GOAL

Update the client’s legacy OS/2 banking application and offer new solutions to broaden the customer base, diversify loans range, enhance the performance, and introduce new features to attract new customers. The project also aimed to digitize and accelerate the loan evaluation and approval process.

BACKGROUND

The bank’s Credit Department relied on a legacy OS/2 banking application running on the mainframe to collect and maintain vital information about clients, loans, credit scores, mortgages, and other important data. However, the bank’s outdated IT infrastructure became hard to manage, and upgrading the mainframe application was getting increasingly difficult. This was causing the bank to lose customers and market share.

CHALLENGES

• The bank’s legacy application was inflexible and could not adapt to the rapidly changing business environment.
• The bank’s application could not integrate fully into the rest of the business environment due to the complexity of the mainframe, putting the application data and functionality into a silo.
• The application took too long to perform basic functions, leading to increasing customer dissatisfaction and loss. A customer had to wait for 2-3 days to get response from the bank.
• None of the application’s processes were fully automated, causing delays, errors, and development bottlenecks.
• The bank’s internal IT teams were not able to complete the project due to bigger problems in their business, infrastructure, and legacy processes.
• The waterfall approach became a bottleneck for innovation, slowing down the software development process and limiting flexibility in response to changing requirements.

KEY OBJECTIVES

• Improve the application’s performance and extend its feature set
• Modernize the client’s mainframe as a whole to meet a full range of business requirements
• Minimize risks during the transition
• Integrate the application with the rest of the business environment to eliminate data silos
• Create APIs that enable users to retrieve information through a web-based user interface
• Relieve the burden on internal IT teams
• Automate manual processes to reduce delays and errors

SOLUTION

The bank decided to keep the mainframe but take a new, modernized approach to managing it and developing applications faster and more efficiently.

The bank collaborated with IBA Group’s mainframe teams to help solve the challenges. IBA Group worked to untangle the complex patchwork of different solutions within the mainframe. They introduced new problem-solving strategies and approaches, including Agile methodologies, to help the bank’s internal IT teams break away from old school ways of doing things.

IBA Group also used their rare skills in the COBOL programming language to fix and extend the application. They automated many of the manual processes that had been causing delays and errors, which freed up the internal IT teams to focus on other tasks. IBA Group also integrated the application more fully into the bank’s wider business environment, reducing its siloed status.

RESULTS

By partnering with IBA Group, the bank was able to modernize the application and  entire mainframe system, develop new features and capabilities, unload the support burden off their internal IT teams, and deliver measurable ROI including:

• Increasing the number of loans issued each day by 140%
• Accelerating loan approvals from 3-4 banking days to just a few seconds
• Reducing the time to onboard a new employee by 3 times

Retaining all features of the legacy application, the new solution provided enhanced functionality and was fully integrated into the customer’s corporate landscape.

The new system reduced manual data entry, automated repetitive activities, and minimized the number of delays and errors, which significantly increased the efficiency of the Bank’s Credit Department.

The new application was highly scalable and with improved performance and stability, supporting more than 3,000 concurrent users.

Employees of the Credit Department were able to get access to credit scoring in real time. This happened because all related applications and databases were integrated by API.

Overall, improved functionality and new features of the application helped the bank expand their client base and provide a wider range of loans, along with faster and more efficient loan evaluations and approvals.

TECHNOLOGY STACK

Programming languages: PLI, COBOL, and specially developed procedure language which automatically generates source code in Cobol for user screens

Messaging: IBM MQ

Scheduling: TWS (former OPC)

Databases: VSAM and lately added DB2 databases

Transactioning: CICS

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

For many of us in the business of providing and working with technology solutions, mainframes are the old standbys that we love to hate. Sometimes, mainframes feel like the dinosaurs the next generation of developers and engineers joke that they are. But in truth, with the right solutions, mainframes can run smarter and more efficiently.

But it is not all about cheering the virtues of the mainframes that some still see as a necessary evil in our day-to-day operations. Let’s take a moment to look at how, with the right tools, we can resolve mainframe issues and free up time for our engineers, programmers, and technology managers, to get back to the reasons we all do this work.

Once we solve the common mainframe issues that slow us down, by implementing DevOps, we are able to return to the business of being creative and innovative. We can explore how automation opens up new avenues. And we can do more, better, faster, all while knowing that we no longer need to worry about mainframe issues that threaten to stop us in our tracks and keep us from running our operations smoothly.

