A core process written in COBOL, read, documented, then rewritten in a standard technology.
500,000+lines of code migrated
COBOL migration
COBOL migration: moving off an application nobody can develop any further.
We rewrite it increment by increment, without service interruption, in a technology that your teams — and the market — can take over. Paid on results.
Increment by increment, one at a time
Without service interruption
Paid on results
Sovereign EU deliveryCII accreditationContractual reversibility
01 · The situation
COBOL runs critical core business systems, but the people who master it are retiring faster than they are being replaced.
Every change becomes a risk, and every departure adds another. Moving off COBOL means securing continuity of service before it is too late.
- Your core business system depends on a few people close to retirement
- Maintenance costs more and more for fewer and fewer changes
- Nobody dares modify certain programs
- You want an application your own teams can take over
02 · What we deliver
What it is
- Your existing code read and documented before it is rewritten
- The application rewritten in a standard technology, increment by increment
- Each increment checked against the old system with regression tests
- The code and the documentation, all yours
What it is not
- An automatic, line-by-line conversion
- Packaged software imposed on your business
- Time-and-materials staffing, billed by the day
- One captive supplier replaced by another
We have already carried out migrations from WinDev, COBOL and VB6. Details are available on request, under a non-disclosure agreement.
03 · How it works
01
A thirty-minute call
Free, and no demo. We listen to your situation and tell you whether we are the right people to help. If we are not, we say so.
02
Scoping
Two to three weeks, at a price stated before we start. You receive the written scope, the breakdown into increments and a fixed price for the first one.
03
The first increment
You decide on it with the scope and the price in front of you. It goes live rather than being demonstrated, and is judged on real use before the next one begins.
04
The following increments
One increment at a time, each priced before it starts. You can stop at the end of any of them, and we can then take over maintenance.
04 · They chose us
IMA
05 · The questions we are asked
“Do we have to rewrite the whole COBOL application in one go?”
No. The old and new systems run in parallel, and each increment replaces the existing one only once it does the job just as well. Service is never interrupted.
“Nobody knows what the code does any more.”
That is the most common case. Reading the existing code is the first step of scoping: it produces the documentation that was missing, and it is what ensures your business logic is preserved.
“Which technology do we move to?”
A standard, non-proprietary technology, chosen with your teams during scoping. Python by default, because the market has the skills to take it over.
“How does payment on results work?”
What will be measured, against what threshold and by what date is written into the contract. If the result is not achieved, the conditional portion is not payable.
“How much does it cost?”
The first call is free. Scoping has a price, stated before we start. The price of the first increment is fixed and given once scoping is complete: it depends on the scope, not on who is asking.
Write to us
Describe your situation.
A few lines are enough. Your message goes straight to the engineers who will do the scoping, and the first call is free.