Rocket Mainframe DevOps

Change is Inevitable Did you know mainframes are used by 71% of Fortune 500 companies, and mainframes process 90% of credit card transactions (IBM)? The mainframe isn’t going anywhere— but there are going to be changes Software organizations must always look for new ways to adapt change to an ever-expanding software landscape. Challenges are often juxtaposed between software development practices such as Agile, waterfall, or hybrid, while they adopt modern software practices such as CIDC, DevOps or DevSecOps. What can’t be ignored are the governance and regulatory compliances companies need to implement and abide byin highly regulated industries such as finance, government, insurance, education, logistics and airlines. Compliance can’t be an afterthought—it needs to be folded into every software development organization. Many Vendors are Not Keeping up With Change In this modern world many vendors are not investing the time, effort, and capital needed to keep up with change. Is your ve

2022: Highlighting Customer Success It’s been a busy year for the Micro Focus Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) business.   There are far too many highlights to share in this short blog, but I did want to draw special attention to one new and exciting set of resources for modernization enthusiasts—resources which may also help influence future planning as we now look to 2023.  And to help accomplish that, I honestly can’t think of a better set of materials than these new customer success stories highlighting application, process, and infrastructure modernization.  A New Approach to Modernization For those that aren’t familiar with the Micro Focus modernization story, I’d encourage you to take a closer look.  It's a unique approach to IT transformation enabling developers and IT leaders to both run and transform while setting priorities to what, how and where modernization matters for their business and customers. Where agility and speed to market

Micro Focus Universe, our premier customer event of the year, taking place March 23-24. Virtual for 2022, the benefits for our Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) customers are real.  Hundreds have registered to see the latest market trends, innovations, and customer stories. We’ve rounded up the AMC sessions below—browse the keynote, breakout, and live studio sessions to find what you’re looking for to run and transform your organization. Take a look and be sure to book your spot at Universe here.  Day 1  Track Keynote—AMC: Provide Value at Each Step of the Journey In this AMC track keynote, Neil Fowler, Micro Focus Senior VP and General Manager will share the latest on mainframe modernization, COBOL development, mainframe access and security, as well as ecosystem investments enabling new opportunities for application modernization in the cloud.  Kill It with Fire: Manage Aging Computer Systems (and Future Proof Modern Ones) Join us for an exclusive

COBOL Needs YOU! Take the Survey Quantifying the use of COBOL worldwide matters. So, we have commissioned Vanson Bourne, global research and industry analysts, to measure enterprise usage through the Capturing COBOL in 2021 survey. Help us by taking the survey. Your feedback will help us create better products and solutions for you. It’s that simple. It takes around 10 minutes, participation is voluntary, and you can withdraw consent at any time. We invest millions of research & development dollars creating software innovations that solve real world customer problems. With your help, enterprise applications written in COBOL that run on distributed, mainframe and cloud platforms will continue to evolve and grow. Take the Capturing Cobol Survey now Vanson Bourne adheres to the Market Research Society Code of Conduct and takes protecting your personal data and privacy seriously. Our servers are UK-based. Change Management Masterclass: September 28 & 29 Managing

About 7 years ago I held a Customer Advisory Board, and I asked the 25+ customers in attendance how much open source they are adopting. I was surprised that only a handful of customers raised their hands. I then threw out some open source tool names like Git and Jenkins, thinking that may invoke more hands. Instead, I got several asking me what is Git and many of the rest grunted and said that Jenkins isn’t anything they’d ever consider because they required commercial offerings. A couple years later, I asked the same question and all of the customers in attendance, this time 30 of them, raised their hands. Most of them were repeat customers, which was impressive to see a fast moving trend of open source adoption. I then asked them what changed, given that a few short years ago there was disdain for open source tools. Their answers varied. But the common theme was that open source tools are easy to consume and it makes developers more successful as they tend to be tools they’re more fa

Catch Up on Micro Focus Universe!   Micro Focus Universe was crammed with Application Modernization & Connectivity. If you missed a session, then you are in luck. This edition of the AMC newsletter captures all the playback. Explore the Universe from wherever you are right now! What can you learn?  Event Keynote: James Barclay, Team Director, Jaguar Racing discussed our new technical partnership with Jaguar Racing. He explained how working together would help power digital transformation and leverage analytics and improve results on and off the track. The AMC track keynote with Neil Fowler, Senior VP and General Manager, Micro Focus: He addressed how digital transformation powers significant change, and your core systems of record. Many of these systems are mainframe-based and at the heart of delivering this new competitive advantage. The Micro Focus Modernization solution supports a transformational journey to create greater value from longstanding IT investments, on or