What is DevOps?

DevOps is flexible. It taps into the scalability, flexibility, and agility that we most often associate with cloud computing and open source development solutions. With DevOps, therefore, we see that we are able to improve efficiencies in real and important ways that matter not only to the business on a large scale, but to the everyday life of everyone who works with the mainframe.

First and foremost, DevOps enables us to meet one of the most common challenges we all face. It helps us to develop software faster. Great, you might be thinking, but I am concerned with how to solve the immediate challenges that I am facing now. While it is interesting to think ahead, you may be saying, I just need to get through my day.

This is an excellent point, and a challenge that we help our clients face. Even though it is part of our ethos as programmers and engineers, to think ahead to future solutions, we are here to help you solve problems now, so we can all free up space to design the future together.

That is why it is time to look at how DevOps makes every day more efficient and more productive. Simply put, DevOps makes it possible to deploy updates faster. And, solving one of the most common issues that threatens productivity (and frustrates us all!), DevOps also makes it possible to dispatch fixes faster.

Better, Stronger, Faster

In many ways, DevOps implementation moves mainframes out of the old idea that they are rigid, slow, and laborious to maintain and manage. The new era DevOps brings all of our cloud knowledge, open source creativity, and automation power, to resolve mainframe issues. DevOps enables us to have more reliable mainframes.

And it makes those mainframes easier to service. At the same time, and this is important for all of us, DevOps also allows us to provide on-demand solutions. One of the chief complaints about mainframes is that they are harbingers of the old era. Now, our technology world is defined by smart solutions that allow us to deploy creative, flexible solutions in near real-time.

These are the kinds of solutions that we can all get excited about. And, taken together, we have found one approach (DevOps) that allows us to be better, faster, and stronger. All the while, we are decreasing costs over time, and increasing efficiencies almost immediately.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the specifics of how DevOps really is stronger, better, and faster. And what that means for your business on the day-to-day, and as you continue to grow.

Move Beyond Manual Operations

We all know (too well) how taxing manual operations can be. In our new world of innovation and efficiency, there is little room for the manual operations that slow us down. And, frankly, bore us, and prevent us from flexing our muscle as developers and engineers.

So, what does DevOps do to help us move beyond manual operations? It frees us up from having to do manual code building to resolve mainframe issues or enable new solutions. It allows for environment setups that make it easier to do what you need, more quickly, and to customize responses, outputs, and solutions.

Further, moving beyond manual operations allows for the installation of a new level of code. All of that, clearly, benefits those of us who work with mainframes day-to-day. It also improves the functionality of the mainframe, and the technology solutions overall. It does this in the immediate, and over time, because of the flexibility that we are now able to access, deploy, and scale. To ensure these kinds of future-forward benefits, DevOps also includes all levels of testing.

Shorten Deployment Cycles

Now, we all understand that if we really want to move into the future, we need to get there faster. We need to start to bring the future to us. That is why one of the chief benefits of DevOps, as we see it, is that is shortens the deployment cycle.

In these cases, we are looking at deployment cycles of one month, or even deployment cycles of one week. That is a major difference from standard expectations without solutions like DevOps.

Improve Control

When it comes to control, we encounter one of the biggest frustrations that we all associate with mainframes. Namely, that, while current sets of programs like SCLMs (Software Configuration and Library Manager) may work, they are not at all integrated with modern technologies.

On the other hand, DevOps solutions focus version control for mainframes that fully integrates with the scope and pace of modern technologies. This means that you can expect more from your mainframe. And it will deliver.

With improved control for mainframes, we see yet another opportunity to increase efficiency, lower costs across the board, and free up time and resources to focus on doing new, better, and more creative work.

Embrace Automation

Whether we are talking about control, troubleshooting, or customization, automation is at the forefront of our minds as we develop and deploy technologies across business platforms. So, of course, when it comes to working with mainframes and providing solutions for improved responses and efficiencies, it is necessary to look at how to bring automation into play. At the same time, that automation must not, for any reason, reduce quality or reliability.

This is where DevOps for mainframes offers additional value. Even with a limited set of automation tools, we know that we are able to deliver more for less cost and in a shorter amount of time. This brings together the overall benefits of DevOps for mainframe, while also introducing automation into a space that has been lacking.

This is where DevOps for mainframes offers additional value. Even with a limited set of automation tools, we know that we are able to deliver more for less cost and in a shorter amount of time. This brings together the overall benefits of DevOps for mainframe, while also introducing automation into a space that has been lacking.

