Legacy
Transformation
Legacy Applications:
Valuable Assets or
Decrepit Liabilities?
7 February 2003
Legacy
Transformation
Scale of the opportunity
 There were 6,267,000,000 people on our planet in late 2002
 ...Driving 722,000,000 cars (average age 6.8 years in the UK)
 ….And living in 1,645,000,000 households
 They had ‘invested’ $5,000,000,000,000 in software (according to
Information Week and IBM)
 ...And by 1998 had developed an estimated 7,000,000,000
function points
 ...Of which 30% were COBOL
 These function points were equivalent to about 640,000,000,000
lines of COBOL
Legacy
Transformation
Questions
 What to do with those ‘legacy’ applications?
 Do we keep them running as long as possible and replace them
when they are past their sell-by date?
 …or is there an alternative, such as re-hosting, renovation, re-use
or recycling?
 If yes, how to decide which way to go?
 What’s involved?
 Where to go for help?
Are legacy applications like cars, to be replaced on a
regular basis by newer, more fashionable and/or
economic models,
…. or more like houses, to be maintained long-term, and
extended or modified to meet our changing needs, and
perhaps completely renovated once in a while?
Legacy
Transformation
A couple of definitions
 A legacy application is any application based on older
technologies and hardware, such as mainframes, that continues
to provide core services to an organisation.
 Legacy transformation is about retaining and extending the value
of the legacy investment through migration to new platforms.
Transformation can involve any
combination of translation,
migration, recycling, and re-use
Legacy
Transformation
Why transform?
1. It retains/enhances the value of the application in the business
2. Because it’s better economics
Higher
Transform
Do nothing
Application
Value
Initial
maintenance
phase
Enhancement
phase(s)
Lower
Time
Initial
implementation
Replace
Legacy
Transformation
What’s inside the ‘black box’?
Legacy
Application
???????
Transformed
Application
Legacy
Transformation
Inside the black box - the process
Test
Translate
Analyse and
assess the
legacy systems
Migrate data
Add
Componfunctionentise
ality
Integrate
Re-use
Set transformation
goals & success
measures
Administer and control transformation activities
Legacy
Transformation
Challenges
 Preserve the business rules.
 Keep the migration timeframe short enough to avoid retrofit
issues.
 Retain the functionality of the application through any migration
process.
 Retain ‘know-how’ in the organisation to support on-going
maintenance.
Automating the transformation
process is central to addressing
these challenges
Legacy
Transformation
A snapshot of available solutions
SWS DASE, Relativity
Rescueware, Intercomp
eMaker - hierarchical &
relational to relational
ArtinSoft Freedom,
Relativity Rescueware Legacy to J2EE, .NET,
others
Sapiens eMerge,
Prolifics middleware
HostBridge,
Jacada, DataDirect
- Web-enabling
Netron HotRod,
Semantic Designs,
McCabe Concerto2,
CAST - code mapping
and pattern detection
Test
Translate
Analyse and
assess the
legacy
systems
Migrate data
Add
Componfunction
entise
-ality
Integrate
Re-use
Set transformation
goals & success
measures
McCabe Audit - assess
metrics
ArtinSoft Analyzers diagnostic assessment
Cyrano Wincap - retrodocumentation
ASG Rochade administration, versioning
Administer and control transformation activities
SWS Software, Prince COBOL dialect revision
ASG Encore - extract
COBOL code segments
Merant NetExpress - wrap
COBOL in Java
Legacy
Transformation
Example 1: GYSSA transformed an ERP
product
 GYSSA is based in Guatemala, with regional offices in all the
Central American countries. GYSSA’s ERP product (called SPC)
took 48 programmer-years to develop and has 7 sub-systems aimed at
Central American market needs for B2B, CRM, ERP, information portal
and business intelligence.
 Architecture was Client/Server, mostly written in earlier versions of
Visual Basic.
 Two choices: build new system from scratch (estimate was three years
based on previous experience) or migrate and re-architect.
 Upgrading SPC to .NET was decided on as the best way to remain
competitive in the Central American market and to stay in the forefront as
a supplier of ERP solutions in the area.
 Diagnostic analysis revealed that transformation could be completed
in eight months, with an equally sized development team at one quarter
the cost.
 Automatic translation tools were based on ArtinSoft’s upgrade wizard
for Visual Basic 6.0 to .NET.
