Building Your Own Modernization Roadmap, presented by Emmanuel Tzinevrakis, VP Services at Fresche.
Presentation topics:
■ Value of Your IBM i
■ Business Value Creation
■ Modernization Strategies
■ Planning Your Modernization
■ How to Get Started
2. Building Your Own Modernization Roadmap
Emmanuel Tzinevrakis
VP Professional Services
3. 3
Three Key Points to Retain
■ IBM i applications and data contain tremendous value
■ Modernization drives business value
■ There is a Modernization Strategy for everyone
4. 4
Topics
■ Value of Your IBM i
■ Business Value Creation
■ Modernization Strategies
■ Planning Your Modernization
■ How to Get Started
6. 6
Why invest in IBM i
■ Modern secure platform
■ IBM commitment with roadmap and support for
mainstream solutions including open source
■ Years of business critical information in your systems
■ Leveraging existing investment is proven to be faster,
lower risk and more cost effective
7. Replace with Package
Replace the current system with a new one.
Modernization
Extend, Evolve, or Transform the application to newer
technologies.
Rewrite
Rewrite the applications in their entirety.
Do Nothing
Live with the challenges and adapt.
Strategic Options for IBM i Applications
Do Nothing, Modernize, Replace or Rewrite
Sources: Standish Group
8. Legacy Application and Data Challenges
Medium Business
Challenges
Outdated interfaces, Remote access, Onboarding new staff
Lack of innovation, Integration with desktop and external systems
Access to data, Real-time information, Data integrity
Retiring staff, Lack of skills, Attracting new talent, IT Backlog
Developer and IT productivity, Monolithic code base, Time to market
Process improvement, Document distribution, Workflow automation
Non standard or mainstream languages, Portability
User Experience
Extend Business Functionality
Data Access
Resource /Business Continuity
IT Efficiency / Productivity
Streamline Business Process
Maintainability / Agility
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Modernization Business Goals
Agility
Reduce training / onboarding
Lower costs / increase profitability
Drive innovation for competitive benefit
Enable new channels of access
Merger and acquisition integration
Compliance (SOX, HIPAA, etc.)
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Technical View of Modernization
■ GUI / Web Enablement
■ Mobile Access
■ Workflow Optimization
■ Code restructuring / modularization
■ RPG-Free Format
■ Code Transformation
■ DDS to DDL
■ Data accessibility (long names, data model, reporting, etc.)
■ Data integrity (foreign key constraints, data cleansing)
User Interface (5250)
Code / Business Logic
Database
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Modernization is a Unique Journey
■ Unique Starting Point
(languages, technologies, apps)
■ Unique Destination
(target technology stack, packaged apps, etc.)
■ Uniquely staged to the needs of your
organization
■ Executed in a model that matches your
needs
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Aligning to Business Value Creation
What does the business get out of it?
Move from an IT-centric perspective to a business-centric one
Existing IT budgets are rarely adequate to fund mid-to-large scale
modernization initiatives
The business will need to sponsor and fund the project
A professional and strategic approach to the business is required
So… what business problems are you solving?
What is the Return-On-Investment to the business?
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SAMPLE – Modernization Project Sequencing
New
Order Entry
Interface
Move to Real-Time
Optional:
Print Engine
Replacement /
Optimization
Modernize DB and
Back Office App.
Value Creation:
Reduced operating costs
Reduced printing costs
Improved workflow
Improved data quality
Faster new user on-boarding
Value Creation:
Improved data quality
Improved data timeliness
Value Creation:
Business flexibility
Client servicing
Value Creation:
Reduced IT costs
Reduced operating costs
Improved agility
Improved resource avail.
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How to Create Business Value
■ Creating Value
▶ Enabling new or incremental revenues
▶ Saving money that translates into improved profits
● Improve workflows, save on resources
▶ Enabling new markets or increased market-share
■ It needs to be measureable and defendable
■ Why does the business need this and who will fund it
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Descriptions of a Modernization Plan
Business Value Description:
■ Moving to a low-cost, open platform to
run our business will reduce operating
costs by 20% per year with mid-to-long-
term costs savings on resources.
■ Business workflow will be optimized and
we should be able to see a decrease of
10% in data entry positions and 75%
reduction in onboarding time of new
staff.
■ Time-to-market on new products and
revenue-generating features will be cut
by 60%, enabling us to innovate quicker
and more easily respond to competition.
Technical Description:
■ Transforming our system to xx low-
cost platform and yy feature-rich
database.
■ Web-based user interface with a focus
on a new user experience.
■ Restructured, modern code that
anyone can maintain.