Excite the Next Generation

So, it seems that working with a mainframe does not mean that you are in the dinosaur days, after all. Rather, the mainframes that we all have to deal with have become a new landscape of opportunities for creative solutions that make us able to do our jobs, faster, smarter, and better than we once were able to do.

This is good news for our next generation of programmers, engineers, and technology managers. Let’s face it, it’s not easy to attract talent using the promise of working on mainframes! Now, on the other hand, we have simple, smart, future-forward solutions like DevOps, that changes the game. And this helps us to get the next generation excited about taking on the responsibilities and challenges associated with mainframes.

It assures creative programming and engineering talent that there is a place for new ideas and new projects. And it not only acknowledges, but it embraces the open source mentality that the next generation (and certainly some of us “more experienced” older folks) gets excited about. Ideas about flexibility, innovation, and agility do not have to be separate from work with (and work on) mainframes. In fact, it is just the opposite.

In this new context, we are giving the next generation a newly improved canvas to work with and to put their stamp of creativity on. With DevOps, we are giving them the opportunity to experiment with open source tools on mainframe. It is the best of both worlds. And the future is ripe for innovation that brings better functionality, and better experiences to everyone who uses the systems, and to all our businesses.

What’s Next?

In our next article, we are taking a closer look at DevOps from the inside out. We are going into the what, why, and how of the DevOps value as an agile solution, and a smart addition for your business.

Looking ahead, in our series on DevOps and the New Mainframe, we will be taking you behind the scenes, where we will walk you through everything from APIs to zSystems, and talk about the mainframe DevOps lifecycle and what that means for you.

Finally, we wrap up our series with more on how DevOps helps us at IBA bring to life our mission to Co-create a SMART future. A future that, like IBA, is Sustainable, Multi-faceted, Automated, Reliable, and Trusted.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

Today, we spotlight a leading railway company in Eastern Europe, a longtime mainframe project client that faces complex scenarios with no room for shutdowns. The overriding objective of this mainframe project is to create a new railway traffic control, transportation planning, and management system. This includes utilizing existing hardware while maintaining performance and system availability requirements. It also entails providing client’s employees and executive management with timely, reliable information on freight operations, and locomotive and railway car locations and status.

Additionally, the project, which has been operating successfully for nearly 20 years, aims to deliver information that empowers management decisions to increase the efficiency of railway transportation, improve freight volume and quality, and reduce transportation and operational costs.

In this conversation, we sat down with Nikolai Krovsh – Deputy Director, ERP and Automation Systems Innovations for the Client, and Delivery Director and Project Sponsor Vladimir Starotitorov, Project Manager Vladimir Vishnevski, CTO – z/OS System Architect Valeri Troufanov, and Systems Support Project Manager Nikolai Kuchinski for IBA Group.

Read on to learn how this client-supplier relationship has endured for nearly twenty years, and how mainframe support helps to keep one of Europe’s railway leaders running well.

IBA Group’s project team: Vladimir Starotitorov, Vladimir Vishnevski, Valeri Troufanov, and Anatoly Kostyko

Q1: When you acquired the project, what kinds of mainframe problems did you inherit?

Vladimir Starotitorov and Vladimir Vishnevski (IBA Group): Over the 20 years of working with the customer, we worked on multiple projects, including mainframe infrastructure support, application development, and system optimization. In that time, limited hardware resources remained the biggest challenge. For instance, our team had to use the same hardware for development purposes that the client uses to run its production systems.

The result, of course, is performance and time-out problems. We constantly had to fight for resources to balance the needs of the development team with the applications running in the production environment.

The newly developed applications and systems were more resource consuming (since we used Java and C languages to build them), as opposed to the existing applications, which were primarily built using Assembler, which is less resource intensive.

To solve this problem, we focused on resource prioritization for the existing hardware. Additionally, we have ran through a series of iterations over the years to upgrade the client’s hardware, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Nikolai Krovsh (Client): What made things more difficult, is the fact that we had to run other projects, besides those where IBA was involved, on the same machines.

Q2: Did all parties have to get more creative to resolve the above issues?

Nikolai Kuchinski (IBA Group): Yes, we had to get creative and use every opportunity we had to optimize the application code and system configuration, to increase performance.

Only after all other means had been exhausted, did we approach the client with upgrade recommendations.

