Modern Systems (NASDAQ: MDSY) announced completion of a successful project with its new Rapid Program Modernization (eavRPM™) software. The eavRPM™ technology architecturally transforms legacy applications, enabling faster feature development and reducing time-to-market for critical software updates.

Working with Modern Systems, the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) leveraged eavRPM™ to transform its Student Information System from Software AG’s Natural syntax to a modern application leveraging C# and SQL Server. The newly modernized system enabled UCSB to leverage agile development methods and more extensive application integration.

“The core system that was originally intended for internal use needed to provide more self-service capabilities to students, staff, and faculty including web-based and mobile access,” says Lubomir Bojilov, Chief Technology Officer and Student Information Systems and Technology Executive Director at UCSB.

The university, seeking to leverage service-oriented architecture (SOA), replaced the software that had connected the mainframe application to web servers with a Windows Communication Foundation interface.

“Our student information system went live on the Microsoft platform over a holiday weekend, and no one noticed that we had made a conversion,” James Kinneavy, Associate Director for Enterprise Architecture and Technologies says. “There was no disruption in service, and we have tens of thousands of users.”

“This technology will have great impact for customers with COBOL or Natural applications,” says Rick Oppedisano, Modern Systems Vice-President of Product and Marketing. “eavRPM™ enables companies to take advantage of integration, cloud deployment and more while maintaining the business value of the legacy system.”

How It Works

eavRPM™ empowers developers to drag and drop functionality from the source system into the target environment and seamlessly translate the new procedures into C# or Java. Source codebases can be either COBOL or Software AG’s Natural syntax.

Because eavRPM™ generates native C# or Java solutions, it is able to generate true C# objects that are delivered to Visual Studio as a project, or object-based Java applications that are delivered to your Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of choice. No additional tools are required.

Modernization using eavRPM™ can be performed as a service by Modern Systems or by your in-house development team using eavRPM™ licenses. eavRPM™ delivers:

• Native web applications with no middleware, no black boxes, and no ongoing license fees
• Proven business rules with a brand new user interface, continued keyboard features with new mouse-driven and scrollable features, and much lower operating costs
• Transformation to modern object-oriented structures, opening the door for agile development methodologies such as SCRUM and DevOps

Cited as a “Cool Tool” by Gartner, the eavRPM™ framework’s automated scanning for application understanding speeds analysis for migrations and improves quality, while saving up to two-thirds of the cost of manual efforts.

Enabling DevOps for Legacy Systems
Agile and continuous integration and release are the outputs of Development, which are the inputs into IT Operations. In order to accommodate the faster release cadence associated with DevOps, many areas of the ITIL processes require automation, specifically around the change, configuration and release processes that are difficult to achieve with procedural languages and centralized IT architectures.

Aligning a distributed architecture with object-oriented code produced through eavRPM™ empowers companies to embrace DevOps for core applications throughout the business. According to a recent study by Vanson Bourne, companies embracing DevOps have experienced anywhere from a 17 to 23 percent improvement in business in the form of increased revenue, faster time-to-market, improved competitive positioning and enhanced customer experience.

About Modern Systems Corporation
Modern Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: MDSY) is a leading provider of legacy modernization services. The Modern Systems portfolio includes a comprehensive suite of tools and services that modernize legacy applications and databases incrementally or all at once.

Modern Systems technologies can be applied to source applications and databases leveraging COBOL, Natural Adabas, IDMS, CA GEN and more. The modernized environments can leverage Java, C#, SQL Server, Oracle Database, IBM DB2 and virtual infrastructure to deliver identical or better functionality and performance. Modern Systems customers come from diverse industries and vertical markets such as automotive, banking and financial services, insurance, manufacturing, and retail. The company delivers services worldwide through offices in the USA, the UK, Italy, Romania, and Israel.