Introduction to Legacy Modernization

A lot has been written on legacy modernization in the past few years. Most of the books, analyst reports, and white papers discuss at a high level why one should modernize and theorize, and the different approaches to, and possible outcomes of modernization. Instead of going into modernization theory, we will quickly dive into the details of two very well known modernization approaches: SOA Enablement and Re­architect. There will be a specific focus on modernization to Open Systems taking advantage of the Oracle technology stack, which can provide mainframe quality of service while delivering the agility of a modern architecture simultaneously. We will uncover a specific set of tools and show the process from end­to­end.

We will take an agnostic perspective of hardware and operating systems as most of these have proven to be capable of handling the reliability, scalability, and performance of a mainframe system. In fact, at the time of this writing, the current records for transactions per second have been delivered with Oracle on Intel­based servers.

For most organizations, the ideal solution would be to re­architect everything since re­architecting yields the most modernized environment the environment that makes the best use of modern technology, is the most agile when it comes to change, and relies no longer on legacy skill sets.

Although such a big bang scenario is technically feasible, in reality, it is difficult and risky for any organization to accomplish this in a single re­architecting step no matter how desirable the outcome. Most organizations would view such a big bang approach as putting their entire organization at risk. As a result, they take several intermediate steps. The following chapters show several options that could be considered in order to break down the modernization problem into byte­sized chunks all the while delivering the final goal of achieving a process­driven SOA architecture based on J2EE. Additionally, these intermediate steps of SOA enablement will yield measurable ROI and benefit.

What We Won't Cover

Before we begin our path to modernization, let's take some time to talk about the things that we will not cover in this book. The main focus of this book is a practical application of how to modernize a legacy application using two specific techniques. We won't cover topics such as marketplace, methodologies, and estimation techniques.

Methodology and Estimation

Countless books have been written on application development methodology. Every system integrator/programming shop within a large company or technology group has a general development methodology, be it waterfall, agile, or eXtreme programming. The techniques in this book can fit any given protocol. Estimation is a bit different and varies from system to system and with the choice of the modernization option. It can depend upon factors such as target language, tools, and the level of automation you are employing. If someone tries to sell you a solution based on the line of code or function point counts and complexity, you can pretty much throw that out of the window. Function point analysis is a great tool for understanding the complexity of the source code and can drive estimation, but there is certainly no general formula for how long a modernization will take, or how much it will cost. Another book can be written on this subject.

The Modernization Marketplace and Why Modernize

If you are reading this book, then we will assume that application modernization is a necessity for you. You are looking at "how to modernize" rather than "why modernize". Further, much market research has been done on this subject. Countless presentations, white papers, and events are actively being conducted on this subject.

The largest and best of breed systems integrators of the world have practices built solely around the modernization market. There are several reasons that drive a legacy modernization project. High costs, lack of agility, an aging technology workforce are just some of the reasons for modernization. Sometimes the motivation to modernize is driven from the business, at other times it is pure technology play. The reasons are many, and the final decision to embark on this effort depends on each organization. Again, much material is being developed on this subject and is not the topic of this book.

The Oracle Modernization Alliance (OMA) is an effort by Oracle to bring together the best of breed partners and products to enable modernization to open systems. This is truly an emerging field both for companies considering modernization, and for the companies working to provide those technologies. The OMA is a resource to help customers identify the best path to modernization. The following is a table of some key resources that you can have access to from Oracle around modernization. In addition, we will list some key alliances that Oracle has in the modernization space. Here, you will find abundant market research, white papers, and links to key contacts for getting engaged on a modernization initiative.

Oracle Modernization Alliance resources are as follows:

• Oracle Modernization Alliance (http://www.oracle.com/goto/oma)
• Oracle Modernization Blog (xttp://blogs.oracle.com/jblog)
• Application Modernization Initiative (AMI) Oracle/HP/Intel
  (http://www.hp.com/go/ami)
• Oracle Migration Technology Center
  (http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/migration)
• Oracle Migration Knowledgebase (http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/migration/kb)

Oracle works with many global systems integrators who focus on legacy modernization. The following is a list of the current system integrators that are apart of the Oracle Modernization Alliance.

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