Re-hosting involves transplanting your legacy COBOL source code to a new, modern hardware platform. This is typically achieved through recompilation and execution, enabling seamless functionality on updated infrastructure. Popular re-hosting solutions include OpenText (Micro Focus).

Pros:

• Mainframe Exit Ramp: Liberates your applications from costly mainframe environments, fostering immediate cost savings.
• Minimal Code Disruption: Preserves existing COBOL logic, minimizing initial development efforts and risks.

Cons:

• COBOL Continuity: Retains reliance on COBOL, a language with dwindling expertise and potential maintenance challenges.
• Outdated Interface: Perpetuates the legacy 3270 green screen interface, potentially hindering user experience and modernization efforts.

Re-hosting offers a pragmatic starting point for cost reduction. However, it's crucial to acknowledge its limitations in addressing long-term modernization goals, particularly regarding language and interface advancements.

Refactoring aims to breathe new life into COBOL applications by automating their translation into a more contemporary language, such as Java. Specialized tools analyze the legacy code and orchestrate its structural transformation.

Pros:

• Automated Conversion: Streamlines the translation process, reducing manual efforts and potentially accelerating modernization.
• Minimal Code Disruption: Preserves existing COBOL logic, minimizing initial development efforts and risks.

Cons:

• Code Complexity: The automated conversion often yields intricate and convoluted code structures, posing significant challenges for ongoing maintenance and comprehension.
• Vendor Lock-in: Dependency on specific refactoring tools can create constraints and potential compatibility issues with other technologies.
• Legacy Interface Persistence: The user experience remains tethered to the outdated 3270 green screen, hindering modernization efforts aimed at enhanced usability.

While refactoring offers a degree of modernization through language migration, its limitations in addressing code complexity and interface challenges necessitate careful evaluation before adoption.

This approach involves scouring the market for commercially available software packages mimicking your application's core functionality. If successful, you can lease the chosen solution and migrate your existing data, effectively replacing your in-house system.

Pros:

• Rapid Deployment: Potentially minimizes development time and effort compared to rebuilding from scratch.
• Proven Functionalities: Can leverage established features and processes used by major corporations (e.g., Salesforce).

Cons:

• Customization Costs: High customization demands can negate cost savings, potentially exceeding internal development expenses.
• Vendor Lock-in: Similar to refactoring, relying on specific vendor solutions creates dependence and limits flexibility.
• Market Uniqueness: Finding a perfect off-the-shelf solution that precisely aligns with your unique needs may prove challenging

While the Replace approach offers the potential for rapid deployment and leveraging established features, carefully consider the limitations of customization costs, vendor lock-in, and potential market gaps before pursuing this route.

This approach champions a fresh start. It involves meticulously analyzing your core business processes and logic to devise an optimized design tailored to your precise needs. Subsequently, a skilled development team is tasked with constructing the application from the ground up, embracing contemporary technologies and design principles.

Pros:

• Unfettered Customization: Grants unparalleled control over the application's architecture, functionalities, and user experience, ensuring optimal alignment with your specific requirements.
• Modern Foundation: Leverages the latest technologies and best practices, fostering enhanced performance, scalability, security, and maintainability.
• Fresh Perspective: Reassessing business processes during design often reveals opportunities for optimization and innovation, potentially streamlining workflows and unlocking previously untapped potential.

Cons:

• Development Investment: Constructing an application from scratch typically demands significant time, resources, and skilled programming expertise, necessitating careful budgeting and team recruitment.
• Knowledge Transfer: Transitioning from a legacy system demands meticulous transfer of business logic and intricacies to the new development team, requiring comprehensive documentation and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

While the Rewrite/Build New approach offers the potential for a truly bespoke and modernized application, it's crucial to carefully weigh the associated investment in terms of time, resources, and require expertise.

JtmCode empowers you to rewrite and construct applications from the ground up, specifically designed to streamline the development process and deliver modern, cloud-native solutions.

Pros:

• Code Ownership and Customization: JtmCode's architecture fosters effortlessly maintainable code, reducing long-term costs and facilitating swift adaptation to evolving requirements.
• Maintenance Simplicity: Leverages the latest technologies and best practices, fostering enhanced performance, scalability, security, and maintainability.
• Widespread Talent Pool: Leverage the abundant availability of Java programmers, eliminating the constraints of niche language expertise.
• Accelerated Development: Experience a remarkable 5x boost in development speed compared to traditional methods, swiftly bringing your vision to life.
• Unburdened Focus: Concentrate solely on crafting application logic while JtmCode seamlessly handles underlying system processing, freeing your resources for innovation.
• 24/7 Reliability: Ensure continuous application availability, upholding operational resilience and business continuity.
• Scalability on Demand:Effortlessly scale your application to accommodate growth and fluctuating workloads, ensuring performance remains uncompromised.
• Comprehensive Security: Benefit from robust security measures embedded within JtmCode's framework, safeguarding your data and mitigating risks.

Cons:

• Vendor Dependence: Reliance on JtmCode's proprietary framework introduces a degree of vendor lock-in, potentially limiting future migration flexibility.

While JtmCode presents compelling advantages for modern application development, it's essential to carefully evaluate the potential implications of vendor dependence before committing to its adoption.