THE ACUCOBOL AND RM/COBOL ROADMAP WHAT S NEXT?

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Sherman Robertson
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1 Leading the Evolution WHITE PAPER THE ACUCOBOL AND RM/COBOL ROADMAP WHAT S NEXT? This document outlines the future direction and options available for users of ACUCOBOL and RM/COBOL and provides an overview of the future roadmaps for these product sets. It is targeted at the application developer and development manager, but uses non-technical language.

WHITE PAPER THE ACUCOBOL AND RM/COBOL ROADMAP WHAT S NEXT? Executive Summary Micro Focus is committed to providing an easy path forward for all COBOL users.

2 WHITE PAPER THE ACUCOBOL AND RM/COBOL ROADMAP WHAT S NEXT? Executive Summary Micro Focus is committed to providing an easy path forward for all COBOL users. The communities of users for ACUCOBOL and RM/COBOL are, as this document will show, in an ideal place to: a) continue using their existing technology, b) enhance and modernize their existing applications, c) take advantage of modern technologies such as modern data types, Web 2.0/ browser based clients, Software as a Service (SaaS), and more. Micro Focus is committed to making COBOL the best solution for application development and deployment, creating the optimal mix of performance, functionality, scope, and price. We have the industry s largest portfolio of COBOL compilers. Which solution is best for you depends on where you are coming from, what technologies you are using now, and what ambitions you have. The Modernization Lifecycle Whatever your intentions for your COBOL applications, Micro Focus has a solution. Platform We can support you whether you want to move from one platform to a more cost effective and powerful hardware platform/operating system, or want to make your application available on the widest choice of platforms. Development Environment Modernizing the development environment allows you to make the most of the latest productivity tools and processes. Business Logic The ability to change business logic quickly and safely gives you the agility to meet your business needs, with the sheer speed of COBOL. Data types The speed and simplicity of COBOL data can be accessed and updated with business intelligence (BI) systems, other languages, and office applications such as Word and Excel. They can be augmented or even replaced with the functionality of modern relational database technologies. Business Model The combination of browser based clients, virtualized or clustered servers and web services, together with powerful analysis tools and integrated development environments (IDEs), provides you with the opportunity and agility to modernise how, and where, you do business. The product portfolio To understand the choices available to the ACUCOBOL and RM/COBOL user, it is worth a short overview of the COBOL application development products to see where the products fit in the family of solutions. Each COBOL product fills part of our solution space. We have different intentions for each product in order to give you, the user, the right mix of functionality, power, ease of use, and price. We are also working hard to ensure that applications can be moved onto our more powerful products (if that is what you want to do) with a minimum of risk and effort. Mainframe Compatibility Our premium deployment platform solution, Micro Focus Server Enterprise Edition, provides unparalleled mainframe compatibility for users who want mainframe performance on open systems or Windows servers without the risk of changing the application which continues to provide business benefit. Windows User Interface Modern user interfaces improve user uptake, increase customer satisfaction, reduce support demands, and improve productivity. For corporations, larger enterprises and solution providers who want to develop on Windows, Micro Focus Net Express is the solution for you. Net Express provides a highly integrated development environment tuned for COBOL including tools for data management, easy SQL code creation, web service enablement and much more. Net Express is available with optional upgrades to enable Visual Studio and Eclipse programming environments.

