How the Midrange Alliance Can Help Customers
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Application Modernization That Makes Sense
Many iSeries ISVs and customers are looking for an application modernization strategy that extends their current investments and offers some protection in the future. One that respects their skills and experience while providing a clear path forward that gives them new and better options. The goal: to deliver applications that will run for years to come, meet business needs around agility, and make the most of the iSeries investments already made.
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Microsoft Windows Server System for the i5/OS & OS/400
In the past, many iSeries users were skeptical about using Windows as an enterprise operating system. But since Windows 2000 Server, and even more so today with Windows Server 2003, it is viewed by many as a robust, stable, and manageable platform with great development tools, easy administration, and low cost. Many iSeries shops now run Windows on servers alongside or inside of their iSeries servers for mission critical applications, such as email, business intelligence, ERP, supply chain, and more. In fact 42% of all mission critical applications run on Windows today, making the it the leader by a 4X margin over its closet competitor (source IDC)
Like i5/OS, the Microsoft Windows platform is a comprehensive, tightly integrated one which has made it the most popular platform for application development. Like OS/400, the Microsoft platform is integrated from the applications on the client to the server. And like the original AS/400, which gave you a single developer environment and a cohesive infrastructure, the result with Microsoft today is the same -- low cost of ownership, easier development, great business agility and simplified administration.
Windows Server System provides the core foundation and all components of it depend on, integrate with, and fully exploit the capabilities of the operating system. This includes such functionality as application integration, database, transaction management, collaboration, systems management and security. One development tool, Visual Studio, is all you need, because it includes support for over 30 languages, including RPG and COBOL. Using third party tools from MAP members such as Computer Associates and LANSA even allows you to write native code for the iSeries. There are also tools from companies such as ASNA, looksoftware, Seagull and Software AG to help you building web services that are designed for iSeries applications.
Just as the various components of the iSeries operating system are tightly integrated and designed to run on one platform, Windows Server System has the same advantage. Both Windows and OS/400 have dependencies to allow tight integration between application products and the underlying operating system to ensure that the components and services work well together and ensure optimal performance and system stability.
The Cohesive Platform
Until the advent of server operating systems such as Novell and Windows NT, most hardware vendors had a custom OS. Because the companies developed both the operating system and the applications, the result was usually greater than the sum of their individual capabilities. The AS/400 and its successor, the iSeries, are examples of when this is done at its best.
Similarly, Microsoft builds both the operating system and the core applications for the Windows Server System so as to create the same kind of synergy but providing it at a much lower cost. Just as OS/400 was the first to combine a database with its operating system – there was no need for a solution from companies like Oracle or Sybase because they could never achieve the same effect that putting DB2/400 below the machine interface layer did -- Microsoft has taken this integration to an even broader level. Functions for collaboration, systems management and so on have become part of the operating system to provide a common architecture that tens of thousands of applications from many vendors can leverage.
One difference is the concept of an application server. The iSeries never required one until WebSphere was ported to run on OS/400, sitting above the machine interface layer. Windows Server 2003 does not require an application server because these kinds of capabilities are included in the OS. This includes a web server, web services support, message queuing, and other services, including the .NET framework.
Options for Application Modernization
You have several ways to move your investment in iSeries applications forward:
1. | Re-platform packaged applications. Many popular iSeries applications, such as Peoplesoft and JD Edwards, have versions of their solutions that run on Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2005. These vendors can show you the benefits and savings that can be realized by re-platforming. |
2. | Retire older applications and replace with new versions. All custom applications eventually reach a point where their value can only be increased through a re-architecture. Using Visual Studio, iSeries shops can build new applications with the leading development platform, ensuring continual business agility. |
3. | Automated migration of existing RPG and COBOL applications. ASNA, ML Software, Computer Associates, Fujitsu, California Software, LANSA and others now offer you a way to move your applications to the .NET platform with automated tools. These tools take your procedural code and help turn it into manageable components, while allowing you to target DB2/400 or SQL Server 2005 as the underlying database. |
4. | Recharge iSeries applications with SQL Server 2005. More and more companies are using SQL Server 2005 and its advanced reporting and analysis capabilities to turn iSeries data into useful information, at a fraction of the cost and time usually required. The best BI solution of your I is from Microsoft! |
The advantages to these approaches are:
| • | A customer-centric orientation first and foremost, rather than a product-centric focus -- you decide what managed steps to take and when to take them. |
| • | A cost-effective approach that addresses user concerns about integration, about extending and transforming applications, and about replacing sunset applications where appropriate. |
| • | Better productivity with Windows Server System and Visual Studio 2005, and at lower cost for software. |
| • | Existing staff skills are respected and leveraged, as are career paths, choices, and preferences. |
| • | A practical path to creating a business advantage in Web services. |
| • | Retaining mission-critical software assets and continue to reap the value of your existing IT investment |
| • | You can use RPG and COBOL as development languages with Visual Studio, as well as Visual Basic, C++ and C#. |