■ Integrated security
■ Improved data integrity and data
accessibility.
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Challenges With Modernization Projects
■ Knowing where and how to start
■ Having a complete understanding and map of the existing systems (modules,
programs, data, dependencies, etc.)
■ How to find the time
■ Having the right skills
■ How to plan such projects
■ Knowing what tools and approaches exist in the market
■ Getting funding and organizational support
“The pace of change has never been faster and the need
for IT to predictably deliver has never been higher.”
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Take a Phased Approach to Modernization
■ Organizations don’t like to invest into
multi-year programs where the benefits
only appear at the end.
■ Create a milestone-based plan
■ Establish a quick (and visible) win to show
early success
■ What does the business get “along the
way”
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SAMPLE – Phased Modernization Strategy
DB
Modernization
(basic –
long names)
UI & Workflow
Customizations
Published
Data Model
(transparency &
accessibility)
Rapid Web
Enablement
Web Services
(expose business
functions)
Code
Refactoring
(maintainability and
agility)
DB
Modernization
(for integrity and
security)
Reporting
Data Mart
Data Access
Modularization
(& record set
processing)
Stage 1: Non-invasive, quick wins
Stage 2: Transformation, Strategic Investment into Improving Business Agility
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SAMPLE – Project Timeline
Start 12M 24M6M 18M
Stage 1:
New Order Entry
Stage 2:
Real-Time Push
Stage 3:
App & DB Port
Stage 4:
Print Eng. Repl.
29. Proven Approach to Successful Modernization
Define Goals Measures Implement
Aligning Business and IT
Understanding the business
needs, the current environment,
creating a strategy, plan and
budget that aligns IT and
business goals.
Defining Success
In order to achieve success,
it’s important to define it. This
phase captures goals and
metrics that will measure the
performance of the plan and
success of the effort.
Where to Start
Where are we starting? This
phase focuses on aligning and
staging the plan in order to
achieve desired business
outcomes.
Implementation
Carrying out the plan
according to the resources,
skills, bandwidth and
experience. In-house or
outsourced.
Continuous Improvement
Implementing and adopting new
processes, procedures, tooling,
skillsets and capabilities to
improve agility and keep IT at the
forefront of technology within the
organization.
Plan Improve
Modernized Applications = Increased Business Value & New Opportunity
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Planning Approach for GUI and Mobile Enablement
1. Engage with the users
2. Think outside the IBM i
3. Focus on User Experience
4. Create Quick Wins
5. Adopt Agile
1 2 3 4 5Engage Think Focus Create Adopt
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Planning Approach for Large-Scale Modernization
■ Large-scale modernization projects require sizable funding and
organizational support
■ Organizations expect results and predictability
■ Many businesses have experienced failures, have shaken confidence
in IT’s ability to manage and deliver
■ For IT leadership, these are high risk / high reward projects (Career
makers or career breakers)
■ IT leaders must invest in building strong business cases, validated by
experts
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Getting Organizational Support & Funding
■ What does an organization want to see to fund and support a large-scale
project
▶ A clearly articulated business case
▶ Supported by details (current state, future state, how = plan, resources,
timeline, milestones, costs, spending schedule, scope, risks and
mitigations, alternatives researched, rationalization)
▶ How it aligns to creating business value and the future of the business
▶ Milestone-driven plan, with funding gates
▶ Thorough research, validated by experts
▶ Executive sponsorship
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What do you need to gather / build?
Inventory
Project Plan
Strategy / Approach Document
Budget
(and Spending Schedule)
Exec-level Presentation
■ Scope
■ Strategy and approach
■ Resourcing
■ Tools
■ Costing
■ Defining value to business
(staged)
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Managing Risk
■ Choosing less risky modernization paths and strategies
■ Breaking up the modernization project into smaller pieces
■ Proper project planning
■ Understanding all the costs (hardware, software, services)
■ Skill set requirements and acquiring them (hiring, training, contracting)
■ Risk and contingency planning
■ Finding the right partner(s) – experience, breadth of knowledge
■ On-going executive buy-in and support
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Getting Started – The next 2-4 weeks
Step 1: Seek input from line-of-business application stakeholders
Step 2: Develop a Portfolio Strategy straw-man
▶ What apps are in the portfolio?
▶ Define a timeframe
▶ Define / draft what modernization looks like for each app in the portfolio
▶ Define / quantify the Business Value of your strategy
Step 3: Seek external validation on strategy and approach.
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Three Key Points to Retain
■ IBM i applications and data contain tremendous value
■ Modernization drives business value
■ There is a Modernization Strategy for everyone