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COBOL

COBOL modernisation: we fix it, then we get you off it

Your COBOL system probably works very well. That isn't the problem. The problem is that the people who can read it are retiring. We read it, write down what it does and move you on, without losing what it knows.

Talk to Rob and Jaseor ring 01474 639 089

You'll be talking to one of us, not a salesperson.

COBOL isn't broken

In a lot of organisations it's the most dependable thing they run. Batch processing, financial calculations, payroll, billing and logistics, ticking along for 20, 30 or 40 years. We're not going to tell you that's a disgrace.

The risk is dependency. Fewer people can maintain it every year, and retirement is the main reason. Decades of business rules live only in the code. Modern platforms don't speak COBOL, so every integration gets more awkward. And a failure in a system nobody fully understands costs far more than a planned move.

We have a COBOL developer. His name's Kevin.

That's not a common thing to find in a UK software company. Kevin is part of the team here, which means we read the code ourselves, work out the business logic in it, and make sure none of that's lost when we rebuild it in modern PHP, Python or Laravel.

AI helps here too. It's very good at explaining unfamiliar code, and that gets us through a large system faster. But checking that a rule has been understood correctly takes someone who knows COBOL, and someone who understands your business.

We don't recommend COBOL for anything new. Nobody does. We're rescuing you from it.

How we'd go about it

  1. Assess it

    What's there, what it does, what depends on it, and what happens if it stops.

  2. Document it

    Get the business rules out of the code and into plain English, including the edge cases and exceptions nobody remembers adding.

  3. Move it in stages

    No big-bang switchover. You should never have to bet the business on one weekend.

  4. Prove it matches

    The new system has to give the same answers as the old one before anybody relies on it.

  5. Look after it

    Once it's moved, we look after it, so you don't end up with the same problem in twenty years.

There's nothing wrong with old code that still works. The real risk is when only one person left understands it. We modernise these systems carefully, in stages, so you're never betting the business on a big-bang switchover.
Rob Sherwood, co-founder

Not COBOL, but just as old?

We take on all sorts of old software. If it's running your business and worrying you, we'd like to see it.

Tell us what you've got

It goes straight to Rob and Jase. You'll hear back from one of us, usually the same day, and we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right people.

Book a call with usor ring 01474 639 089