There may be a glimmer of light at the end of the economic tunnel, but chief information officers are still expected to achieve more with fewer resources. IT departments remain under intense pressure to meet new, business-driven goals with minor budget increases.
Devon Dalbock, Sales Director of Software AG South Africa, says mainframe modernisation is a powerful, cost-effective option for organisations looking to better protect the investment and value of their IT assets.
"This approach, which uses standardised technologies such as XML and Web services, will position mainframe systems as the backbone for a wide range of exciting new service-based applications in the years ahead," Dalbock says.
"In fact, at current budget levels, leveraging mainframe systems may be the only effective way of meeting cost, time and feature requirements for delivery of many on-demand business services."
There is widespread acceptance of the fact that mainframe-based information and resources need to be accessible in real-time by a much wider audience. By implementing standards-based technologies that modernise the mainframe, companies are able to optimise the experience invested in developing legacy applications while simultaneously exploiting a highly stable and powerful platform to meet future business needs.
Besides being mission-critical, mainframe systems typically excel at high-speed transactions, handling and reliability - making them ideal for new Web-facing e-commerce applications.
Drivers for modernising the mainframe range from a desire to display mainframe information on a Web browser to a need to access legacy application code via the Internet and a requirement for building true interoperability across databases and applications.
Whatever the driver for modernisation, organisations are finding that XML, used in conjunction with a Web services-based architecture, is an excellent foundation for extending the life, functionality and value of mainframe systems. By allowing data to be dynamically repurposed into multiple presentation formats, the technology provides a means to deliver standard access to both structured and unstructured information. Furthermore, the implementation of a Web services-based architecture enables universal access to all information systems.
Dalbock points out that this is not the only option. "In many instances, a simple 3270 screen-scraper system may be all that is needed to accomplish an organisation's goals. The difference today is that screen-scraper technologies can be combined with XML technology to quickly and inexpensively create easy-to-use Web interfaces. The underlying Natural or COBOL code has not been changed, but the user experience has been modernised. This approach can extend the life of a wide range of legacy systems with minimum effort."
Of course, the need to access legacy applications from Internet devices or desktop systems is paramount. Organisations need to reach their customers, suppliers and business partners through Web applications and business intelligence tools.
"XML integration servers provide the answer. XML connectors handle the interface with legacy and newer enterprise systems; XML brokers orchestrate the intelligent routing and delivery; and native XML servers complete the circle by providing persistence, historical analysis and full auditing. Together these components make it possible to truly modernise the mainframe," Dalbock says.
He recommends re-using existing mainframe applications by implementing one of the four strategies below:
The first and least dramatic strategy is to simply make sure that the mainframe is optimised as much as possible. This might include evaluating all databases and applications currently deployed in production to ensure that they are making the best use of resources, as well as providing developers and administrators with visual development platforms to boost productivity.
The second strategy is to keep the business logic of the applications on the mainframe, while providing the user with a friendlier interface to the mainframe data such as a Web browser or mobile device.
The third strategy is to integrate the mainframe applications with new technologies, while the applications themselves, as well as the data, still reside on the mainframe.
Finally, the most dramatic approach (short of replacing or rewriting the applications, which is outside the realm of modernising) is to migrate the mainframe application source code to a different platform with little or no change. The data might also be migrated, or might remain on the mainframe.
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