Here is a detailed summary of the video transcript in markdown format, with the key takeaways broken down into sections for better readability:
Blue Edge: An End-to-End Mainframe Modernization Process
Positioning Blue Edge
- Mainframe applications can be assessed and categorized into those eligible for retirement, migration to another infrastructure, replacement with a market product, or remaining business-critical applications that deserve to be implemented in a more modern technology.
- Blue Edge is an end-to-end comprehensive process, not just a tool, that focuses on the efficiency of the transformation process in terms of automation and accuracy.
Trans America's Mainframe Modernization Journey
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Motivation:
- Business agility: Reduce development and testing cycles for new features and regulatory requirements.
- Operational efficiency: Reduce Mainframe complexity.
- Scalability: Ensure systems can scale to meet business growth goals.
- Risk reduction: Mitigate the risk of losing Mainframe expertise.
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Initial Approach and Challenges:
- Attempted a manual rewrite of a small portion of the workload, which took 8 months and was not scalable for the rest of the applications.
- Discovered the need for an automated, comprehensive solution.
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Blue Edge Adoption:
- Performed a calibration exercise to understand the inputs, outputs, and automation potential of the Blue Edge process.
- Migrated 90% of the Mainframe workload to the cloud in 14 months, leveraging Blue Edge's automated code transformation and comprehensive process.
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Technology Stack:
- Replaced Cobol with Java, Mainframe batch with Java batch, and db2 on z/OS with db2 on Linux.
- Implemented fully automated deployment pipelines and a comprehensive test suite of 7,000 cases.
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Outcomes:
- 30% faster nightly batch processing.
- Simplified architecture, enhanced security, and improved resiliency.
- Transition from a fixed-cost Mainframe to a variable-cost cloud-based model.
Gen Features for Efficiency Improvements
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Artifact Categorization:
- Automatically identifies and categorizes different types of artifacts in the legacy codebase.
- Provides a summary of program functionality to aid in root cause analysis.
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Project Management Automation:
- "Do it for me" feature that automatically captures and schedules tasks and team member vacations from meeting notes.
- Project activity summaries to help team members catch up on activities during their absence.
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Language Translation:
- Automatically translates comments in source code from foreign languages to English.
- Supports queries in natural language that are automatically converted to the tool's query language.
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Transformation Enhancements:
- Automatically generates explanations of legacy source code functionality.
- Previews legacy screens without running the application.
- Handles transformation of artifacts not supported by the Blue Edge engine.
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Test Automation:
- Capture and Replay feature to record user interactions and generate automated test scripts.
- Automatically generates additional test cases based on the analysis of screen options and functionality.
Conclusion
- The Gen features demonstrate how the Blue Edge process can be further enhanced to improve the efficiency and experience of the Mainframe modernization journey.
- Additional resources and related Mainframe modernization sessions are provided for further information.