The problem with legacy apps is that they last longer than their original strength, but they stay in production longer. To meet the needs of the evolving business, applications are being modified so drastically that they are entirely different from their original design, making it difficult for IT organizations to understand and make further changes. Many companies are still holding back due to outdated applications.
Companies often see the cost and risk of updating apps and hastily conclude that “if they’re not broken, don’t fix them.” This increases the technical debt, which must be repaid sooner or later. Unfortunately, many IBM iSeries AS400 update projects do not start until the outdated application fails or seriously impacts the business.
The IBM iSeries AS400 turned 30 this year, which has been a massive celebration at industry events worldwide. IBM iSeries Server has a roadmap of more than ten years, so the organizations that have chosen this system to run their business should pat themselves on the back: they have selected a definite winner.
But not everyone sees three decades of successful computing as something to celebrate. Instead of looking at the full potential of today’s platforms – and IBM tells us that the platform is moving into the future – this is what Integrative Systems sees in today’s modern IBM iSeries AS/400 servers through the old lens.
Although servers and operating systems have advanced features – and support the latest development tools like Git, Node.js, and Python – that doesn’t mean most IBM iSeries stores take advantage of them.
Cost-Effective Update
In some companies, “IT modernization” is an important issue. If not appropriately managed, system modernization can lead to a costly mess. And when considering an IT modernization strategy, the cost is always a necessary factor. As one of IBM’s largest service providers, Integrative Systems can help you make profitable modernization in several ways:
Remote Monitoring and Management
- Private Cloud
- Hybrid Cloud
Benefits of Modernization
There are many benefits of modernization:
- A better interface
- A better database
- Easy to maintain apps
- More flexible applications. The new business requirements are easy to implement.
- Integrated application. Easy to integrate with other applications, platforms, and interfaces.
- Modern applications can give the company a competitive advantage.
- The company can respond quickly to changes in the business.
Modernization Methodology
In this section, have a look at a different stage of modernization:
Stage 1: Preparation
This stage deals with the planning you need for repetition. You must decide which part of the application you will update and how to measure your progress. Each iteration should include planning activities so that you can adapt effectively to the current situation.
Stage 2: Experiment
You try new things with each repetition. You need to understand the technologies available in the market and decide if they are suitable for your situation. This phase is for all experiments.
Stage 3: Getting up and Running
The stage is to do real work and apply what you are trying to do to achieve the goals of repetition.
Stage 4: Evaluation
Expansion and Forward Thinking This phase involves analyzing the work done so far, including all previous iterations. You can learn how to introduce new technologies to enable more flexibility in modern applications at this stage. This phase is dedicated to analyzing how to enhance the application’s existing functionality.
Stage 5: The deployment program should be delivered as soon as possible. Each session ends with a work program. You need to choose your deployment strategy carefully to minimize the risk.
Integrative Systems Solutions and Support
We provide a hybrid architecture environment to deliver high-availability disaster recovery options for our IBMi users. The service from Integrative Systems offers you the rack, Power, cooling, and connectivity needed.
We can provide IBM iSeries AS400 cores and OS entitlements in increments as small as one-tenth of a core with our cloud offering. We are a 20+ years old company based out of Chicago, USA, and have experience in application modernization, AS400 upgrade, and other services that can help your organization to grow.
For more details, feel free to contact team Integrative at [email protected].