Q3: As a transportation company, what were some of the unique solutions you required?

Nikolai Krovsh (Client): The nature of our business is such that we cannot afford any outages in our operation. The railway operates 24×7. So do our systems and applications, especially those facing our passengers. That said, our solution to this challenge was to mirror our production environment and build an exact copy of it: code, data, and system configuration, for development and testing purposes.

After that was done, we vigorously tested all new applications, fixes, configuration or data changes on that environment prior to deploying them to the production systems.

Nikolai Krovsh, Client

Q4: What was the most challenging aspect of this project on each side?

Nikolai Krovsh (Client): The most challenging aspect was the complexity of the systems and applications themselves.

The algorithms we use are highly complex, and specific to the railway industry. In the beginning, it was difficult to explain all this to the supplier’s team. Basically, we had to train the team in the railway business. Then, they became efficient in building the applications and systems that we needed.

Now, after all these years, we are proud of what we were able to accomplish together, and even call our IBA colleagues – true Railwaymen!

Vladimir Starotitorov (IBA Group): For us, one of the biggest challenges was managing multiple teams involved in the projects. At peak points, we had various teams totaling up to 40 people each. On top of that, we had 20 developers working on the project as part of the client’s team.

Add to that managers and outside consultants, and we had more than 70 individuals whose efforts had to be coordinated and managed to achieve the common objective.

When we asked Nikolai Krovsh and Vladimir Starotitorov how they would characterize the client-supplier relationship as it approaches its third decade, they both remarked on how it is a peaceful and human-centered relationship.

Despite the challenges and complexities of resource demands and client needs, everyone involved remarks on how trust, expertise, and commitment to quality on both sides have helped make this a partnership built to last.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

The amount of time that critical applications can be turned off is extremely limited. Otherwise, we run the risk of essential businesses like banks suffering shutdowns that impact countless individuals, other businesses, and the overall market.

Small Window for Critical Applications

All this means that we need to react immediately to problems on systems of this type. We have a small window to identify and resolve problems. But it is not just about the limitations of time. These problems can be extremely complex. And the sources of these problems often are not immediately clear.

So, what happens? As developers and engineers, we start communicating with each other through chats and messenger applications. Intuitively, we seek to gather our collective knowledge and apply it to the problem so we can understand what is wrong and start fixing it faster.

Collaboration is Key

As with so many things, collaboration is key. We benefit from the vast knowledge and experience of our colleagues. In fact, it is a rare occasion when someone does not say “I’ve seen this before.” However, the scenario we are describing of reaching out to colleagues across multiple platforms is not structured in a way that makes it easy for developers and engineers to connect to the right information quickly.

It does not even account for vacations, let alone retirements, or colleagues who can’t be contacted because they are occupied with another project. This scenario fails to harness the power of collaboration when you need it most.

Harnesses the Power of Collaboration

One of the reasons we designed Appulse for business applications that run on mainframe is to fix this exact scenario. You need help from colleagues and other resources. You need to be able to access that help from a centralized location, easily and quickly.

Appulse provides that help. It stores solutions for a variety of operational issues. That means, Appulse acts like an ally to operational support employees. And this ally never takes a day off!

Wise Database

That operational support is strongest when the database is smartest. If your employees do not have a wise database like this, they learn on the job. That means they are scrambling to learn when the pressure is the greatest, and the stakes are the highest.

The kind of learning that needs to happen to resolve issues and solve problems that threaten systems that control the operations of major organizations in the industries we rely on most (think banking systems!) cannot be done on the fly. Unfortunately, without something like Appulse, that is what happens all the time. This leads to stressful situations, patchy fixes that break down, and an incomplete body of accessible knowledge for protecting and restoring functionality over time.

Reduce Employee Stress

When we look at Appulse, however, we see what it is like for developers and engineers when they are able to access the wealth of knowledge their colleagues have without the constraints of time, or place. So, not only do we see operational issues get resolved more quickly, we also see a significant reduction in the stress levels of the employees who are tasked with operational support.

This healthier environment is more productive. It enables operational support professionals to be more responsive, more accurate, more creative, and more reliable. Our less-stressed employee is more efficient and more reliable. That can mean the difference between minor service interruptions and major failures.

Service Fixes

Let’s think about the bank again. Once an operational support employee is alerted to a problem on the application, Appulse helps that employee create a service fix before the problem has time to get out of hand. Say you are that operational employee, and you see that a critical application job has abended. Attached to that problem, for example, could be clearing bad status from application tablespace. Appulse makes it easier to run a job to fix that. You are able to initiate a quick fix and get the application back up and running.

