Veryant, a COBOL modernization vendor, announced two new products in its isCOBOL Application Platform Suite (APS), which helps businesses develop, deploy, and modernize COBOL applications. isCOBOL Web Direct 2.0 connects business applications to the cloud, offering the ability to deploy fully interactive Web 2.0 applications on demand as part of Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings. isCOBOL SQL Server adds a flexible relational database engine to ISAM files without changing current program code or data. This eliminates the need to choose between maintaining ISAM files or moving to a mainstream RDBMS to meet evolving requirements.
"These new product offerings demonstrate the momentum and innovation Veryant is bringing to the world of COBOL. Now delivering across new cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS) environments does not have to mean additional complexity and a plethora of new development for application teams." Alfredo Iglesias, vice president of Veryant, tells 5 Minute Briefing.
Many organizations with legacy assets are working to keep COBOL applications relevant in light of new cloud computing initiatives, Inglesias adds. isCOBOL Web Direct 2.0 enables the deployment of universal, zero client rich internet applications (RIA) using standard COBOL screen sections and existing program procedure division and flow. No knowledge of object-oriented programming, JavaScript, HTML, or other web languages is required to implement is COBOL Web Direct 2.0.
The user interfaces for most mainframe applications tend not to be COBOL, thus lending themselves to potential cloud-based deployments, Iglesias explains. "Thus far, the majority of customers deploying isCOBOL are part of the $200-million open systems COBOL market-Windows, Unix, and Linux," he says. "Mainframe COBOL customers moving to Veryant have been electing to deploy isCOBOL on open systems. Our new product, isCOBOL Web Direct 2.0-available with latest release of isCOBOL-is aimed at deploying the graphical user interface of COBOL applications on the cloud, specifically in SaaS scenarios, without having to re-engineer an application or learn a new programming language, AJAX or web programming.
isCOBOL SQL Server, in the meantime, provides a relational database engine on top of ISAM files, eliminating the need to choose between maintaining ISAM files or moving to a mainstream RDBMS to meet evolving application requirements. "isCOBOL SQL Server is a full-fledged relational database, not a data migration tool," Iglesias says. "It runs on top of the isCOBOL ISAM Server, an ISAM file system that does not run on the mainframe. ISAM files are very prevalent with COBOL applications running on open systems-similar to the use of VSAM files with mainframe COBOL. With isCOBOL SQL Server, open systems COBOL users can now add the flexibility of a relational database engine to ISAM files without changing current program code or data."
For more information, go here.