Modernization Workbench®

Modernization Workbench

Business Benefits

The Modernization Workbench increases the business value of existing enterprise applications.

The Modernization Workbench is a powerful software platform that increases the business value of organizations' existing applications. The industry-leading technology enables the complete Enterprise Application Modernization lifecycle, permitting users to understand, manage, modernize, and maintain their core applications.

Unlike high-level scanners or niche tools, the Modernization Workbench provides rich technical and business insights across dozens of languages -- on mainframe, mid-range, and distributed environments -- in 70% less time than alternative approaches. The platform generates and then stores this detailed application knowledge in a standards-based repository.

The platform offers multiple modules that leverage the collected information to accelerate knowledge transfer, IT governance, application modeling, SOA enablement, sustaining engineering, and other high-value activities. And through the Enterprise Application Modernization Framework, third-party technologies can be readily integrated with the platform to yield customized modernization solutions.



The Modernization Workbench includes these modules:

  • Application Analyzer™ provides deep understanding and governance of complex application portfolios.
  • Application Express™ provides rapid access to application analysis via Integrated Development Environments.
  • Application Portfolio Manager™ provides browser-based dashboards that enable users to identify, prioritize, and execute modernization initiatives.
  • SOA Analyzer™ accelerates the path to SOA-ready enterprise applications.
  • Business Rule Manager™ enables organizations to discover, govern, and extend the value of existing business logic.
  • Application Remodeler™ enables the rapid modeling and leveraging of business processes embedded within existing applications.
  • Application Architect™ renovates complex applications to be efficient, flexible, and SOA-ready.
  • Transformation Assistant™ accelerates the modernization of legacy applications to flexible Java code.

The Modernization Workbench enables the entire Enterprise Application Modernization lifecycle. This allows organizations to:

Understand Enterprise Applications

Enterprise applications tend to become more complex and less understood over time. Documentation gradually loses its relevance, subject matter experts move to other roles, and the pressures of daily maintenance lead to rising complexity. This impairs management's ability to develop an application modernization roadmap that delivers more agile and efficient operations.

The Modernization Workbench answers this challenge with thorough inventories and documentation across the application portfolio. The platform demystifies millions of lines of code, offering dynamic visualizations and powerful reports on even the most complex enterprise applications. In fact, customer-led ROI studies have shown that the Modernization Workbench generates documentation 70% more quickly than manual approaches.

Further, users can rely on the Modernization Workbench to harvest business rules and business processes 74% faster than alternative methods. The resulting models provide further insight into the structure and behavior of the application portfolio. Armed with these details, managers reduce the risk of 'black box' application portfolios, and can plan their path to flexible, efficient, and modernized enterprise applications.

Principal modules deployed:

Manage Enterprise Applications

Enterprise applications automate the very core operations of today's businesses. As a result, it is imperative that managers employ effective IT governance over their application portfolios. Doing so permits managers to make intelligent decisions regarding paths to Enterprise Application Modernization that yield the most value from their existing applications.

The Modernization Workbench offers metrics dashboards that give users detailed insight into the health and value of their enterprise applications. Managers can rely on this data to determine which applications should be priorities for modernization activities and which should be returned to maintenance.

Unlike high-level scanning tools that merely offer surface details about the application portfolio, the Modernization Workbench provides a complete solution. Once the Modernization Workbench has enabled decisions to be made, other professionals can drill deeper into the Modernization Workbench's repository and functionality to execute the selected application modernization and application maintenance strategies.

Principal modules deployed:

Modernize Enterprise Applications

The next stage in the Enterprise Application Modernization lifecycle is to execute on the identified opportunities. How an application is modernized can take many forms. For some organizations, modernization may involve redeveloping an application in a better-supported language. The Modernization Workbench enables this activity through analysis and business rule and process discovery that speed the transition of applications' essence to redevelopment specifications.

For other organizations, modernization may involve moving functionality to a service-oriented architecture (SOA). The Modernization Workbench accelerates these initiatives through SOA-focused analysis and the ability to isolate business logic into SOA-ready components. For still other organizations modernization may involve retiring an application from the application portfolio. The Modernization Workbench speeds this process by analyzing interfacing systems that could be impacted by the retirement.

Regardless of which of the many paths to modernization that an organization takes, the Modernization Workbench accelerates the initiative. Unlike niche vendors that enable just one form of application modernization, the Modernization Workbench enables a broad spectrum of initiatives -- increasing your flexibility.

Principal modules deployed:

Maintain Enterprise Applications

The average organization spends 60-80% of its budget simply maintaining existing systems. To encourage application efficiency and operational flexibility, these organizations must liberate resources from inefficient maintenance practices. The Modernization Workbench enables this through rich analysis and documentation capabilities that improve the efficiency and responsiveness of maintenance teams. In fact, customer-led ROI studies have shown that large change requests are completed in as much as 50% less time than with alternative approaches.

The Modernization Workbench also provides insights for managers to locate, understand, and specify enhancements to existing business logic. Developers can query the application to understand the affected code in more detail and to determine how the proposed change could affect the rest of the application portfolio. Once executed, the Modernization Workbench repository remains current, ensuring that documentation is up-to-date and usable.

Principal modules deployed: