Alberta Pensions Administration Corporation Client Case Study Chooses Fujitsu Legacy Modernization Solution for Mainframe Migration Profile

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1 Client Case Study Alberta Pensions Administration Corporation Chooses Fujitsu Legacy Modernization Solution for Mainframe Migration Profile Located in Edmonton, Alta., Canada, Alberta Pensions Administration (APA) Corporation is responsible for administering seven statutory pension plans under the direction of four pensions boards and the Government of Alberta, as well as two supplementary retirement plans. APA Corporation's core services are to collect pension fund contributions from employers and members, maintain members' accounts, calculate and pay plan benefits and provide information to members. The Corporation is committed to providing cost-effective services through continuous improvements, value for money and effective communications. APA Corporation has a mature CICS COBOL pension payroll application running on an IBM mainframe. This 27-year-old system is supported by a batch stream which performs the actual pension master file updates recorded by the on-line portion of the system and which is tightly coupled with the production of reports as well as correspondence. While this system was migrated from one mainframe host to another in 1996, its functionality has not changed appreciably for a number of years. The on-line portion of the system consists of approximately 63,000 total lines and CICS maps while the batch portion of the system consists of approximately 290,000 total lines. APA Corporation has considerable expertise with the existing application, both in the business and technical areas. The application requires some manual intervention to perform the tasks required but overall performs the functions required. A considerable library of ad-hoc Culprit reports has been built up over the years. This library is maintained by the system end-users who have developed some expertise in creating and running these reports as required. FUJITSU CONSULTING

2 Business Issues Mainframes are an expensive platform to run on. While they are very efficient, for this particular application system, the advantage their power offers is not necessary. Current operating costs are estimated at $230,000 per year. Access to the application system is limited within the Corporation. A broader, controlled access would be a desirable feature. The end-user reporting tool, Culprit, is not user friendly and support for it is limited. With each year there are fewer people available who are experienced in the mainframe COBOL environment to support the system. Within the next four to five years, it is expected that the functionality of this system will be integrated with the functionality of the application system which collects and tracks pension contributions (Oracle system CPAS). Currently, when a client becomes eligible to receive a pension, data is manually entered from CPAS reports into the payroll system. With the current plan to merge systems eventually, any work done to reduce operating costs or improve the payroll system functionality must be cost effective and impact on the user community and on the support requirements must be minimal. Legacy Modernization by Fujitsu Fujitsu Consulting's Legacy Modernization solution offering was proposed to transform the various parts of the mainframe application into corresponding entities using a combination of the Fujitsu CICS migration solution, NetCOBOL, SQL Server, ASP.NET and zbatch. Fujitsu Consulting's proposed solution was designed to solve the problems in a way that minimize the migration risk while helping staff build contemporary skills. The key advantages of the Fujitsu Consulting approach are: Remove the application from the mainframe to significantly lower the on-going operational costs of the system by an estimated $175,000 per year. Translate the Pensioner VSAM data and transform it to SQL Server data tables, moving the data to a new technology platform. SQL Server enables the end user a simpler access method either directly or through a third-party reporting tool. Minimize source-code changes (COBOL to COBOL): - Use Fujitsu Software's NetCOBOL for.net to generate native Microsoft.NET executables. - Reduce risk by preserving investment in the business logic that's embodied in the applications. - Enable staff to build skills in new areas like VB.NET and web Services without making current skills obsolete. Use the Fujitsu CICS migration solution to migrate CICS screens into ASP.NET web Forms to create a thinclient web application. This strategy will enable the existing CICS code to be preserved (including business logic and editing) and will require minimal staff re-training. Provide a two-dimensional translator between the converted COBOL programs and the SQL database that allows the programs to access and update data as they did on the original system. Maintain a simple maintenance model, since there will be no need to deploy special components on the client side. The current client PC already has both the power and the software necessary to access and run the migrated system. Approach and Scope To help the Corporation to prove the value of embarking on a Legacy Modernization initiative before committing to any major investments, Fujitsu Consulting was contracted to perform a Proof of Concept (PoC) project. The PoC was aimed at validating and demonstrating the feasibility, methodology and technology of the proposed solution, as well as estimating the costs and efforts of a full migration project for the Pensioner Payroll System. The scope of the PoC project was as follows: To develop a PoC for the Corporation using selected production batch and on-line processes. The selected application components are part of the production system and are used on a regular basis. Using the Fujitsu software tools, migrate the selected CICS/COBOL software and VSAM data to a Windows.Net environment.