Beyond that, Appulse makes it possible to solve that problem (or a similar problem) even faster in the future. All this means that our essential systems are down for less time (if at all) and we are able to operate with confidence and precision.

Knowledge Transfer and Sharing with Appulse Gives People Time

That confidence and precision comes in large part from the fact that Appulse stores knowledge and makes it easy to access and apply it. In a previous article, we dove into the value of Appulse knowledge transfer. In the context of keeping operations functioning optimally, with minimal shutdown times on select functions, we demonstrate the value of knowledge transfer and share even more.

All of this amounts to saving developers and engineers time and stress. You can access Appulse no matter what. It is never too busy for you, like a colleague might be – especially when the stakes are highest.

At IBA Group, we understand more than anyone how high stakes and stressful a support engineer’s job is. This is especially true when you are working on systems for critical industries like banking, transportation, or logistics. Appulse helps ease some of that pressure by giving you access to what you need, when you need it. Then, in turn, it helps you store the knowledge you helped to build so that you and your colleagues can access it next time.

Your Colleague Can Take a Vacation!

We like to share the story about one of our IBA Group developers who had her long-awaited vacation interrupted by a barrage of phone calls from fellow developer Team Members.

A problem arose on a banking client’s system, and she was the only member of the Team who had encountered a problem like this before. Certainly, we could not wait for her to return from vacation before we fixed our client’s problem. So, we had to hound her until she was able to get to a phone and give us a call back. Then, she had to work remotely to get the Team Members up to speed with her knowledge so they could properly address the problem before it got out of control.

This story highlights a few things, including the power of collaboration and knowledge sharing. It also underscores the reality that, even the highest caliber, experienced developers cannot possibly know every single answer immediately. Moreover, it is impossible to create solutions for applications without knowledge of those applications. Appulse makes it so that knowledge is not confined to one person. As a result, the entire organization benefits from the knowledge that Appulse collects and shares.

How to Document and Share Knowledge

An AI module powers all of this. And that AI module makes Appulse smarter with every operational issue it encounters. So, the more problems you need to resolve, the better Appulse learns. As Appulse grows, it can become possible to suggest potential solutions to developers and engineers. Then you are able to review those suggestions and accept the solution it offers or build your own. If you do build your own solution, then that solution is added to the Appulse knowledge base.

By documenting how you solve problems, you make it easier for you and your colleagues to solve problems in the future. You are saving clients’ systems – and your precious time!

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

We like to describe Appulse as a problem solver. Large enterprises face the challenge of legacy issues when their businesses run on mainframe. Simply put, in almost all organizations the person who wrote the code is no longer on the team. In fact, that person is usually long since retired! So the current development and engineering teams are left trying to make sense of pieced together one-off solutions and other attempts to keep things running. What adds to the problem is that there is little to no consideration for how to maintain systems over time or how to manage, collect, and store knowledge.

That means that every real fix for an operational problem on the mainframe requires a deep dive into the history of the system, including the application business logic and technical implementation. And that requires a significant investment of high-level engineering talent and time. How much time? It can take 3 – 5 years to really get inside and understand what makes the mainframe tick and understand the current (and historical) state of systems and applications enough to deliver reliable, sustainable solutions.

In that time, you have pulled some of your most talented developers from other projects that allow them to flex their creativity and create new, more efficient, and more effective solutions.

Certainly, the problem of problem solving for mainframe is clear. But what is the solution? And how can we apply different types of approaches effectively to deliver the support that enterprises need to keep running in ways that are smart, sustainable, and reliable?

Who Uses the Blackbox Approach?

We see the Blackbox approach most frequently in these older systems whose original developers and engineers are long gone. However, let’s be clear. We are not talking about antiquated enterprises, or inconsequential organizations. In fact, some of the biggest enterprises around the world are running on mainframes.

And those organizations, upon which so many other businesses and individuals rely, have lost any sense of what has been done with their applications. As our engineers often say, “The older they are, the more Blackbox they are.” So, what does that mean, why does it matter, and what can we do to fix things?

What is the Blackbox Approach?