3 .NET and Visual Studio Micro Focus Net Express for.net has one simple goal to be the best development and deployment system for.net. For detailed roadmap information on this product please contact Micro Focus. Open Systems Micro Focus Server Express is the premier solution for COBOL on UNIX and Linux, providing the highest levels of performance and availability of all leading open systems platforms. For detailed roadmap information on this product please contact Micro Focus. Eclipse For organizations that want to use the Eclipse IDE either for rich development tools on UNIX and Linux, or to use the same tools for both COBOL and Java, Micro Focus has recently released comprehensive Eclipse support for both Net Express and Server Express. ACUCOBOL The extend family of products is a rich and comprehensive collection of products with a strong and successful user base. ACUCOBOL is fully supported, has a comprehensive program of new platforms available, and we are currently finalizing the functionality of extend V9 (see below for an outline of the product roadmap). RM/ COBOL RM/COBOL is a trusted and mature technology. Our primary objective for RM/COBOL users is to ensure that your existing applications continue to work at their best and are fully supported both in terms of the platforms they are available on (such as Windows 7), and to provide the high level of user support and fixes that you have come to expect. For more detail on your modernization options please see the RM/ COBOL Futures section below. The Cloud For many reasons, there is a lot of excitement in the IT industry around the potential benefits of Software as a Service (SaaS) and Cloud-based applications. SaaS applications can maximise the flexibility and power of modern servers and virtualized environments, including running applications to the Cloud. To assist corporations and application providers who wish to exploit these new architectures, Micro Focus is focussing enormous resources into a project to deliver the optimum modernization path for existing applications. This project is known internally by the codename Solar. Project Solar is a set of development tools that will allow you to: Exploit Web 2.0, AJAX and Silverlight user interfaces to modernize COBOL Easily build web service connectivity to, from, and between COBOL applications Modernize data structures to take advantage of new virtualized / clustered operating fabrics Deploy and operate (and in the near future develop and test) COBOL in the Cloud Each of these functions can provide powerful utility in its own right. Combined, they give the full power of SaaS to your COBOL. ACUCOBOL The extend family of products is a rich and comprehensive family of products that continues to be enhanced and developed. It is an important family of products in the Micro Focus portfolio. Version 8.1 is our latest version of ACUCOBOL. It is to be supported and enhanced as follows: 1) Continued support extend v8.1 is a fully supported platform and there is no plan to discontinue support until future versions of extend supercede this version, at which time the standard Micro Focus support policy will determine the sundown and eventual end of service date. Until that time, support will continue via hot fixes, scheduled WebSyncs (rolled up hot fixes) and selected enhancement requests by customer demand using the standard Enhancement Request Process (see below). 2) Platforms We evaluate each new operating system / hardware combination as it becomes available to see which platforms should be supported. We are currently working on a Windows 7 version of ACUCOBOL. 3) User Requested Enhancements If there is something that you would like added to ACUCOBOL please talk to us. We would be delighted to consider it for a future release, or as a customer funded enhancement. 4) Future releases Micro Focus continually reviews the requirements of users, developments and trends in technology. We would welcome your input on what should be included in any future releases of any extend product. Following customer requests, the main areas of focus for the next release will be in the areas of easier.net integration, enhanced UI, and Web Services. extend 8 extend 8 was the first version of ACUCOBOL to be produced under Micro Focus ownership. It is a powerful, modern, family of products with a wide range of options and modules extend 9 For extend a special focus has been put on closer integration with.net and improvements for creating improved user interfaces..net Although extend will not create managed.net applications, it will be able to access much of the power of.net through ACUCOBOL. It will ease the integration of.net user interface components such as Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) controls, and provision or consumption of interprocess communications via Windows Communications Foundation (WCF). For managed.net code, please look at Net Express with.net.

