BS2000/OSD Mainframe Migrations

BS2000/OSD Mainframe Migrations

Astadia’s automated BS2000/OSD migration is the solution organizations need to optimally reuse existing applications when migrating to Linux, UNIX, or Windows. The BS2000/OSD mainframe has many unique features not found on other systems, and the Astadia migration leverages the strengths of this architecture to produce functionally-equivalent target applications that can be easily maintained by the original developers.

Furthermore, the migrated application is constructed from leading enterprise technology from Oracle, Microsoft, and Open Source so can be cost-effectively integrated into the most modern datacenters.

Solution Highlights

Astadia’s BS2000/OSD mainframe migrations is a versatile solution providing existing BS2000/OSD customers the option to completely migrate their applications to UNIX, Linux or Windows platforms.

This is an all-in approach that covers all BS2000/OSD technologies: starting from the core data stores, over the 3GL and 4GL programming environments, including their transaction processing and screen handling systems, all the way to the JCL and utilities steering batch operations.

Native Technologies / No Emulation

After the migration,  organizations will be able to provide their core applications with new capabilities, while granting access to exciting opportunities, such as the use of Cloud, DevOps, CI/CD.

By doing this, it is ensured that migrated applications use technologies that are widely recognized and accepted as native on the chosen target platform, instead of choosing to emulate the source platform technologies on another platform.

Whenever the functional equivalence promise requires introducing components into the migrated application that could be perceived as non-native on the target platform, a clear modernization path is offered to eliminate these components for good.

Target Technologies

At Astadia, we are always looking to implement new alternatives, both on request by our customers or because we feel they make sense from an understanding of the general software industry.

Here is an overview of the most prominent technology mappings covered by our BS2000/OSD mainframe migration solution:

‍

Batch Processing

Batch tasks and jobs are replaced by processes on the target platform. While the BS2000/OSD provides extra support for tasks through “task IDs” and “task switches”, the notion of a “task” does not exist on Linux, Unix, and Windows. The solution provides the full scope of OSD support for tasks and other runtime features through its batch compatibility framework.

JCLs and the ISP and SDF commands they contain are converted to an appropriate scripting language on the target platform, such as Perl. One-to-one conversions to native scripting can help ease the transition of BS2000/OSD developers and operators to the new platform while offering an open environment from which to modernize these jobs or shorten the daily batch execution window.

Astadia also provides its own BS2000/OSD "Console" for open systems, offering more control and better monitoring of converted batch programs. For jobs started via an operator command, an interactive shell launch or a console message can be used. For replacing batch schedulers like AVAS™ or UC4™,BS2000 customers have a range of leading commercial products on open systems from which to choose.

Online Transaction Processing

The BS2000/OSD migration supports integration with Fujitsu’s Open UTM product on open systems or, alternatively, the lightweight TP server functionality developed by Astadia.

Users have the choice to keep their 9750 and 9763 terminal emulators after the migration or replace them with rich clients based on .Net or Java technology. UPIC and BeanConnect clients can also be retained or migrated to web services.

Automated Testing

A key factor of successful migration projects is making sure that the migrated system is ready for production. At Astadia, this is done through extensive and repeated testing cycles.

DataMatch and TestMatch are the core of the Astadia automated testing offering for mainframe migration projects. They were built to reduce the time and effort needed to complete this crucial testing phase:

• TestMatch eliminates the need to manually create test scenarios for the complete application
• DataMatch enables quasi automatic testing of batch jobs
• Both limit the end-user involvement in the project for acceptance testing.

‍

Additional Resources

TestMatch Fact Sheet

DataMatch Fact Sheet ‍

‍

Visit our Case Studies to see how we use automated migration and testing tools to help organizations accelerate digital transformation.