| SIS Systems AG |
The Situation:
SIS Systems AG, a 100-percent subsidiary of SIS Swiss Financial Services Group AG, has around 100 employees and its headquarters are located in Zurich/Olten. It supplies extensive computing and logistic services to the group’s companies, including IT strategy planning and application development. Facility, service and account management are also some of the company’s core competencies. Over 110 users work with the Computer Based Depository (CBD) and individual storage (EVA) applications. These apps contain around 3,900 PFs, LFs and PGMs, as well as 500 DSPs and 170 panel groups or help panels. For hardware, SIS Systems AG had been using System i 520 in the past (for development, tests and backups) and System i 810 for production.
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| In June of 2006, the corporate board of SIS Swiss Financial Services Group AG decided that the System i platform was to be replaced by the end of 2007, as the company wanted to strategically consolidate the mainframes and Sun Solaris. |
| To begin with, the following objectives were defined for the CBD and EVA applications, which had been developed with the code generator Allfusion2E (previously known as Synon) on the System i platform: |
- A migration solution for one of the two strategic platforms had to be found which was as little invasive as possible in order to keep the risks of such a transition to a minimum.
- The chosen migration solution had to allow inexpensive and simple maintenance.
- Switching platforms had to be done securely and quickly with the corresponding tools and external support so that error sources could be ruled out and the team from SIS Systems was not over-burdened with time-consuming extra work.
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The Solution:
In view of these objectives, Mr. Jean-Pierre Groner, Head of Strategic Projects at SIS Systems, had a closer look at companies that handle such projects and the tools that they offer. After making a pre-selection based on testimonials relayed in discussions with other customers of the various vendors, two suppliers were awarded the bid for a proof of concept. The results attained by the Ravensburg-based software hotbed PKS with its AX/are migration tool OOC were the most convincing in terms of concept and professionalism. And the chemistry between the members of the project team was great—a factor that shouldn’t be underestimated in such complex projects. PKS was thus contracted to carry out the project.
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| A procedure was devised for the migration of the CBD and EVA applications: |
- The Allfusion 2E model was to remain in System i and would not be migrated
- The Cobol/RPG programs generated from Allfusion2E were to be migrated to the UNIX target platform (to C/C++) with the AX/ware migration tool OCC, where they would continue to be run.
- The user frontend was to remain just the way users have always operated it so that expenditures for training could be avoided.
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| The following task areas were then derived from this general framework: |
- Installation of the application in the test system on Sun Solaris/Oracle by PKS.
- Complete migration of applications to the target system by PKS (FIPS or dedicated UNIX environment). (From this point on there was a code freeze up until the project’s completion).
- User testing by SIS employees from various departments.
- Training of SIS Systems’ developer team in the further development of CBD and EVA in AX/ware by PKS.
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Benefits: |
- The PKS concept for a minimally invasive migration to UNIX with the AX/ware migration tools 400 OCC made it possible to carry out the project within just nine months—including all test phases.
- The costs saved through the inexpensive maintenance terms for the target platform took hold immediately and the project paid itself off in the second year of use already.
- Because hardly anything changed for the users in terms of usability and performance, the acceptance of the migrated solution has been great ever since day one.
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The customer:
“It was always a pleasant experience working with the people from PKS. The support we received at every stage of the project was highly professional. The installation of the tool was easy and it worked without a hitch. All in all, we are very satisfied.”
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Mr. Jean-Pierre Groner,
Head of Strategic Projects, SIS Systems AG |
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