Challenges Business Faced

For a leading logistics company Reliability was not the issue; it was flexibility and speed that made all the difference for this industry leader processing thousands of transactions per day. The heart of their technology infrastructure lay in an old 20-year mainframe running COBOL code, which had faithfully served the organization through thick and thin.

But in light of shifting client demands for immediacy, efficiency, and digitization, modernization was now crucial for survival in today’s logistics marketplace.

The client’s mainframe computer was responsible for processing more than 2 million transactions daily, becoming one of the most mission-critical parts of their operations.

• Annual maintenance expenditures were nearing $800,000.
• Strong reliance on outdated COBOL programming.
• Finding professionals for development became problematic.
• The slow release cycle hindered innovations.
• Lack of flexibility to integrate into digital ecosystems.

Each improvement took considerable effort, thus, making timely reaction to changing market requirements unfeasible.

Approach

Star Systems devised a phased plan to implement a modernization approach, balancing innovation with business continuity. Instead of implementing the entire project overnight, they concentrated on modifying its architecture, leaving the company’s operations unaltered.

First, re-architected the application layer by migrating existing COBOL code to microservices in the form of Java services. The transformation allowed modular development, easier maintenance, and updates.

Additionally, the migration process included moving data from the mainframe server to IBM Db2, cloud-based storage for ensuring availability and accessibility in real-time.

Moreover, Star Systems implemented the API layer through IBM API Connect to allow integration of the client with different applications, partners, and digital channels without interrupting their operations.

An important element of the Mainframe Modernization project was running the new system in parallel with the old one. For about eight months, both architectures worked together to ensure:

• No disruption of day-to-day activities.
• Validation of the new system’s functionality.
• Ease of adoption by business users.

Outcomes:

The modernization effort delivered immediate and long-term benefits for the organization.

• Infrastructure expenses were cut by 60%, reducing operational costs.
• Deployment periods were shortened from 6 weeks to 3 days.
• Innovation through agile sprints delivering new functionality every 2 weeks.
• Greater scalability to accommodate increasing transaction volume.
• Higher flexibility to adapt to digital ecosystems.

From an inflexible and sluggish system, a flexible and cloud-native platform emerged.