Why do we need legacy application discovery 

IBMi (AS400) applications are developed over the years, and they are tightly coupled monolithic applications that are complex in nature. It is difficult to understand the application’s legacy code and architecture such as module interdependency, complexity, code spread, duplicity, DB dependency etc.

For any modernization program to start, the primary objective is to accurately understand the scope, size, and scale of the current legacy platform. Only then, it’s possible to provide a suitable modernization solution to the client along with an overall time and cost Estimation.

Though application SMEs, business owners and other stakeholders can help understand high-level application’s characteristics, however, this information can never be enough to draw a complete modernization roadmap. One needs to extract hidden information from application’s inventory, by doing in-depth application inventory analysis and due diligence, which is formally known as Application Discovery phase.

Application Discovery phase is very time critical and is the basis of complete modernization project. Doing manual analysis of application discovery could be a time & resource consuming exercise and it is prone to multiple human errors. Any error during this process can be fatal and risky for the overall modernization program.

Automate and fast track application discovery process – using Infosys AD-Tool

Infosys recommends using automated tool-based application analysis since it is quicker, less error-prone, and provides a detailed picture of the application inventory to determine the most appropriate modernization option.

Currently there are very limited tools in the global market (especially in IBMi (AS400) area), which gives such comprehensive inventory analysis capability apart from few vendors, with whom Infosys has partnered already. However, vendor tools are generally not cost-effective and doesn’t support various IBMi programming languages.

While working on large modernization deals, we realized the need to have a strong application analysis tool, which can give the detailed insights for the IBMi application during the discovery phase. This is when we built Infosys Application Discovery Tool (AD-Tool).

Key Features of Infosys Application Discovery Tool (AD-Tool)

Infosys Application Discovery Tool (AD-Tool) is built to automatically analyze and extract the basic inventory details from the IBMi application and validate the accuracy of the information provided. It is compatible with wide variety of IBMi applications and is very flexible, as it can be customized to handle any kind of IBMi application.

This toolset will have following features to support today’s IBMi modernization need:

• Inventory identification and extraction – Identifies complete application inventory with all sources, tables, objects etc. to baseline Inventory for analysis.
  • Inventory baseline report
  • Missing components report
  • Unreferred components report
  • Unresolved components report
  • Unused & inactive components report
• Static source analysis – Analyzes baselined inventory to extract required information such as code spread, LOC, code complexity, duplicate code etc. to get application insights
  • Components dependency report
  • Code complexity report
  • Duplicate code report (Code compare report)
  • Interface identification report
  • CRUD report (for database components)
• Decoupling & Interface – Identifies interface to your application boundary along with program flow chart to take you through the application flow from the point of interface
  • Decoupled components report
  • Integration touchpoints report
• Batch job analysis– Identifies application batch jobs, it’s driver program and complete program flow to extract batch information
  • Job analysis report
  • Batch trigger programs report
  • Unused jobs reports
• Multiple language support – Supports multiple IBMi languages such as RPG, COBOL, SYNON etc.
• Impact analysis – Identifies dependent programs and tables to reduce complete impact once the application is modernized.
• Ongoing feature enhancements:
  • Database migration:
    • Database metadata extraction
    • Database reconciliation and validation
  • Synon Case tool support:
    • • Synon LOC calculator
      • Synon Action Diagram analyzer

• • Integration with Infosys Mainframe Modernization platform

Why choose Infosys Application Discovery tool (AD-Tool)?

Infosys Application Discovery tool (AD-Tool) is a robust AS400 Inventory analysis tool having the following benefits:

• Automate the discovery phase of a project
• Detailed inventory insights into the AS400 current state application
• Decouple the overall AS400 inventory and align it with functional domains
• Accuracy of the application insights and minimize probability of missing information
• Reduction in average time to extract application information
• Remove dependency from external vendors and their tools to extract application insights
• No need to purchase/install multiple tools to support various AS400 programming languages
• Increased cost savings, as no dependency on external vendor tools
• Seamless integration with Infosys ART Framework to provide best suitable modernization solution and roadmap for the IBMi application

Additionally, AD-Tool reports help to define the scope of the modernization program at the inventory level and plan the program as per the agile-based phased approach.

The benefits of AD-tool are not limited with IBMi modernization projects alone, rather it further extends to all IBMi application development and maintenance projects.

Where we’ve implemented Infosys Application Discovery Tool (AD-Tool)

Over the last five years, AD-tool has been successfully implemented across multiple client’s AS400 applications. Listed below are few key success stories:

Conclusion

Legacy applications are written over decades and client’s are often uncertain about the actual size and scale of it, hence making the application discovery phase a crucial stepping stone for any application modernization journey to start.

An accurate understanding of legacy application and it’s inventory will help to precisely estimate and plan for any modernization project. The Infosys Application Discovery Tool (AD-Tool) provides great deal of detailed insights to IBMi applications.

Kickstarting a large modernization journey, estimating and determining the ROI for any large program has always been a challenge for many of our clients. Infosys helped these clients overcome this challenge to successfully embark their modernization journey.

Should you wish to modernize, or assess your legacy application, we’ve the right approach for you.

For more information on conducting application assessments & proof of concepts, please visit Mainframe Modernization or email us at modernization@infosys.com

About the Author

Manish Aggarwal is a principal consultant with Modernization Practice. Manish has over 15 years of experience in legacy modernization, RFPs, client consulting, application modernization & migration, design & development and performance engineering for IBMi (AS400) systems.