3 Perform a live demonstration of the migrated components, both on-line and a subset of daily and weekly batch processing. To conduct a workshop to introduce the Corporation staff to the.net Framework and the NetCOBOL tools. To prepare a PoC Legacy Modernization Results Analysis including identification of the recommended next steps. The migration was done in two phases: Phase 1: Migrate the on-line application code to NetCOBOL and Fujitsu Consulting's CICS migration solution, recompile the batch portion to NetCOBOL for Windows, and use zbatch for job submission and execution. Phase 2: Migrate the Pension data to SQL Server tables and demonstrate both on-line and batch programs accessing and updating the SQL Server tables. To execute the PoC, Fujitsu Consulting provided teams of consultants already familiar with the.net environment and the migration toolset being used. This included team members from Fujitsu Consulting, Fujitsu Software and Microsoft. PoC Environment CICS Architecture OS/390 Fujitsu CICS Architecture Web Application Server with Microsoft.NET Framework CICS Application Programming Interface (API) Application Programs ASP.NET.NET CICS Executive Application Programs Terminal Control Basic Mapping Support (BMS) Maps HTML ASP.NET Web Form Symbolic Maps VTAM, SNA, TCP/IP HTTP Terminal User Client Web Browser Proof of Concept Software Used The Proof of Concept software development environment used the following technology: Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Developers Edition Windows Server 2000 Windows XP Professional Microsoft Visual Studio.Net 2003 Fujitsu Software - NetCOBOL for.net V2 - NetCOBOL Win32 - Fujitsu's CICS migration solution - zbatch JCL Shell and Run-time environment for Windows - PowerBSort

4 Results The PoC was successful in that the migrated on-line system functioned as expected, with the business logic and rules moving across intact. The batch programs were migrated with virtually no changes required and they functioned as expected. Phase 1 Results The complete Pensioner Master File and other supporting data was migrated to Btrieve, and indexed data formats. The on-line application code was migrated to NetCOBOL and Fujitsu Consulting's CICS migration solution accessing the Btrieve data structures. This included a Pensioner Inquiry function, Adding a Pensioner, Changing a Pensioner Address, and the Transfer of a Pensioner on-line functions. The batch portion of the PoC was migrated to run with zbatch for job submission and used indexed files to perform the batch test run. The identical job stream was run on the mainframe and the results of that run were provided to the PoC team for comparison purposes. The on-line program conversion was successful, it was demonstrated that for most of the PoC programs the business logic converted intact with some intervention (search and replace) required for usage of CICS currently not supported in the conversion processes. Approximately 54,000 lines of code were converted for the on-line portion, with fewer than 5 percent requiring manual intervention. There were no performance issues with the migrated system. The batch programs compiled into the Windows format with almost no manual changes required (one line per program). Approximately 37,000 lines of code converted for the batch programs. The JCL stream selected for the PoC was run demonstrating the use of zbatch as a Windows batch job processor. No performance tuning was required for running the stream against indexed files. Phase 2 Results A data load program was written to convert the Pension Master file into a SQL Server relational database. A generic data access module was written to handle the reading and updating of the SQL Server database. The Pension Inquiry on-line program was modified and tested, accessing the SQL Server database. Two batch programs were modified to test with the SQL Server database (the first was the update to the master table using the data from the on-line update screen; the second checked for duplicate pensioners based on specific keys and read the entire pensioner master file twice). The execution times for these programs were then used to compare to the same steps as performed accessing the data as sequential files in the.net environment and also as executed on the mainframe. The data load program and generic access modules proved to be the area where the largest amount of manual coding was required. The batch stream completed within an acceptable window. Tuning of the system to improve the performance of the batch stream was not part of the PoC scope, however it would be addressed in the full migration project. The success of the PoC demonstrated the feasibility for the Corporation to move forward to a full system migration. The PoC provided the necessary information to estimate the full migration effort and insight into presenting varying options for proceeding with the full migration, thereby allowing for the most cost-effective approach to be chosen.