What qualifies as a “big problem”? Things like program records issues and other problems that threaten system operability at its most basic levels. You might classify these as “triage level problems.” The problems that threaten the vitality of the system so much that they must be addressed and resolved immediately. When you apply a triage-style solution, though, you are not addressing the underlying issues that caused the system problem in the first place. Nor are you considering the level or type of maintenance that you need to apply to keep the fix going, and to prevent the issue (or similar issues) from arising again.

In this scenario, the Blackbox Approach to resolving operational problems in applications that run on mainframe is like an emergency room doctor’s response to a broken bone, as opposed to a primary care doctor’s response to overall health and wellness.

Then, it is like returning to the same emergency room doctor the next day with another (possibly related problem). However, the doctor has no access to your medical history. So, the doctor needs to start from the very beginning, without any information that would make it easier to solve your problems.

Blackbox Approach Limitations

As we know from that scenario, the Blackbox Approach certainly has its place. But it also has serious limitations when you consider overall application sustainability.

We see the first limitation when we look at who in your organization is responsible for resolving application operational issues and maintaining application health. Using the Blackbox Approach, when a newcomer comes to a project, that engineer or developer does not need to know every line of application code and every type of operational problem that can occur in order to start doing his/her job. Rather, that person can locate and fix the most difficult problems. This is not all bad, as we have noted. It allows you to provide an acceptable way to support an older system.

However, it does not provide a sustainable path, nor does it ever give you the opportunity to drill down to the root causes of issues in a way that will prevent the same or similar issues from arising. Or in a way that will allow you to create more seamless solutions that maximize the operability and the health of the system.

As we all know, acceptable in the moment is not the same as effective over time.

What is the Whitebox Approach?

The Whitebox Approach includes the following: learning, documenting, and sharing. Remember, we are dealing with complex systems. That means that you are looking at multiple applications and a variety of issues. In this context, as all developers know, you start to see patterns and gather knowledge. The Whitebox Approach allows us to pull from that stable of knowledge.

How Does the Whitebox Approach Resolve System Issues?

Based on that growing body of knowledge, we can add new solutions for specific issues. Once we have learned, and documented, we are able to make that information available to others who are working on the system.

This ability to share solutions helps to resolve some of those legacy issues that we associate with mainframe in general, and with the Blackbox Approach specifically.

Whitebox Approach Challenges

While it is obvious that older systems are not likely to use the Whitebox Approach, we also recognize that, even some of the newer systems are not set up for the Whitebox Approach. However, the younger the system, the more information we have about it, so the easier it is to apply the Whitebox Approach.

However, do remember, a young system does not mean a problem-free system. We have encountered three-year-old systems where all the documentation was lost. In that situation, we had to figure out the logic entirely on our own, with no guide and no record.

In cases like this, which you have likely run into in one way or another, most of your energy as a developer goes into the process of reverse engineering the problem to determine how and why it happened. Only after that sometimes grueling (and always time consuming) process, can you begin to take steps to finding a solution. Often, you find yourself building things back from the ground up.

New Code Takes Time and Money

One of the most important takeaways here is the unavoidable. New code takes time and money. Most organizations, the very large organizations included, simply cannot afford that. Appulse fills the gap. Customers expect a sustainable level of quality, service, and performance. We have designed Appulse to help make that a reality.

What we are doing with Appulse, is catching the problems related to the mainframe products and subsystems objects owned by application (such as stopped transaction, failed batch job, bad status of tablespace, etc.), not to the application code itself. Then, we are making a critical next step that benefits your system over its lifecycle and saves you time and money.

Through Appulse, we are noting and storing the lessons that we learn through the problem recognition and resolution process. Then, through Appulse, we are making it possible to apply those lessons to multiple scenarios. Lessons we learn in one industry can be applied to another, rather than remaining siloed.

Appulse Moves from Black Box Approach to White Box Approach

Initially, Appulse takes a Blackbox Approach in that it comes from the varied experiences of support engineers. We do not learn everything first. Rather, with Appulse, we deal with problems, collect them in a knowledge base, and document how we solve those problems. Then that knowledge base grows, making it easier to address problems next time.

Ultimately, Appulse functions as a Whitebox Approach because we build on that stored knowledge base. We operationalize our expertise by learning, documenting, sharing, and continuing to improve.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

Mainframe systems are expensive and complex. They often present legacy challenges that take time and resources to combat. So, for an enterprise looking to do a technology overhaul that reduces complexities and cost, it is common to ask whether it is better to upgrade mainframe systems or replace them.