Legacy
Transformation
Example 2: Owens & Minor transformed
contracts and pricing applications - and
avoided ERP package implementation
 Owens & Minor are a leading US distributor of medical/surgical
supplies.
 Existing contracts and pricing applications were 15 years old - heavily
customised, written in OS/2. Complex rules for pricing with unique
prices for each customer and product.
 Original software vendor out of business.
 Future requirement for such capabilities as multicurrency transactions
over the Web
 Relativity Technologies provided tools to analyse business rules and
translate the COBOL and CICS into Java.
 Tool tested on three master files containing EDI maps and customer
information. The test project was complete within six months.
 “It easily would have cost us tens of millions of dollars to go with SAP or
Oracle. So far we've spent about $1 million on this project…we should
complete the whole thing within 18 months and for less than $5 million”
CIO David Guzman
Legacy
Transformation
Example 3: Tharco extended package
application through Web front-end
 THARCO designs and manufactures corrugated boxes, and foam
cushioning plastics. THARCO carries an inventory of 1,600+ sizes of
stock corrugated boxes and packaging materials.
 Requirement: To enable customers to go online to place or check the
status of their orders - the company also saves money and increases
efficiency by streamlining the front portions of its business process.
 THARCO was an all-SAP shop, so mySAP was the obvious choice however, complexity, licensing and transaction-fee issues - and overall
cost led - THARCO chose an alternative middleware option which
exposed the required parts of SAP to the Web.
HAHT Commerce Suite
application code
Web
browser
Standard
Web
server
HAHT
deployment
pack
SAP R/3
Application server (eg
IBM Websphere)
Illustrative example
Legacy
Transformation
Example 4: How Anglo-Irish Bank upgraded
COBOL-based back-office applications
Used Intercomp
AnalyzeIT to
analyse code
and structure
Used Intercomp
MineIT to discover
business rules,
regenerate COBOL
Test
Micro Focus COBOL
ACUCOBOL
DB2
ISAM
Distributed data
Scalability limits
Record locking
problems
Problems in
maintenance
2.5 million
lines of code
Translate
Analyse and
assess the
legacy
systems
Migrate data
Consolidated data
Add
Componfunction
entise
-ality
Integrate
Re-use
Set transformation
goals & success
measures
Contractors
migrated data
Administer and control transformation activities
Bank leveraging DB2
for extracts,
reporting
Improved code
semantics,
readability
Scalable
Legacy
Transformation
Example 5: ALLTEL transformed data
resource
 ALLTEL Information Services provides banking and mortgage
software to financial organisations in the U.S.
 ALLTEL is developing new real-time/DB2 products to complement
existing financial software suite. Components of this software
suite are used by four of the top ten banks in the U.S. One of the
major challenges of the initial project is moving from a VSAM to a
DB2 data model.
 ALLTEL used Netron’s DMS product and associated services
based on an iterative, rules-based approach to data migration.
 ALLTEL also use this as the standard method for helping its
customers move their data models to DB2 as they upgrade to new
releases of ALLTEL’s software products.
Legacy
Transformation
What strategy?
 Choice driven by business needs - ‘push’ to save money, or ‘pull’
to meet market requirements.
 Mix and match 4 options to transform the applications - replace,
re-use, transform, rewrite.
 Consider the future of the overall application portfolio.
 Choose the target platform based on general strategic
considerations.
Migrations due to mergers and
acquisitions can fit more than one
category
Legacy
Transformation
Business benefits and drivers
Legacy Transformation - Business Value Model
Business Driver
External
focus
Internal focus
Key business
objective
Value
dimensions
Deteriorating
system
Economy
Survival,
operational
continuity
Reduce
operating
costs
• Improved
maintainability
(documentation,
easier to fix)
• Access to support
• Lower operating
costs
• Access to new
customers (package
supplier)
• More adaptable
system
• Reduced operating
costs, licence costs,
back-up/disaster
recovery costs
• Opportunity to
outsource
• Reduced complexity
• More adaptable
system
eBusiness
Extend reach
inside business
and/or external to
business
• Increased revenues
• New customers/users
• Better service to
existing, new
customers/users
• Reduced customer
acquisition costs
• Brand enhancement
Get ready for
change
Position
business for
the future
• Adaptable system
• Closer integration
with business
partners
• Extended services to
customers
• Web Services option
• Re-use of
components
• Future-proofing
Legacy
Transformation
Key factors are quality of the legacy and
availability of standard packages
Unique, nonstandard
REWRITE
TRANSFORM
REPLACE
RE-USE
(or RE-CYCLE)
Type of
Application
Standard,
packages
available
Low
High
Quality of Legacy Application
Adapted from Erlich
Legacy
Transformation
Steps to a decision
Overview of
Decision
Process
Legacy
portfolio
Screen for
continuing
business value
Assess Individual
Legacy Applications
Drivers
Deteriorating
system
Applications:
A B C D E ...
