by Michel Mouchon, Business Line Manager DevOps & Alan Ashley, Solution Architect
When we talk about application modernization and knowledge sharing, Legacy Modernization Tools are only part of the story. It’s really about trust – trust in your code, in your processes, and above all, trust that nothing will break along the way.
1. Legacy Modernization Tools:
Transformer Microservices and DISCOVER
Transformer Microservices: Modernize Safely Without Breaking What Works
Every customer faces the same challenge: a massive application landscape made up of programs that work perfectly… yet are increasingly difficult to evolve and connect with today’s digital world.
With Transformer Microservices, our goal is clear: to generate productivity in the modernization process while minimizing risk.
The tool first audits the risks linked to change, then guides the developer step by step:
- Extracting business rules and code,
- Automatically creating procedures, modules, and service programs,
- Verifying results with ARCAD Verifier to ensure zero regression,
- Deploying as web services – ready to be consumed by your modern applications, including low-code platforms like Mendix.
Practical example: In just ten minutes, we demonstrated how an RPG function can become a web service – without disrupting the existing application.
DISCOVER: Unlock Knowledge and Functional Understanding with AI
Modernizing code is only part of the story. The other major challenge is knowledge. Your applications hold decades of accumulated expertise – often trapped in RPG or COBOL code, sometimes documented, often forgotten.
That’s where DISCOVER comes in: our powerful solution built on decades of metadata experience, now enhanced by AI.
- Code explanation in natural language: A Python or Java developer can instantly understand what an RPG program does.
- Data lineage: Trace the impact of a field, a variable, or a calculation throughout your system – or find the business rule behind a value displayed on screen or stored in a database.
- Intuitive navigation: Visualize flows, dependencies, and functional impacts effortlessly.
- Automated documentation: Export to Confluence (or markdown in Git) to capture and share knowledge.
And the feature we’re most excited about, the automated generation of the functional tree. Thanks to AI, DISCOVER rebuilds a functional view of your application – customers, items, countries, and more – even when naming conventions have long since disappeared.
2. AI as a catalyst for collaboration
AI isn’t just a tool for developers. It empowers business analysts, support teams, testers, and even technical writers to find the answers they need – without always depending on development.
In short, DISCOVER opens up the code to everyone. Whether an application is 30 years old or brand new, DISCOVER makes it readable, understandable, and actionable.
3. From technical to functional: a generational leap
We started with technical modernization through Transformer Microservices. Today, we’ve reached full functional understanding of your applications with DISCOVER and its AI.
This is what we call “Mastering the Flow”:
- The flow from code to modern services,
- The flow of data across your applications,
- And most importantly, the flow of knowledge that finally moves freely throughout your organization.
And that — that’s a true generational shift.
Michel Mouchon
Business Line Manager DevOps
Technical Director at ARCAD Software since 2000, Michel Mouchon plays a key role in the company’s technical strategy and coordination of R&D, engineering, and consulting teams. As a DevOps expert, he focuses on modernizing applications, methods, and tools. Holding dual degrees in electronics and software engineering, Michel has versatile IT skills. His communication talent and expertise are widely recognized within the international IBM i community.
Alan Ashley
Solution Architect, ARCAD Software
Alan has been in support and promotion of the IBM i platform for over 30 years and is the Presales Consultant for DevOps on IBM i role with ARCAD Software. Prior to joining ARCAD Software, he spent many years in multiple roles within IBM from supporting customers through HA to DR to Application promotion to migrations of the IBM i to the cloud. In those roles, he saw first hand the pains many have with Application Lifecycle Management, modernization, and data protection. His passion in those areas fits right in with the ARCAD suite of products.
REQUEST A DEMO
Let’s talk about your project!
Speak with an expert