Veryant, a COBOL-to-Java vendor, has released vCOBOL Enterprise, a platform to migrate legacy COBOL applications off IBM mainframes. vCOBOL includes an optimized compiler and COBOL-to-Java runtime technology.
"vCOBOL software's strong compatibility with legacy COBOL dialects, combined with the ability to natively call COBOL programs directly from Java it enables, makes the technology a natural choice for mainframe modernization initiatives," Dovid Lubin, vice president of technical operations for Veryant, tells 5 Minute Briefing.
vCOBOL Enterprise supports transitions from the mainframe to UNIX, Linux, and Microsoft Windows systems by preserving the business logic developed in long-standing COBOL programs. With vCOBOL Enterprise, Veryant says it has shifted much of the heavy lifting of operational analysis and execution instructions typically performed by alternative COBOL platforms during runtime, into the highly efficient vCOBOL Compiler. This approach significantly improves critical runtime performance commonly associated with mainframe IBM CICS and IMS transactions, CA IDMS workloads, and batch environments that are re-platformed to open systems.
vCOBOL complements Veryant's current isCOBOL technology, which employs an ANSI-compliant compiler to translate COBOL source code into Java classes and fosters ongoing COBOL application maintenance and modernization. While isCOBOL provides a highly portable and easily extensible alternative for distributed COBOL applications running on platforms such as Micro Focus ACUCOBOL-GT and RM/COBOL, vCOBOL provides a cost-effective, high-performance alternative for mainframe-based COBOL applications.
"vCOBOL primarily targets mainframe COBOL workloads that are migrating to open systems - Linux, UNIX, Windows," Dovid Lubin, vice president of technical operations for Veryant, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "With vCOBOL, COBOL programs that were processing CICS, IMS, batch or similar workloads on the mainframe are typically rehosted to run in an alternative system such as UniKix Mainframe Rehosting software from Clerity or a Java Application Server environment such as JBoss. isCOBOL primarily addresses COBOL applications that were initially developed for open systems, often as standalone applications with their own user interfaces."
vCOBOL technology makes optimal use of memory access and is tightly integrated with Clerity's UniKix Mainframe Rehosting software. The Java-based runtime environment of vCOBOL takes full advantage of 32-bit and 64-bit architectures and enables programmers to natively call legacy COBOL programs from Java Servlets, Web Services, Enterprise JavaBeans, or any other Java program, offering an opportunity for ongoing application modernization. For more information, go here.