Modernizing, or upgrading mainframe, turns out to offer a variety of advantages for enterprises working to achieve these goals. The cost (of both financial and human resources) of replacement outweighs that of upgrading. In fact, a mainframe upgrade can save money and time, reduce complexities, and empower your teams. Further, modernizing rather than replacing mainframe puts your organization in a position to utilize new, lightweight, affordable resources to get more from your existing mainframe without having to make major investments in the kinds of large-scale changes that create time lags and other issues.

Upgrading Mainframe Saves Money

While it is not always the case that upgrading is cheaper than replacing, in the case of mainframe, upgrading saves money. Upgrading mainframe systems is more cost effective than replacing the system. This is the case both in the immediate and over time.
So, consider the budget impact of your mainframe decisions. Make the case for modernizing mainframe by demonstrating, first how and why replacement costs outweigh the cost to upgrade.

Leverage Existing Assets

For starters, upgrading your mainframe helps to leverage existing mainframe assets. Let’s be clear. We are not saying that sticking with your existing mainframe means that you must “do more with less.” Quite the contrary, in fact. When you choose to upgrade, you are doing so in a way that allows you to capitalize on the system investments you have already made.

But you do not stop with your older investments, you leverage what you have already invested, and integrate new system improvements and new technologies to improve the speed and efficiency of your mainframe. Essentially, you use your existing technology assets as a foundation, on which you can build a stronger, more effective system.

Save Time

Building and implementing new systems is not just expensive. It is time consuming. As we so often note, time is our most precious asset. This is especially true in the technology space.

Upgrading existing mainframe applications is a significantly smaller time commitment than embarking on a mainframe replacement project. To save valuable time, assess the resources you have. Research tools like DevOps that you can use to your advantage in a modernized mainframe environment. And focus on upgrading your mainframe so it can work for your organization efficiently.

Upgrade Mainframe to Reduce Complexities

Mainframe complexity is a common challenge. However, that does not mean that you need to chuck your mainframe and start all over again with a new system. Nor does it mean that you need to be stuck with an outdated, overly complex system that costs you time and makes your employees miserable.

Instead, upgrade your mainframe to reduce complexities. Leverage new technologies and marry them with the existing mainframe landscape. This helps to fight the mainframe complexity that grows with each application update. Streamline and speed up!

Fight “Brain Drain”

According to Forrester Research, organizations that use mainframe lost 23% of their mainframe workforce between 2013 and 2018. Those numbers are increasing. And companies are replacing those losses at a level of roughly one to three.

The brain drain is real. And it is a real threat to mainframe-powered organizations. Upgrading mainframe systems helps to combat brain drain. In fact, mainframe modernization enables organizations to utilize young talent who are keen to work on modern, evolving technology. Building on that fresh motivation, IT teams get to show the next generation that, with modernization, upgraded mainframes offer fresh talent opportunities to do the kind of creative, engaging work they crave.

Further, because the competition to work on mainframe is not as steep, younger talent has the chance to stand out in the crowd. They develop necessary specialties that make them more marketable and could advance their careers faster. Keep this kind of motivation in mind when you are embarking on hiring initiatives. And when you are looking for ways to leverage the existing talent in your organization.

Utilize Support Tools

Let’s say it again: mainframe does not have to mean slow. Modernizing, or upgrading enables you to leverage the power of modern DevOps tools and technologies. These technologies have the power to increase continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) speeds by dozens of times.

DevOps enhances mainframe functionality across your organization by increasing both flexibility and agility. It allows for continuous delivery, a key feature of a modernized mainframe. In addition to improving cycle times, DevOps allows for more automation. Further, support tools like DevOps make information access and sharing easier, to promote more agile development. In this environment, your development team does more in less time.

At the end of the day, whether to replace or upgrade mainframe systems is one of many technologies decisions that impact your organization. Carefully consider the cost, benefits, and opportunity of modernizing mainframe, then make strategic choices for how to do so. And how to maximize your upgrade.

Author: Andrew Dvirnyk

Mainframe and mainframe solutions are expensive. There is no getting around that. At the same time, even though some argue against utilizing mainframe at all, it remains a powerful tool in the technology space. And necessary even for businesses who cannot reasonably afford upkeep and maintenance.

One way to save on costs associated with mainframe is to integrate microservices and APIs. However, those digital applications, and the security solutions they require, cost money. The hard reality is that there are organizations who would benefit from mainframe, but simply cannot afford to host a mainframe system in-house.