The Launch Talk about great timing!  Just four weeks after starting with the company, Micro Focus held their largest event of the year – Universe.  I was too new to be a presenter and everyone else was incredibly busy, so you might say I was left to take full advantage of the Universe by myself.  I hope you’ll enjoy seeing what the Universe looked like from my perspective. Let’s start our tour with CEO Stephen Murdoch’s opening keynote featuring Jaguar Racing’s Formula E.  Of course, he spoke about the effects of the pandemic, but I was most impressed with how he turned the challenges into opportunities for Micro Focus and our clients.  Businesses already knew that they needed to transform their technology, but the timer had run out.  The pandemic made adapting to the immediate issues and preparing for an increasingly “dynamic” future simultaneously urgent.  The time for digital transformation is now. My Galaxy: AMC Neil Fowler (VP and GM of AMC) mentioned two things that reall

Micro Focus AMC Universe Special   Micro Focus Universe, our premier customer event of the year, launches on March 23. Virtual for 2021, the benefits for our Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) customers are real. Hundreds have registered to see the latest market trends, innovations, and customer stories. This month’s newsletter is a round-up of the AMC sessions, as well as the usual blogs and webinars. Take a look and be sure to book your spot at Universe here.  Application Modernization–Why Digital Change is Driving New Strategies To adapt to a new landscape, enterprises must balance time to market, talent, and technology. That sounds like transformation, and more 70 percent of organizations choose modernization as their enabler of innovation and faster time to value. Find out why. Innovative Modernization–How a Financial Services Provider Enabled Digital Transformation  Transformation needs tighter alignment between core IT and business to exploit new m

Announcing Micro Focus Universe 2021 Save the date: Our premier annual customer event, Micro Focus Universe, is all set for March 23 and 24. Customers and partners alike will enjoy the interactive, high-energy Application Modernization & Connectivity track, a showcase for our COBOL, mainframe, and host connectivity solutions. ChangeMan Resources While automating CI/CD supports DevOps in modernizing mainframe development and delivery, automation remains the most challenging piece of the transformation puzzle for enterprises. ChangeMan ZMF automates processes to enhance the DevOps journey, and this webinar explains how to automate your CI/CD pipelines and quickly resolve any issues. Date: February 10, 2021 @ 11 a.m. EST  Register here Did you miss last year’s Change Management Masterclass? We have all the resources right here. Beta Program: Next Gen ACUCOBOL applications The web registration process for the extend 10.4 and AcuToWeb beta program is now live. Join developers sha

Set course for … Micro Focus Universe 2021 We are thrilled to announce that Micro Focus’ premier customer and partner event – Micro Focus Universe - is back for 2021! Make time in the week of March 22nd, and join us online at our showcase global event. As you would expect, Micro Focus Universe 2021 is going to be fully virtual, building on the success of our fabulous 2020 edition. In fact, this will be our fourth year running the Micro Focus Universe event format, and we are delighted to see the attendance and feedback just gets better and better. We hope you can join us in March!  All Things Modernization at the AMC track For our COBOL and Mainframe community, we are thrilled to announce the return of our very popular Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) Track. We are excited to be able to offer this comprehensive set of sessions for our AMC community.  Prior year AMC tracks were very popular, so be sure to secure your spot soon. We will be exploring the vital r

While summer winds down, life is revving up in the AMC sector. As ever, we will help keep you right up to date. This month–news of virtual events with real benefits, a chance to kick the tyres on new products, and the chance to begin your Digital Transformation journey. Let’s go! Mainframe Market Survey Results The Big COBOL Survey of 2019/20 captured the COBOL and mainframe market in data. It asked important strategic questions of business leaders around the world. What did they say? Join Micro Focus and industry research experts, Vanson Bourne, for this webinar. See how COBOL will continue to support the mainframe as enterprises begin their Digital Transformation journeys. Take the opportunity to better understand the survey results, and pose your questions. When is it? Wednesday, September 23, 2020 @ 12:00 PM CDT Register here Change Management Masterclass Micro Focus ChangeMan ZMF is definitely the software change, configuration, and release management solution for z/OS. But you co

The COBOL Survey is still open! There is still time to complete the Big COBOL Survey. As part of our efforts to make continuous improvements to Micro Focus COBOL and Mainframe technology, we have commissioned Vanson Bourne to conduct a study on your thoughts and experiences of using enterprise business applications. As one of Micro Focus' valued customers, prospects and previous customers, we want to hear your opinions: Take the survey And, don’t forget to register and join us on February 12, 2020 @ 11 a.m. EST for a look at the data, insights and commentary on the survey results. Register for the webinar here. Top Reasons to attend #DevDay Are you a COBOL & Mainframe user? Not signed up for #DevDay yet? Worry not. There are still spaces available at all of our #DevDay locations! But why should you attend? Discover Micro Focus – through product roadmap & future strategy Build new skills with hands-on experience of modern delivery tools & practices Network with your peer