ASNA Software
ASNA takes a different approach to migration and sees the reason to migrate to .NET in a slightly different light. "We take a holistic view of transformation and modernization of the RPG applications market," says Adams Price, Vice President Enterprise Sales, ASNA Software. "The AS/400 or iSeries environment consists not only of applications logic, but also it consists of the data the applications manipulate, the business processes the applications support and the people who maintain and use the applications. ASNA provides a solution that allows customers to transform and modernize all aspects of these components. Others in the market have tried to address only a subset of these components, usually only the logic or the interface and the result has suffered from those attempts. Still others have tried to address all components, but have done so in such a cumbersome and expensive way as to make it prohibitive for much of the market. ASNA on the other hand allows its customers to address every element of legacy transformation and modernization in a very fast and cost-effective way."

ASNA helps companies move from RPG to .NET using methods and software that reflect the needs of the business. ASNA Visual RPG for .NET (AVR) is an RPG compiler for Microsoft's .NET platform, for use by companies seeking to retain RPG application portfolio assets, while also modernizing existing applications or developing new applications. AVR enables RPG programmers to modernize existing RPG applications, develop Web services, and extend iSeries/System i5 applications to .NET and the inherent support in service-oriented architecture, while continuing to program with a familiar, RPG-like syntax. AVR integrates into Microsoft's Visual Studio 2003/2005 and compiles to 100-percent verifiable Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL). According to ASNA, AVR for .NET is the only development solution available for Microsoft's .NET that specifically supports high performance access to the iSeries/400 database. AVR for .NET extends the life of the existing base of RPG source code and allows existing AS/400 program objects to be called from Windows or browser-based applications. Because of its RPG roots, AVR for .NET enhances the capabilities of RPG programmers. For example, any RPG development team can quickly build industry-standard Web services with AVR for .NET. For both tangible assets (source code, program objects, and data flows) and intangible assets (RPG programming teams and other stakeholders), AVR for .NET extends and preserves their combined value in the organization. AVR for .NET supports XML, XSL, SOAP, WSDL, UDDI, and a host of important standards. Selecting solutions that embrace these standards is an important strategy to ensure persistent integration between applications, and to avoid building proprietary, one-off solutions.

ASNA Monarch is designed for companies who must migrate all or portions of their RPG applications to Microsoft .NET. Using Monarch, developers automatically transform once-monolithic applications to become contemporary applications that support n-tier architectures, modern user interfaces, enterprise application integration, Web services, and similar capabilities using the Microsoft .NET platform, Monarch migrates individual programs, or entire applications, while preserving the original program logic and application functionality. Once migrated, applications may be managed, enhanced, or modified by either RPG or Visual Studio development teams. Monarch automates the processes required to both analyze and transform RPG programs to the Microsoft .NET platform, and single developers can migrate nearly 70,000 lines of RPG code in a single day.

PBSI
PBSI has been in the custom software development business for nearly 25 years. In the past, the company specialized in a number of migration technologies. Today, it's focusing on helping companies move from the AS/400 software platform to .NET via its .NETigration technology, which provides a migration path from iSeries legacy applications. "To me, what's going on in the legacy iSeries world is that a number of software companies have spent years developing and perfecting software for businesses that is written in RPG, and runs on the AS/400 environment. The main reason that those companies need to move to Windows and .NET is that there really aren't a lot of new companies buying that older platform. The software vendors have a product that they can't sell to these companies. They'll have a product that's probably installed in hundreds of customer locations, but for them to get a new customer, their best hope would be to displace another iSeries software vendor. For those companies, it's important to their future to evolve their product to run on vibrant, evolving relevant platforms," says Natalie Kilner, President and CEO of PBSI. "They need to be able to deliver product based on .NET."

PBSI takes a three-pronged approach to helping companies migrate. The company provides turn-key AS/400-iSeries extension and migration solutions that include the use of its proprietary software tools, methods, and processes. PBSI's extension solutions include: a phased installation of replacement software based on existing or new functionality; rewriting application software to take advantage of more contemporary platforms, while continuing to use or interface with iSeries application software and databases; or phased migrations of legacy application software where the ultimate result is a complete software migration. The result of PBSI's extension service offerings is the completion of a customer-defined project to take advantage of contemporary hardware and software platforms while maintaining connectivity to the iSeries legacy software and databases.

PBSI's migration solutions provide support for a total technology transformation of existing legacy application software to a contemporary hardware and software platform. The results of PBSI's service offering include contemporary software, tested and certified as accurate to pre-migration operational results. PBSI also trains the customer's current technical staff to operate in the new .NET environment—ensuring that the customer's investment in business/system knowledge is preserved going forward.

Once the legacy environment is successfully ported to .NET, all the advantages of Windows, Web applications, and the latest technology, become available to the IT organization. AS/400 applications are now also more accessible to C# and Visual Basic developers for ongoing enhancement and extension. Once the applications are in .NET, they seamlessly integrate with Word, Excel, and the Internet. Additionally, the organization is now able to select its future hardware purchases from a wide variety of commodity products, resulting in substantial reductions in both purchase and maintenance costs.