Aerospace Giant Modernizes Disparate Legacy Systems into Modern Unified Platform

The Customer

A global aerospace manufacturer renowned for advanced aircraft and pioneering technologies. 

The Challenge

The manufacturer’s IT landscape was fragmented, with four critical business applications supporting a myriad of functions from the shopfloor, engineering, and human resources to parts testing, all running on a costly and difficult-to-maintain IBM mainframe. This complexity was magnified by a complex technology stack, which included legacy languages such as COBOL, Assembler, CLIST, JCL, and PL/I, along with IBM Db2 and IMS databases.

The legacy environment created significant operational challenges such as high maintenance costs, a skills gap growing ever-larger as legacy developers retired, and an inability to perform agile, forward-looking development. The company needed to migrate away from the mainframe to a modern, unified platform to reduce costs, streamline maintenance, and unlock innovation. 

The Approach

AveriSource was selected to execute a complete, end-to-end modernization of the four distinct legacy applications, transforming them from their complex multi-language environment to a single, homogenous .NET architecture.

Multi-Language and Database Transformation

The complex mix of Assembler, CLIST, COBOL, JCL, and PL/I code was successfully refactored into a modern, maintainable C# and .NET architecture. IBM Db2 and IMS databases were transformed to a SQL Server database.

Seamless Enhancement Integration

The project went beyond a simple "like-for-like" modernization, enabling the client to incorporate numerous enhancements directly into the transformation process. This included modifying business rules, adjusting workflows, and even developing entirely new screens to meet emerging business needs without requiring a separate development cycle.

Unified Platform Delivery

By migrating all four applications to a unified modern environment, AveriSource helped the client break down its IT silos and create an easier-to-manage application portfolio. 

The Results 

The project successfully moved the manufacturer off the mainframe and onto a modern, agile, and cost-effective platform, delivering significant business value across the organization.

• Complete mainframe retirement, eliminating costly hardware and associated licensing fees.
• Unified a fragmented IT infrastructure by consolidating four disparate, multi-language applications and databases onto a single, homogenous .NET and SQL Server stack.
• Enabled agile development by providing a clean, modern codebase that the client's internal teams could easily maintain and enhance.
• Realized significant performance gains, including 60% faster processing times for large batch jobs.
• Seamlessly delivered new functionality and enhancements during the modernization, augmenting business capabilities while simultaneously reducing technical debt.
• Eliminated the risk of the legacy skills gap by moving to a widely supported and understood language and database.