4 User Interface Accessing the power of.net through ACUCOBOL will empower your applications to use.net technology such as Winforms and WebForms to create modern GUIs based on Windows Presentation Framework (WPF). Contemporary user interfaces not only drive user adoption but also improve productivity, enhance user satisfaction, and reduce support and training requirements. Improved support for web applications and web services extend 9 will support Xcentrisity Business Information Server (BIS). BIS is a proven native COBOL web server environment that manages application sessions and makes them available via any web browser or other web-user agent that is granted access to the BIS server. BIS offers application developers an opportunity to build service oriented architecture (SOA) applications incorporating legacy business data and logic freely mixed with the latest web languages and tools. Building on the power of XML as the foundation of connectivity, together with industry standard Web servers such as Microsoft IIS and Apache, BIS offers application developers a unique opportunity to build state-of-the-art browser-based web applications or SOAP-based web services comprising ACUCOBOL programs and COBOL data files and databases. extend 9 is also a wrap up of all WebSyncs to date, incorporating all the fixes and improvements made at each stage. It contains numerous improvements that we could only make as part of a new version. These improvements enhance the quality, reliability, and performance of extend. Final detailed planning for the extend 9 release is currently in progress with a target release in the second half of extend 10 As part of the ongoing maintenance and development of extend, releases beyond v9 are being planned. These will continue the development of themes being introduced in v9 in response to customer and market requirements. We are gathering requirements for Version 10 so please let us know what you would like to see. Recommendation Users of extend have a solid base to continue their business. There is a wealth of functionality in the different optional modules of extend. Whatever you require for your next step in modernizing your application - from small enhancements to the tools you are using to moves to RDBMS,.NET, SaaS or even the Cloud - we are building an easier path for you. Please contact Micro Focus for advice and support specific to your needs and objectives. RM/COBOL As described above, RM/COBOL is a trusted and mature technology. Our primary objective for RM/COBOL users is to ensure that your existing applications continue to work at their best and are fully supported both in terms of the platforms on which they are available (such as Windows 7), and to provide the high level of user support and fixes that you have come to expect. If you are starting a new cycle of developing COBOL or mixed language solutions from scratch, we would recommend that you consider one of our other product lines: ACUCOBOL which offers the highest levels of compatibility with RM/COBOL, or Net Express/ Server Express which offer the ultimate in scope, functionality, and performance. However, if you are enhancing or modernizing an existing RM/COBOL application, you will continue to have our full support. If there is something new that you would like to see in the product, please talk to us. Version 12 is our latest version of RM/COBOL and is to be supported and enhanced as follows. Continued Support RM/COBOL v12 is a fully supported platform and there is no plan to discontinue support. Platforms We evaluate each new operating system/hardware combination as it becomes available to see which platforms should be supported. We are currently working on a Windows 7 version of RM / COBOL. User Requested Enhancements If there is something that you would like added to RM/COBOL please talk to us. We would be delighted to consider it for a future release, either as part of version 13 or as a customer funded enhancement. Future releases Micro Focus continually reviews the requirements of users, developments and trends in technology. We would welcome your input on what should be included in any future releases of RM/COBOL. Recommendation Users of RM/COBOL have a solid base to continue their business. Whatever you require for your next step in modernizing your application - from small enhancements to the tools you are using to moves to RDBMS,.NET, SaaS or even the cloud please contact Micro Focus for advice and support specific to your needs and objectives. Conclusion The Micro Focus COBOL portfolio includes the most powerful, feature-rich development and deployment tools available on any platform. Over many years Micro Focus COBOL, ACUCOBOL and RM/ COBOL have proven to be highly successful tools for enterprises and independent software vendors time and time again. With Micro Focus commitment to on-going support, platform currency and development of the products, users can have confidence, not only that they have made the right choice of tools, but also that by choosing Micro Focus they have made the right choice of partner - a partner commited to protecting their current business whether it is.net, the Cloud or changes yet to be seen. We are committed to taking you into the future without you incurring unnecessary risks or costs. Micro Focus always appreciates customer feedback and discussion about any current product or future roadmaps. If you have suggestions, please contact your account manager to arrange a convenient time to meet.

5 If you have any comments or questions regarding this whitepaper or any Micro Focus products and solutions please do not hesitate to contact your local office or This document includes forward looking statements, projected assumptions and goals which do not form the basis of any offer or contract. For further information regarding contractual requirements please contact Micro Focus. About Micro Focus Micro Focus, a member of the FTSE 250, provides innovative software that allows companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization and Management software enables customers business applications to respond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectures with reduced cost and risk. For additional information please visit: Copyright Micro Focus (IP) Limited All rights reserved. The STET and information contained herein are proprietary to, and comprise valuable trade secrets of, Micro Focus (IP) Limited, which intends to preserve as trade secrets such software and information. This software is an unpublished copyright of Micro Focus and may not be used, copied, transmitted, or stored in any manner. This software and information or any other copies thereof may not be provided or otherwise made available to any other person. swpacurm1009

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