, which is to say, relatively cheaply. Once an application has been re-hosted into open systems, Customers see lower costs of ownership of their application, and higher performance.

Cost savings is obviously a powerful motivator. What other factors are involved in the decision to undertake an enterprise application modernization? Is COBOL-IT well-suited to handle all factors?

Usually it’s a combination of two factors- high cost, and low flexibility- that ultimately tips the decision in favor of undertaking a migration to open systems. Mainframe environments are reliable, fast, and secure, but- in addition to being expensive, they present challenges where modernization is concerned.
Customers automatically benefit from increased agility and flexibility when they have migrated into the open systems because of the huge variety of solutions, many of them open source solutions, that are available on the open systems, and because of the opportunities available through interoperability- including the internet, of course. COBOL-IT can assure the Customer of maximum flexibility and agility first because of it’s enterprise-class partnerships, such as HTWC and Oracle. Second, because the COBOL-IT Compiler is designed to maximize interoperability between your application, and shared libraries provided by other vendors. With this architecture, you can be sure that the COBOL part of your application will always be easy to integrate with emerging technologies, sustaining your competitive advantage.

What makes COBOL-IT the best choice among available COBOLs for an enterprise application modernization project using re-hosting?

The ideal COBOL solution in an enterprise application modernization solution should be reliable, fast, interoperable with all key technologies that are included in the solution, have responsive technical services, and low costs. Basically, COBOL-IT is at the top in every one of those categories.

Could you give us an example?

Sure. Take the case of AHOLD, which is a major international supermarket operator based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, in which COBOL-IT was selected as the COBOL Compiler, working in concert with HTWC’s TP Monitor XCICS, and the Oracle Database. In this case, HTWC, and Oracle were able to integrate the COBOL-IT Compiler, and Runtime System seamlessly into their migration technologies. Data was converted from about 300 DB2 data tables encompassing about 3000 views into an Oracle data base.IBM CICS was replaced with XCICS, and 3000 IBM COBOL programs running on an OS390 were converted to COBOL-IT using HTWC’s 2Change Language Conversion tools. The entire conversion effort took nine months.The customer is assured of reduced costs moving forward, with greater flexibility, and access to modern business-oriented technologies. This is a terrific success story for the Customer, who has successfully migrated their application into open systems, where they can operate with an 80% cost reduction, and benefit from the more agile environment.

Are there any parts of this story you would like to emphasize?

There are several. First, HTWC completed the project in the time originally estimated. Our experience in the area of enterprise application modernization is that substituting COBOL-IT for a proprietary COBOL compiler provides all of the necessary functionality, and interoperability. HTWC uses a conversion technology which allows them to regenerate COBOL programs that have been running in a mainframe environment, so that they can interoperate with HTWC’s TP Monitor, XCICS, and also interoperate with the Oracle database, both through the EXTFH interface, and using Pro*COBOL. COBOL-IT’s certifications with HTWC, and Oracle ensured that this process would be smooth.

The Customer is pleased with the performance. Was this surprising?

The Customer was very pleased with the performance of the solution, but no, we were not surprised by this result. COBOL-IT is consistently seen performing at the same level, or higher levels than alternative solutions. There is a reason for this. The COBOL-IT Compiler can create native executables, and these can then be tuned for performance, using optimization techniques provided by the vendor of the hardware and operating system. COBOL-IT solutions routinely exceed expectations, where performance is concerned.

The Customer also reported significant reduction in their Total Cost of Ownership. How does COBOL-IT contribute to the cost reduction seen by the Customer?

The costs associated with Enterprise Application Modernization Projects derive in part from the amount of time it takes to complete the migration, and we saw that this was a very smooth process. Basically, the reliability and performance of COBOL-IT contribute to cost reduction by ensuring that the implementation and test phases of the project can be done in the shortest possible amount of time. Quick delivery times increase return on investment, providing break-even points that can be measured in terms of months, not years.
Once the Customer is up and running, COBOL-IT’s contributions to lowering TCO come in large part from the fact that it is an Open Source COBOL solution. COBOL-IT removes the crippling costs of COBOL licenses from the budget equation, moving forward. There are no additional costs when a vendor upgrades an operating system, transaction processing monitor, or database. Customers pay for service levels, through the COBOL-IT Subscription Program, at rates that are comparable to what they would pay another COBOL provider. For clients in an enterprise application modernization project using HTWC’s re-hosting technologies, choosing COBOL-IT will result in dramatic cost savings.

You mentioned Services. Your enterprise-class customers must be very demanding where service is concerned.

Enterprise-class customers have the highest expectations where service is concerned. 24/7 Support, zero tolerance for down-time, rapid response times all are of critical importance. COBOL-IT provides enterprise-class services, in the form of Silver, Gold, and Platinum Subscription contracts, as do our Partners.

Would you care to summarize?

COBOL-IT is very pleased to announce this strategic OEM agreement with HTWC, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to share some of these success stories as a means of illustrating the vision, and mission of COBOL-IT.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.