5 Additional Results In addition to the successful migration and demonstration of code, there were other valuable results achieved through the PoC: Proved that the proposed technology and software platform is viable for the Corporation in a production environment. Helped identify risk areas for the full migration project. This will allow these risks to be mitigated early in the full migration project, minimizing the impact of these risks. Created detailed lessons-learned list that will be used to reduce efforts in the full migration project. Identified potential areas for scope reduction in the fully migrated system, allowing the Corporation to receive full value from the full migration project for minimal cost and effort. Provided a high-level estimate for the full migration project and a recommended plan for the Corporation to proceed. Conclusions Legacy Modernization PoC was a success for Alberta Pensions Administration Corporation in proving that the Fujitsu Consulting Legacy Modernization solution offering is a viable solution for the Corporation to move the Pensioner Payroll legacy system into a modern.net and Windows architecture. This migration will allow the Corporation to immediately and substantially reduce their annual operating costs in this area by at least 75 percent. This migration would also allow for easier access to the information contained in the Pensioner Payroll system to other business units and better position the Corporation for future enhancements to this system. Initial estimates indicate there is a reasonable payback of two to three years for this project to the Corporation. If a scope refinement project was completed, this payback could be further reduced to less than two years. Next Steps Based on the learnings from the PoC, Fujitsu Consulting proposed a two-step approach to the full migration project. As a result, a clearer definition of requirements will provide for a more accurate estimate of the total project costs and ensure full business value from the project is realized by not migrating unnecessary components. This will allow the Corporation to make a fully informed decision on the cost and benefits of the full migration project. Step 1: Scope Refinement Stage During this stage, the following will be determined: Scope Definition: Review existing inventory of Programs, JCL, letters, adhoc reports to determine if all are required in the migrated system Data Strategy (Data Model and Access Routines): Refine the approach developed during the Proof of Concept to determine where each data file will reside, balancing cost and effort with future requirements and benefits Finalize Technology Architecture Security Model: strategy for replacing RACF within Windows/.NET capabilities Job Scheduler: analysis and selection of job schedule tool Letter Strategy: refine strategy for letter production Culprit Replacement Strategy: determine best alternative for Culprit Reports migration Accurate estimate of cost and effort for migration stage Step 2: Migration Stage Construct, test and implement solution as defined in the scope refinement stage

6 Experience the Fujitsu Consulting Difference Fujitsu, together with Microsoft, brings years of experience, credibility, skills and the tools to help you move forward with confidence to accelerate a migration process. Fujitsu Consulting's Legacy Modernization solution offering realizes the fundamental value of IT through measurably lowering the total cost of ownership. The company utilizes its award winning methodology with the latest technologies that are most responsive to a client's requirements. Headquarters & United States FUJITSU CONSULTING 333 Thornall Street Edison, NJ United States Tel: Fax: By using NetCOBOL for.net, Fujitsu can maximize the use of the existing COBOL code, minimizing the changes and consequently minimizing the risk. Through using NetCOBOL for.net and NeoKicks, Fujitsu Consulting's CICS migration solution, there will be minimal training required by both the programming staff and the end-users..net makes the migration of COBOL applications easy, and with Microsoft.NET technology a lot of new opportunities are available once the migration is complete. Modern technologies, such as XML web services, are easily incorporated with Visual.NET to extend the legacy applications. NetCOBOL for.net was designed specifically to leverage the.net Framework to help developers accomplish this important task. As the management- and technology-consulting arm of the US$45-billion Fujitsu group, Fujitsu Consulting integrates the core expertise of Fujitsu companies and its partners to deliver complete solutions to businesses and government in the areas of Information Management, Legacy Modernization and Managed Services. The scope of these offerings extends from strategic management consulting to the tiniest detail of infrastructure operations. Through its industry-recognized strategic methodology, Macroscope, Fujitsu Consulting assists clients in incorporating more value into their investments and driving their leadership in the marketplace. Canada FUJITSU CONSULTING 200 Front Street West Simcoe Place Suite 2300 Toronto, Ontario Canada M5V 3K2 Tel: Fax: Quebec DMR CONSEIL 1000 Sherbrooke Street West Suite 1600 Montreal, Quebec Canada H3A 3R2 Tel: Fax: We work with you to create solutions and produce results that drive your business. 2004, Fujitsu Consulting, Inc. Macroscope is a registered trademark of Fujitsu Consulting. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. us.fujitsu.com