AWS Mainframe Modernization Replatform with Micro Focus

The first step is to analyze the application using Micro Focus Enterprise Analyzer to understand application complexity, dependencies, and the impact of moving these applications to the cloud. Micro Focus Enterprise Analyzer is available on-demand from the AWS Mainframe Modernization service console.

The develop step creates a modern development environment and CI/CD pipeline using Micro Focus Enterprise Developer to enable you to maintain and modernize mainframe COBOL and PL/I applications using an Eclipse based environment for rapid development. Coupled with the application knowledge from Enterprise Analyzer, developers can understand, develop, build and test application changes. Micro Focus Enterprise Developer is also available on-demand from the AWS Mainframe Modernization service console.

The deployment step automates the creation of tailored, high availability and elastic infrastructure using the AWS Mainframe Modernization managed runtime environment powered by Micro Focus Enterprise Server, a scalable production engine meeting and often exceeding enterprise requirements for reliability, availability and serviceability.

Finally, with the AWS Mainframe Modernization managed runtime, you can operate business critical systems whether this is performing system maintenance, applying application updates, monitoring the health of the system, or diagnosing problems.

Reduce the impact of moving your tried and trusted business applications to the cloud with minimal changes and meeting your performance, security and availability requirements. Impact is greatly reduced and time to modernize is shortened by leveraging the AWS Mainframe Modernization managed service platform which handles many aspects of the development process and provides the elastic, high availability deployment infrastructure with just a few clicks.

Continue to modernize and evolve your applications, taking advantage of cloud services more easily accessible once the application has been replatformed. Modernization projects are significantly more successful when change is made incrementally. Ongoing modernization efforts may include API enablement, microservices or containers.

Enable faster development with modern tools and process, allowing you to be more responsive to change. Even if your applications remain on the mainframe for production, you can use the cloud for development and test. Application definitions can be maintained as source and can be plugged in a CI/CD process to automate the deployment of changes. Once an application has been deployed and is running in the AWS Mainframe Modernization runtime it can then be easily access through your existing 3270 interfaces by using Micro Focus Host Access for the Cloud, which is available for a free trial from the AWS Marketplace.

One of the key values of the cloud is the ability to spin up servers as demand increases. Replatforming enables your existing applications to take advantage of the cloud’s flexibility with minimal effort and risk.

Once applications are moved to the cloud, your team will be able to manage and support mainframe applications in a familiar environment with a common set of modern tools.

Even for applications that remain in production on a mainframe, replatforming can help modernize the development and testing process. Your existing COBOL and PL/I applications can be developed using modern, eclipse-based development tools, tested on the cloud and deployed to your mainframe.