Question 10 of 10: Who will deliver effective Digital Transformation for the IBM i?

Current Blog Series: Answers to the top 10 Questions CIOs face when considering an IBM i Digital Transformation Project

We recently launched a new blog series. Over the last couple of months, we have discussed the Top 10 questions CIOs face when considering the Digital Transformation of their IBM i application portfolio. Following is the final in the ten-part series.

Question 10: Who will deliver effective Digital Transformation for the IBM i?

For the past nine weeks, we have been discussing the challenges facing CIOs as they consider the Digital Transformation of their IBM i application portfolio. This week, we will present ETS's ideal automated technology and how you can procure it for your organization's IBM i Digital Transformation initiative.

What We've Discussed Thus Far:

In this series, we have comprehensively scrutinized the challenges of modernizing IBM i legacy application portfolios, including the risks of staying on the isolated, aging platform and deploying web services, APIs, and front-end technologies. Additionally, we examined the considerable cost, time, operational disruption, and risks of initiating Digital Transformation without automation.

We have lamented the lack of emerging technology that provides safe, effective Digital Transformation of IBM i ecosystems. We have enumerated the specific characteristics of the IBM i platform that make it so difficult to modernize, the lack of technical resources qualified to assist in the effort, and the consequences of launching a Digital Transformation initiative without a deep understanding of the IBM i application portfolio.

We have affirmed our personal and professional responsibility for delivering this urgent strategic imperative for our organizations. However, there are no technologies to ensure that we cross the chasm effectively and safely. We have explored strategies for knowing where to begin and how to minimize the risk of IBM i Digital Transformation initiatives.

Now, let's look at the available opportunities for your IBM i Digital Transformation initiative.

ETS' Digital Transformation Technology provides you with the tools needed to deploy your existing legacy functionality in a native language on a robust, scalable, ubiquitous, and secure cloud platform.

Our compiler technology interrogates the IBM i legacy source and object code and the legacy IBM i ecosystem artifacts as is. There is no need for complete, accurate documentation or access to the original authors or legacy application experts. Our compiler translates legacy IBM i code into our proprietary legacy Syntax Tree, then converts the legacy Syntax tree to its equivalent in the Microsoft Roslyn C# Syntax tree. At that point, equivalent functioning native .NET core C# code is rendered, which runs on any cloud platform.

ETS' IBM i Digital Transformation technology optimizes the legacy code as it is transformed by analyzing and identifying "dead" code that will be eliminated as well as "reused" code that will be migrated once and accessed throughout the transformed application. It also seeks opportunities to refactor "overweight" procedures to optimize application performance.

The compiler is accompanied by ETS' modern UI generator that converts IBM i DDS screens from legacy into equivalent .NET behaviors and generates a services layer with multiple UI targets. The generator enables the customization of the look and feel and facilitates the configuration of form controls for flexible, modern functionality.

ETS' Digital Transformation technology offers predictable, automated, efficient re-platforming of IBM i legacy application portfolios in a turnkey service. It generates native .NET core, service-oriented, modern, and maintainable C# code. No proprietary compilers or database access products are required.

It eliminates your dependence on the expensive IBM i platform and the dwindling pool of IBM i developer resources and eliminates the legacy platform's technical debt.

ETS' Digital Transformation Technology protects your significant investment in legacy applications while providing all the benefits of modern technology and cloud platforms. Our automated solution minimizes the risk and disruption versus Digital Transformation initiatives without automation. Moreover, your project can be completed with our automated solution in less than half the time and for less than half the price.

This is a very exciting time in Enterprise software, and ETS is at the forefront of true Digital Transformation for the IBM i. To learn more about our early adopter program, please contact me at nhughes@etsassociates.com.

#CIOs #digitaltransformation #criticalinfrastructure #migration #modernization #legacyplatforms #enterprisetechnology #ETS #enterprisetransformationspecialists

Question 9 of 10: How do I minimize the risk of my IBM i digital transformation initiative?

Current Blog Series: Answers to the top 10 Questions CIOs face when considering an IBM i Digital Transformation Project

We recently launched a new blog series. Over the next couple of months, we will be discussing the Top 10 questions CIOs face when considering the Digital Transformation of their IBM i application portfolio. Following is the ninth in the ten-part series.

Question 9: How do I minimize the risk of my IBM i digital transformation initiative?

If this question is top of mind to you today, you have likely accepted the challenge to address your organization's most urgent strategic imperative - meaningful digital transformation of your IBM i legacy application portfolio. You may have even settled on an approach for the process: either replacing, rewriting, or migrating your core applications.

While your efforts are laudable, the most daunting and dangerous part of the process remains the sheer magnitude, cost, and risk of your endeavor.

Depending on your modernization approach, your IT vendor or in-house staff can help you estimate the cost and time required for the process. If yours is like most IBM i shops, your critical legacy systems' digital transformation will take 2 – 5 years and cost $10-15M. This is well worth the investment considering the value of your essential corporate asset; your critical legacy system is between $7 and 10 M.

The heavy burden of contingency planning, calculating soft costs, and ensuring uninterrupted service falls on your shoulders. What happens if the new system lacks the critical functionality on which your organization depends? How will you minimize and overcome the disruption to your operation when a new workflow is introduced? What additional resources (hardware, software, and staff) will you need to test the new system sufficiently while still running your business on the legacy system? Is it possible to accurately predict and prepare for the cost of lost staff productivity and training?

