As IT Manager/VP IT, my role is to drive innovation while ensuring the stability and continuity of my core systems.
Project Description
Arkansas Electric improves productivity over 50%
using ARCAD Transformer to convert to Free Form RPG
The Customer
Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC) was created in 1949 to provide Arkansas’ electric cooperatives with a reliable and affordable power supply. Based in Little Rock, AECC is now one of the top generation and transmission cooperatives in the nation with assets of about $1.8 billion and annual energy sales of about $767 million. It provides reasonably priced wholesale electricity to the state’s 17 electric distribution cooperatives.
Context
Kody Robinson, a 2014 graduate and developer in the business financial systems (BFS) department, led the effort, and later that year AECC adopted ARCAD Transformer RPG (aka ARCAD RPG Converter for IBM i) to automate the conversion to Free Form. With a 20-year age difference between Kody and other developers, the team found the knowledge exchange highly beneficial, combining strong business experience and the latest technology standards. Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC) run their business software on the IBM i platform, developed in RPG, CL, SQL, and PHP. As part of a modernization initiative, AECC took the decision to move to Free Format RPG code, to reduce the learning curve for new developers, improve developer productivity and encourage code modularity.
Solution
ARCAD Transformer RPG (aka ARCAD RPG Converter for IBM i) is used not only for conversion but as a learning tool. Compared with the old fixed format coding, AECC found ARCAD Transformer RPG has increased productivity by over 50%.
Case Study Highlights
- Company: Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp.
- Industry: Electricity
- Characteristics: IBM i team with young and senior developers
- Challenge: Needed to modernize RPG source code to bring new graduates on board and improve productivity
- Solutions: ARCAD-Transformer RPG (aka ARCAD RPG Converter for IBM i) for conversion to Free Form RPG
Before ARCAD-Transformer RPG, I would spent half my day trying to figure out how to do something in Free Format which was frustrating. I have found that my productivity has increased by at least 50 percent.