RAMP IBM I Modernization: Overview

RAMP

An IBM i Modernization Strategy for Immediate Results and Long-Term Strategy

A New Approach for IBM i Modernization

Some IBM i companies believe that modernizing RPG/COBOL applications means refacing existing 5250 screens with a graphical interface. They are right, but they’re missing the big picture.

Others believe that modernizing IBM i application means rewriting large portions of their systems with modern web technologies. Again, they are correct, but no one can afford the time, resources, and risk of large-scale projects anymore.

Rapid Application Modernization Process (RAMP) is an incremental modernization approach that implements the best of refacing existing applications and new development.

By consolidating existing functionality with new capabilities inside RAMP’s application framework, you get to have the applications you want without having to throw everything away

Modernization is performed in stages, new functionality can be introduced incrementally without serious impact to business operations, and the user interface becomes consistent across all of the applications.

Stage 1: Prototype and Design the New Application

Imagine you were given a blank slate to create new applications without being constrained by your legacy applications. RAMP allows you to design the application of your dreams and then let LANSA figure out how to repurpose existing assets to run inside the new system. In the first stage, you define your modernized application design.

GATHER USER FEEDBACK early and often to validate end-user requirements and ensure IT doesn’t miss the mark with user expectations.
USE RAMP’S PROTOTYPING ASSISTANT to develop a new vision for your next-generation applications.
CODESIGN APPLICATION FLOW AND FUNCTIONALITY with line-of-business leaders since it can be difficult for users to define what they want.
THE OUTCOME OF STAGE 1 is a working prototype that is sharable with stakeholders and other line-of-business leaders.

Stage 2: Navigation, Integration, and Initial Enrichment

You’ve just prototyped your dream application, so now what? Don’t worry, your prototype is not a throwaway; it will actually evolve into your production application.

In Stage 2, you decide which parts of your existing 5250 applications are good and bad by identifying screens as either navigation screens or work screens. RAMP allows you to reface the work screens and snap them inside the prototype. RAMP will also hide the navigation screens from the user by traversing them behind the scenes—users only see work screens.

The modernized 5250 application will operate like a modern Windows desktop or web browser application.

Designers can email an application URL to users so they can review and provide immediate feedback. Users participate and witness the gradual transformation from prototype to final application.

Time permitting, RAMP lets you mix and match your existing 5250 screens and with brand new LANSA components if you need to augment your current IBM i applications with new functionality.

The outcome of Stage 2 is to deploy the first version of your fully functional, modernized application.

Stage 3: Ongoing Reengineering and Enrichment

The final stage builds on the modernized application developed in Stages 1 and 2.

At your own pace, you incrementally replace functions from your 5250 applications with new, modern, repository-based LANSA components that support new technologies such as web services.

If server-platform independence is a vital objective of your legacy-system modernization strategy, you can replace all of the RPG, COBOL, and DDS dependent programs with new LANSA components.

The final result is more than modernization; it is a fully reengineered application built with your vision to your plan and ready for your platform of choice.

Stages 1 and 2 will satisfy your immediate modernization needs—and this is where all other IBM i modernization solutions stop. With Stage 3, RAMP allows you to resume your modernization journey and continue digitally transforming your business.

What Makes RAMP Different from Other Modernization Solutions?

RAMP’s ability to combine the old with the new addresses both your immediate tactical issues for green screen to GUI modernization as well as your long-term redevelopment and replacement strategies for 5250 modernization.

With RAMP you start with a modern application. The framework is already a desktop, web, or mobile application where you combine your 5250 application with others to assemble a composite application. You evolve the resulting composite application by adding new parts and gradually replacing the 5250 work screens after they’ve outlived their shelf lives.

Just adding graphical controls to 5250 screens will not enhance their business value. RAMP raises the legacy-system modernization bar to a new level and delivers much more than conventional refacing technologies. RAMP delivers a brand new system without starting from scratch.

Applications modernized with RAMP also expand your choice of client devices, including Windows, Linux, Apple MacⓇ, iPadⓇ, and AndroidTM tablets.

Benefits of RAMP

RAMP’s modernization process is nonintrusive, is easy to deploy, and takes into account the real-world requirements of companies who want to modernize existing 5250 applications without disrupting day-to-day business activities.