IBM i Application Modernization:
Why and how to start?

Typically legacy applications remain in production for a long time, undergoing major changes and relying on different technologies, making it difficult to understand the code. Unfortunately many IBM i modernization projects start only after there has been a serious business impact caused by the failure of a legacy application. Too often, the analysis of the costs and risks involved in modernizing applications concludes with: ‘if it isn’t broken, let’s not fix it’. But skipping this step only delays the cost (“technical debt”) in development. Isn’t it better to proceed with a series of small but regular evolutions rather than a revolution? A system that does not evolve will necessarily lead to a revolution one day, because the world does not wait to evolve quickly.

Convinced that it is necessary to replace your legacy platform? We have all dreamed at some point or another of having a cutting-edge information system, always flexible to their changing business needs and, in this, a major contributor to their performance. Shouldn’t we move forward and reinvest in what already exists instead of replacing everything? Ask yourself this question in all sincerity while reading our article “Legacy modernization: 10 preconceptions to urgently dispel“. The temptation to migrate to another platform is understandable… but is it truly justified? To help guide your thinking, read our in-depth analysis« Avoiding the pitfalls of legacy application migration [There is another way] »

Legacy: stronger than ever

Legacy systems have shown their incredible resilience and ability to provide outstanding competitive advantage to leading businesses. It is important to note that despite the myriad of emerging technologies revolving around them, it is these “good old” and trusted systems that continue to keep the entire global economy running smoothly and securely. Discover the strengths of this system through our article “Legacy” will never die!. Interested in learning how IBM i is an efficient and resilient platform for modern business workloads? Download our White Paper and learn more about one of the industry’s leading integrated operating environments.

Modernization = rewriting everything in Java? Think again.

The typical reaction of any company looking to modernize its applications is to rewrite everything in Java, a universal and far more portable language than RPG. Looked at from the outside, this choice is not surprising. You could easily believe that a rewrite in Java would address two burning issues: preparing you for an exit from the IBM i platform at some time in the future and providing an easy answer to the RPG skill shortage. However, if you look more closely, it is clear that each language has been conceived from the outset for a specific technological environment. Can RPG Free Form and Java languages coexist to get the “best of both worlds”? In our article RPG Free Form vs. Java: nothing compares we discuss two languages that everything opposes.

Digital transformation has become a major focus for companies and project times have decreased. DevOps and agile technology initiatives have taken precedence in a year where most companies have fewer resources and less budget to operate with. Legacy IBM i application modernization is a key component of digital transformation and optimization. Discover new opportunities to modernize IBM i applications in the new economy in our White Paper. Let’s explore the latest innovations in IBM i modernization in our exclusive webinar What’s New in IBM i Modernization?.

Discover the three steps to implement an IBM i modernization strategy by reading our article Modernize your IBM i in 3 steps. It is not so difficult, follow the roadmap in our article Modernization process, application modernization roadmap.

How can you ensure your IBM i (AS400) applications remain robust, stable, and reliable? How can you modernize them for better maintainability? Accelerate and simplify the analysis of your IBM i application portfolio with AI-assisted technology:

• Get a clear, graphical, and interactive map of your applications,
• Quickly identify critical areas and obsolete code,
• Make fact-based decisions to guide your modernization strategy,
• Simplify onboarding for new team members with automatically generated documentation.

Discover how AI helps you better understand your IBM i applications in these articles:

• Automated Retro-documentation: Artificial Intelligence for your IBM i Applications

• Functional mapping of IBM i applications with Artificial Intelligence!

Want to leverage AI to accelerate and secure your modernization project? Download our white paper: « AI Integration into IBM i Application Modernization ».

See AI in action in the automated analysis of IBM i applications by watching our webinar: « Unlocking IBM i Application Insights with AI ».

Successful IBM i application modernization projects are those that find the right balance between IT and business objectives. Whatever the reason for a modernization project for a legacy system like IBM i, it is important to identify some key points for the success of the project:

• Obtain backing from general management
• Define an overall modernization roadmap
• Involve staff early, to include all impacted parties
• Secure through automation
• Test for non-regression

Find all the details of these 5 key steps to a successful modernization of your IBM i applications in our article 5 keys to IBM i Modernization Success. You can also explore them in our article “5 steps to successful modernization of IBM i systems”.

