In today’s evolving tech landscape, companies that run CA 2E (Synon) on IBM i face significant challenges hindering progress and sustainability. Synon represents a fraction of the market share in IBM i environments, far behind RPG and COBOL, and IBM’s recent announcement to cease PL/I support in future OS versions will impact compliance for SOX-regulated and other industries.
Moreover, shifts in ownership – from Computer Associates to Broadcom – cast doubt on Synon’s long-term viability and continued support. A dwindling pool of Synon developers, brittle applications that are difficult to integrate with modern technologies, and cryptic database structures further add pressures to Synon shops.
So, what do you do with your Synon applications? We highlighted some options in a recent blog post. One option is to “keep the lights on” – a risky choice that involves maintaining the status quo despite significant long-term challenges. You can also adopt a packaged application. While this might seem like a safe bet, packaged applications are often costly and fail to provide the level of customization companies have come to rely on. You might be tempted to rewrite applications from scratch, but these projects are typically five times costlier than automated code transformation and they take 2X to 3X longer to complete (if you manage to complete the project).
The most attractive and viable option is using tool-assisted automation to transform Synon applications to Java. This approach requires a lower investment and ensures faster time to market… Read more on IT Jungle.
