Micro Focus unveils two mainframe migration tools

BANGALORE, INDIA: Micro Focus, a provider of enterprise application modernization, testing and management solutions, today announced the release of the newest versions of two mainframe migration tools.

Micro Focus Studio Enterprise Edition (Studio EE) and Server Enterprise Edition (Server EE) v6.0 SP1, is a suite of graphical tools that allows users to migrate mainframe business applications to lower cost platforms and supports the entire applications development lifecycle — from analysis to testing. It supports the deployment of the migrated applications on the new platform with virtually no application code changes, making application migration a low-risk, high-performance alternative to re-writes or rip-and-replace strategies.

New functionality includes a unique capability to migrate data to Microsoft SQL Server. The ability to automate data migration to SQL Server means lower risk and increased efficiency as organizations move their applications to more cost-effective environments. In addition, the new releases enable organizations to migrate and re-host PL/I applications, resulting in the ability to further reduce their reliance on the costly mainframe, said a press release.

“Any mainframe shop faced with rising costs, skilled personnel retirement and lack of IT agility should consider these solutions as a way to begin the long-term modernization process,” said Dale Vecchio, Research Vice President at Gartner.

He added that mainframe re-hosting solutions offer lower-cost and more immediate modernization results, with reduced IT spending within 12 to 36 months of the migration, and offer companies a way to leverage their COBOL and PL/I skill sets and modernize, as appropriate, on lower-cost platforms.

Micro Focus Server EE and Studio EE v6.0 SP1 feature functionality native to Micro Focus that further enhances the migration and modernization of enterprise applications. It includes functionality from Micro Focus Modernization Workbench, which helps users to better understand their application portfolio before a migration project, allowing them to plan and prioritize modernization initiatives accordingly. It also provides improved extensibility and integration capabilities, allowing organizations to expose CICS and IMS transactions as Web services.

“Businesses today — particularly in this economic climate — are constantly looking for ways to simplify their IT infrastructure, to lower costs, and to do so without sacrificing the ability to deliver innovative new products and services to their customers,” said Stuart McGill, CTO at Micro Focus.

He further said, “ Time and again we’re seeing companies turn to mainframe migration projects to achieve these goals. Our new generation of modernization and migration tools will help companies complete their migration projects even faster with minimal changes to their applications.”