3 aspects are essential for a successful modernization:

• Tools – automated conversion helps minimize project risk
• Process – a DevOps framework secures parallel development for an easy merge of changes
• People – managing change in teams is vital to modernization success

Discover these 3 dimensions with our Webinar – 3 keys to IBM i modernization success: Tools, Process, People

Do you want achieve a ‘full stack’ modernization of your IB M i application? Convert your source code and database to a modern language? Create Web services from your existing code? Créer des services Web à partir de votre code existant ? Discover ARCAD for IBM i Modernization!

To learn more about modernization for each of these layers, watch our webinar IBM i modernization step by step – database, code, user interface.

A key step in modernizing IBM applications is to convert your DDS files into standard DDL (SQL) tables and views, improving performance to facilitate the understanding for any developer.

As databases begin to age, so does their source code. Rebuilding a database often requires modification to the database at the field level, which can have all sorts of undesirable consequences if not executed with the greatest care. When a modification requires the extension of a field or a change in field type, a potential impact must be considered in the source code. This process is time consuming and potentially error prone when conducted manually. Are you concerned? Read our article on the Impact of Database changes on your IBM i source code or watch our webinar Expanding a field on IBM i in a quarter of time.

If you keep your existing code as it is, you definitely need to find a good expert with many years of experience in this really “exotic” language that has not been taught at school for several decades now. But what if you used a “translator”? Read our article RPG Free Form: Why is it so important for you? A poor quality code can make your application difficult to modernize. Discover the Continuous Quality by watching our webinar Continuous Quality checking for your RPG code or our webinar Check IBM i code quality automatically.

As well as a critical shortage of Synon skills, applications developed in the 4GL environment are unable to access many key technology advances in the IBM i o/s; and though a leader in its day, the Synon CASE tool is incompatible with modern DevOps and concurrent development. In the following webinar, find out a risk-Free migration from Synon CA 2E to fully modern application. Do you want to automatically convert near 100% of your CA 2E Synon application to RPG Free Form? Watch our webinar Convert from CA 2E Synon to RPG Free Form, with near 100% accuracy. Want to go further? Explore how to support Synon developers in transitioning to RPG Free Form.

Looking to leverage your legacy code to move toward a modern architecture? Discover how to transform a complex monolith into agile services in our podcast or in this article —and how ARCAD Transformer Microservices can help you decouple your IBM i applications and open your systems to modern technologies. Considering a microservices architecture on IBM i but not sure where to start? Learn about the benefits, prerequisites, and key steps to get there. To see how to automate the modernization of your RPG code toward a service-oriented architecture, watch our webinar.

Automating your modernization project not only reduces its complexity and duration but also protects you from bugs and manual error, limits the risks of regression and, more importantly, guarantees the reliability of your application.

Transform your IBM i applications end-to-end from the database to the user interface, including the source code. Launch a complete transformation with our ARCAD for IBM i Modernization solution.

Entrust us with your modernization project! Modernize faster and with less effort for your in-house teams. In collaboration with our partner IBM, our professional team offers you modernization as a service (MaaS). Together we’ll future-proof your code and safeguard its security and reliability.

Don’t delay, discover our ARCAD MaaS service ! Discover more in our White Paper “IBM i Modernization as a Service” or in our datasheet “ARCAD MaaS”. Looking to modernize your RPG code with peace of mind, without mobilizing your internal resources? Read our article on the MaaS approach: RPG Free Form Modernization: Embrace the as-a-Service Model. Also discover the results of the evaluation conducted by IBM Lab Services, along with the success story of GEODIS, which successfully converted its critical SYNON application to RPG Free Form using ARCAD MaaS.

Microservices, containers, hybrid cloud, CI/CD, DevOps. The list of these “buzzwords” goes on and on. You’ve probably heard a lot of about them recently, especially with all these virtual events taking place the last few years. You’ve also been told you need to use these technologies to modernize your IBM i applications. But how do they apply to your existing RPG-based business applications? And how and where do you get started? Maybe you need the help of a wizard.
That wizard is here. Introducing IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration, or “Merlin” for short. Merlin is a joint solution from IBM and ARCAD to help streamline new next-generation application development on IBM i and automate modernization of existing ones. Read our article A “Wizard” for Application Development and Modernization on IBM i.