Flashline Announces Practical Governance of IBM Mainframe Application Assets
IBM WebSphere Studio Asset Analyzer integration to identify, unleash valuable zSeries and S/390 assets for enterprise reuse
CLEVELAND - November 8, 2004 - Flashline(r), a leading provider of software asset management solutions, today announced an integration with IBM WebSphere* Studio Asset Analyzer (WSAA) to automatically harvest artifacts from mainframe systems and load them into the Flashline Registry(tm). This integration strengthens and extends the relationship between the two companies and provides measurable value for companies with a significant mainframe investment. With the Flashline WSAA integration, organizations can manage legacy software assets in the context of an entire enterprise application portfolio.
WSAA scans S/390 and distributed assets, including COBOL, PL/I, JCL, CICS, and IMS. Flashline's IBM WebSphere Studio Asset Analyzer Connector automatically populates the Flashline Registry with information about the mainframe assets, enabling them to be shared with development teams across the enterprise alongside Java and .NET artifacts. Teams can quickly review asset interdependencies, workflows, e-business ratings, and data dependencies. Additionally, enterprise architects and systems analysts can choose to attach contextual information to each artifact, including detailed descriptions, a prediction of net hours saved due to reuse, requirements and constraints.
"Organizations whose applications have been built on a mainframe infrastructure over the last several decades are now trying to extend their life by providing a services-oriented interface to these applications. Knowledge about their current implementation is necessary to develop the service layer, as well as manage it once in production," states Dale Vecchio, Research Director in Application Development, Gartner, Inc. "Understanding legacy systems is the first step on the road to application modernization. The subsequent management of these service-enabled applications as assets, so they may be effectively reused, requires a technical and cultural commitment to tools and processes to ensure this investment is not wasted. Re-use requires the ability to find these services and an organizational culture that rewards this approach."
This solution enables organizations with a significant mainframe application investment to cost-effectively unleash the power of that investment in mixed-workload environments while governing artifact reuse in the context of overall strategic business objectives. Using Flashline, companies can relate their overall business goals to their project portfolio, their enterprise architecture and, finally, the individual application assets built or used in the software development and change management cycle. In addition, end-to-end traceability from applications down to their data elements helps companies manage the inherent risk to multiple projects when changes are made in one project.
"Reusing mainframe-based assets is a practical, cost-effective, and low-risk approach to building mixed-workload environments that meet the rigors of an adaptive, on-demand enterprise," states Yvonne Perkins, Vice President, E-server AIM Tools, IBM. "This integration of IBM's WSAA and the Flashline Registry makes mainframe software assets more visible, understandable, and reusable."
"Finally, enterprises can unlock doors of their legacy temple," states Charles Stack, CEO, Flashline. "Exposing S/390-based assets to distributed development teams dramatically increases the value of the software assets under management, encourages reuse and allows for faster, more nimble development cycles."
Flashline's IBM WebSphere Studio Asset Analyzer Connector uses the new Flashline Extensibility Framework recently introduced with Flashline Registry version 4.2 and works with IBM WSAA version 3.1. For more information, contact sales@flashline.com or visit http://www.flashline.com.
About Flashline, Inc.
Flashline delivers Software Asset Management solutions to improve the governance of enterprise-wide IT programs. For more information visit http://www.flashline.com.
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