For those organizations, offsite mainframe hosting emerges as an affordable solution. It connects them to the power of mainframe. But it saves them the bulk of the expenses. The idea of hosting your infrastructure offside through another company might intimidate you. But let’s take a look at how to think differently about infrastructure hosting. And why it’s not so radical at all, in the technology space.

MFaaS and SaaS

Welcome to the era of mainframe as a service. More and more frequently in the technology space, we see the value of shifting from product to service models. The hallmark of this aspect of our industry, is, of course, software as a service. Better known as SaaS, software as a service enables users to access and utilize software and take advantage of innovations and upgrades without having to purchase new hardware or reconfigure systems. SAP is one of the best examples of SaaS.

If you are an SAP customer, you understand the benefits of SaaS from a cost point of view and a performance point of view.

Outsourcing Support

What you also know is that SaaS makes it possible to outsource support. Outsourcing support empowers you to make the most of your technology investments.

In fact, when you take a look at the scope of your organization’s investments in technology, outsourcing vs in-house support is among the smartest ways to amp up your capabilities and your speed. The key for evaluating outsourced support is to determine the level of expertise the outsource team brings.

When you engage with an expert team, through outsourcing, you gain access greater resources than you could acquire in-house. And more affordable resources, more quickly, than you can build internally.

What is MFaaS?

Using SaaS and the value of outsourcing as a backdrop, let’s look at what this means for mainframe and your organizational needs. Like SaaS, MFaaS takes a service (rather than product) approach to hosting mainframe.

Offsite data centers that manage mainframe provide everything from automated services management to disaster recovery. Some of what you can expect from offsite mainframe hosting includes operational and technical support, in addition to faster data storage and processing speeds than your organization might be able to afford independently.

Additionally, offsite mainframe hosting provides security, and, in most cases, assists with migrating and transferring your mainframe data.

Offsite Mainframe Hosting and Business Continuity

Even if cost savings is not your primary driver, it is worthwhile to think about the value of offsite mainframe hosting. From a business continuity perspective, consider the benefits of hosting mainframe data separately from your business location.

Doing so eliminates a considerable amount of stress related to emergency preparedness and disaster recovery. So, while the idea of hosting mainframe data offsite may initially feel like you are taking risk (similarly to outsourcing), in fact, you are opting into a new line of defense. By diversifying your location, you are potentially helping to protect your data, and the backbone of your enterprise.

How to Select a Mainframe Hosting Partner

As with all IT vendor, or partner, decisions, it is important to do your research. To help, we have put together a list of tips for selecting IT partners. These best practices apply to choosing a mainframe hosting partner, too.

Choosing a technology partner can be risky. When you do so, you are trusting someone else with some of your organization’s most sensitive, valuable data. And you are relying on that partner to deliver for you when it matters most. Having been on both sides of the technology partner relationship, we find that the following 4 steps help you to select a partner, and to verify that partner’s trustworthiness.

1. Confirm Expertise

Whether you are outsourcing software support, or looking for searching for mainframe offsite hosting, you need to know that the company with whom you are partnering has the expertise to deliver in a way that meets your needs.

Ask for certifications. Look at existing or previous projects. And do your research. Learn what expertise is required. Then make sure that the partner you choose offers what you need.

2. Ask for Reviews and Recommendations

Take the next step and find out what existing and previous clients have to say about the vendor you are considering. Read testimonials about your prospective partner. But don’t stop there. Dust off your old networking skills. Pick up the phone or jump on LinkedIn to reach out to colleagues and contacts in your industry and others to find out if they have worked with the company or companies you are considering. Ask them about their experiences.

3. Ask Questions

Speaking of asking questions, find out what you need to know from your prospective technology partner. The presentation they give you never tells the whole story. They probably have amazing client stories and best practice tips to share. Remember, these are real people, who, in most cases, really love what they do. Find out what it is really like to work with them by asking questions and giving them a chance to share not only their expertise, but their experiences.

4. Engage in Conversation

Then, keep the conversation going. Trust is the mark of a lasting, valuable partnership. And we build trust by having real conversations. That means asking questions and listening to the answers. It also means being honest about what you need, want, and can afford, both now and in the future. Relationships that start with open, honest conversations become relationships that are mutually beneficial and reliable.

Learn More About Offsite Mainframe Hosting

If you would like to know more about offsite mainframe hosting for your organization, contact IBA Group. We are happy to connect with you and point you in the right direction.