The likelihood of completing a full digital transformation of your IBM i legacy application portfolio on time, within budget, and without disruption seems slim. However, there are ways to reduce the risk of significant disruption, delays, and cost overruns.

The safest approach is to carefully examine your application ecosystem, along with the operational functions each supports, before you launch the project. This process will enable you to understand the application dependencies and interfaces and effectively break the enormous initiative into "bite-sized" phases. These phases can then be launched independently and sequentially to mitigate the risk and disruption to your operation.

If possible, try to begin with a couple of "quick wins" that demonstrate the value of digital transformation efforts in narrowly focused operational areas that pose minimal risk to your operation. Then, build on the success, momentum, and increased understanding of the modernization process until you are ready to go after the most critical applications which support strategic operations. In other words, crawl before you walk and walk before you run.

This sounds logical, but how do you develop the comprehensive understanding of your IBM i application ecosystem required to create a safe, effective strategic plan?

Deploying visualization technology, such as that of ETS, will clearly show how your legacy systems are organized and will automate the process of modeling and building your strategically phased digital transformation projects. The project builder provides access to your legacy ecosystem as it exists today and enables you to model a variety of project phases and sequences to consider.

Once you determine and launch the best available project plan, you will be able to identify, isolate and minimize your operational exposure as you meaningfully modernize your legacy ecosystem one critical application at a time.

This systematic, technology-enabled approach provides a clear, predictable path forward, an essential prerequisite to any successful digital transformation project.

#CIOs #digitaltransformation #criticalinfrastructure #migration #modernization #ERPsystems #legacyplatforms #ETS #enterprisetransformationspecialists

Question 8 of 10: Is it safe to modernize my IBM i without a deep understanding of my applications?

Current Blog Series: Answers to the top 10 Questions CIOs face when considering an IBM i Digital Transformation Project

We recently launched a new blog series. Over the next couple of months, we will be discussing the Top 10 questions CIOs face when considering the Digital Transformation of their IBM i application portfolio. Following is the eighth in the ten-part series.

Question 8: Is it safe for me to launch an IBM i transformation project without a deep understanding of my application portfolio?

If you have been following this blog series, it should be quite clear to you that as CIO of your organization, it is up to you to deliver meaningful digital transformation of your legacy IBM i application portfolio. The clock is ticking. Every day that your critical applications remain on the IBM i, you fall further behind your competitors who use modern technology to run their daily operations.

Though you feel the pressure of this urgent strategic imperative, there is no technology available today that ensures safe, easy, and effective digital transformation.

Today's major tech vendors have built powerful emerging technology and cloud platforms that promise exponentially better, more intuitive, and efficient strategic business intelligence. The potential of these technologies is quite compelling considering today's demand on CIOs to support their remote workforce and enable their organization to compete effectively in the post-pandemic economy. Yet, until their organization's critical legacy systems are migrated to a modern platform and their most meaningful operational data is fully integrated with emerging technologies, they cannot reap the benefits of those promises.

Unfortunately, these tech vendors offer no assistance as you cross the chasm from legacy platforms to the cloud and emerging technologies. They have no innovative solution to identify and protect your critical system functionality as you journey to digital transformation.

These tech companies focus exclusively on future capabilities available once your legacy systems are modernized. This leaves you with the task of determining how to protect your greatest corporate asset, your critical application functionality. You have the enormous responsibility of either replacing, rewriting, or migrating your core applications, and you must do so without risking daily operational capability. Bottom line: As CIO, the responsibility for the digital transformation of your legacy systems falls squarely on your shoulders.

Do not fall victim to the siren song of the cloud and emerging technology vendors who promise the world but cannot protect you from the shipwreck of failed critical systems.

If yours is like most IBM i organizations, you have invested decades and millions of dollars developing and maintaining the application portfolio that supports your daily operations. While legacy systems are not glamorous, slick, or modern, they are critical to your business and should not be dismissed. The vital role these systems play in supporting your business must be acknowledged, and significant resources must be focused on transforming them.

Legacy IBM i applications are large, monolithic, and complex by design. Without access to legacy application experts or up-to-date documentation, there is little or no visibility into your system's functionality. Few IBM i shops have access to the original authors of their system or complete, accurate documentation.

There is no way to transform your IBM i application portfolio safely and effectively without understanding the business rules and functionality locked deep in the monolithic system. If you don't know what your system does today, how can you ensure that your new system will provide the essential functionality required to support your daily operations in the future?

Fortunately, visualization technology exists today, such as that of ETS, which clearly shows how legacy systems are organized, where assets are reused across systems and subsystems, and identifies assets no longer used. This technology provides you with a clear understanding of your essential legacy applications' structure, including interfaces and dependencies within systems.

This comprehensive understanding of your legacy systems is an essential prerequisite to developing a clear path forward. Do not initiate an IBM i digital transformation initiative without it.

#CIOs #digitaltransformation #criticalinfrastructure #migration #modernization #ETS #enterprisetransformationspecialists #legacyplatforms #enterprisetechnology