Adding eBusiness
functionality
Getting ready for
change
Transform
Selected
applications
Looking for
economies
Outcome
•
•
•
•
Quality
Cost
Business fit
Level of business
change
• Resourcing
• Affordability
Rewrite
Replace
Re-use
Map portfolio against
drivers
Input to
business
case
Do nothing
Legacy
Transformation
Which target platform?
 .NET and J2EE - most automatic translation products target these
platforms
 Re-use, scalability, and wide access to related products and
services.
 Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) make the
development and maintenance task easier.
 Application containers (runtime environments) provide the
qualities of service necessary for enterprise applications such
as transaction handling, security and persistence services.
 Growing skill base.
 Suitable for Web Services.
 Willingness to accept commitment to one strategic supplier a
factor to consider in choosing .NET.
Choice between .NET and J2EE best
made on broader strategic grounds
Legacy
Transformation
Making it happen
Project
set-up
Acquire
transformation
technologies
Proof of
Concept
Additional
functionality
definition
Test
Translate
Analyse and
assess the
legacy systems
Migrate data
Componentise
Add
functionality
Integrate
Re-use
Set transformation
goals & success
measures
Administer and control transformation activities
Build know-how
Legacy
Transformation
Example 6: Building know-how at North
Carolina Department of Justice
 DOJ is migrating an application from an existing Unisys
COBOL/MASM/MAPPER mainframe legacy application environment to a
Java-based application. The migration was a pilot for the transformation of
mainframe legacy code in other applications.
Test
Translate
Analyse
and assess
the legacy
systems
Migrate data
Add
Componfunctionentise
ality
Integrate
Re-use
Set transformation
goals & success
measures
Administer and control transformation activities
Build know-how
DOJ staff with little or no
knowledge of the existing
business rules contained in the
existing code reviewed and
comprehended the COBOL
application's architecture,
organisation and processes
Worked with consultants to
validate the JAVA
Established training material
programming standards, the
and conducting training class XML messaging standards and
for DOJ's IT staff.
the state service broker
architecture to be utilised for
the project.
Legacy
Transformation
Selling the transformation project - what
makes it so difficult?
 If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it - Managers like to get something new
for their money - transforming a legacy application looks like a
project to ‘fix’ something that already works.
 Jam tomorrow - Transformation makes it easier to maintain and
enhance the application in the future - to address things that might
happen. This is always worth less than immediate benefits.
 Apples and Oranges - Are you comparing like with like? The
costs of the transformation project have to be spelled out, while
the true cost of today’s legacy (disruptions, maintenance issues,
costly operations, and so on) is often hidden in other budgets.
These must be spelled out if the transformation project is to be
compared with the cost of doing nothing.
Legacy
Transformation
Choosing a business partner - Follow the
money
‘Infrastructure’
suppliers
Base
Platfo
rm
Provi
der
Ena
bling
Tech
nolo
gy
Licence-driven
revenues
Operations
Transformation
Project
Minin
g
Tools
Con
versi
on
Tool
s
Project-driven
revenues
Syste
m
Integr
ator
Outs
ourc
er
IS
Dep
artm
ent
Operationsdriven revenues
Cust
ome
r
Legacy
Transformation
In summary
Transformation
works
It’s feasible to extend the business value of core legacy
applications by migration to new platforms.
Real savings are
possible
Transformation is probably cheaper than rewriting or
replacing a legacy application.
Horses for
courses
Choose suppliers, tools and mix of transformation
approaches based on future business needs and
realities of the legacy portfolio.
Alliances are
key to success
A first transformation project has a steep learning curve.
It’s advisable to work closely with the experts to ensure
success.
Legacy
Transformation
Thank you
Declan Good
declan@declan.vispa.com