Future of Net Express

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 13 September 2011]

With all the different variations of the COBOLs and "Express" products. Is there a migration path that things are going away from Net Express and going into Visual COBOL or some other product?

NormanG

The future direction of all COBOL products going forward, including Net Express, Server Express, ACU and RM is Visual COBOL.

Visual COBOL is currently offered for a variety of platforms, utilizing either Visual Studio 2010 or Eclipse as its IDE.

Please check here for more information on Visual COBOL

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 13 September 2011]

With all the different variations of the COBOLs and "Express" products. Is there a migration path that things are going away from Net Express and going into Visual COBOL or some other product?

NormanG

So does this mean that there will be no Net Express 5.2 or 6.0? When might this occur?

NormanG

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 13 September 2011]

With all the different variations of the COBOLs and "Express" products. Is there a migration path that things are going away from Net Express and going into Visual COBOL or some other product?

NormanG

There was no update-price from NX to VS for Eclise last time I asked. It is sold as a 'new' product. Dialog system is dropped and no upgrade path exist. NX seems to be dropped as well as customers using it...

[Migrated content. Thread originally posted on 13 September 2011]

With all the different variations of the COBOLs and "Express" products. Is there a migration path that things are going away from Net Express and going into Visual COBOL or some other product?

NormanG

Gentlemen, you've raised several important questions, thanks for the post.

First of all, Norman asked about the future of Net Express:

Both Net Express and Server Express have played a central role in the Micro Focus product line for well over a decade now, offering robust and stable solutions for COBOL development and deployment on Windows and Linux platforms -- they have not been dropped and we will continue to support these products.

As we look to the future, we see the emergence of new platforms around cloud and mobile, the increasing adoption of Java and .NET and with them, the need to integrate core business functions into these environments. For many businesses, .NET and JAVA are rapidly becoming strategic platforms within their own roadmaps and is a key reason why we’ve created Visual COBOL.

However, we also recognise that deployment to these new platforms is unlikely to be a single step for most. Visual COBOL is not exclusively a managed code environment, native code support remains a key capability offered within the product. Combine this with excellent interoperability support and we can begin to see how existing applications can take advantage of managed code technologies.

As the subject of Dialog System was also mentioned, I’m pleased to report that we intend to provide a Dialog System add pack to Visual COBOL before the end of the year. This add pack will enable existing DS applications to be built within the Visual Studio 2010 IDE and deployed using the COBOL 2010 Runtime. Please email me (address below) if you are interested in receiving updates on the availability of this technology.

Not every business will have requirements for these platforms today and may choose to continue using Net Express/Server Express which is entirely okay. However, many are looking for ways to support the development and maintenance of existing COBOL systems. Whilst Visual COBOL does not in itself resolve any skill shortage, it does deliver a COBOL development system within the context of industry standard tooling that is used by millions of developers worldwide every day. COBOL being ‘just another language’ within Eclipse or Visual Studio, is an important part in helping to lower risk and drive business efficiency.

Which brings us onto the question of upgrades that Lars has raised:

There is most definitely an upgrade option for existing Net Express and Server Express customers and furthermore, for a limited period, there are highly incentivising commercial reasons for upgrading.

Please contact your account manager to find out more, alternatively, contact me (details below) and I will put you in touch with someone who can advise you on upgrade options.

Scot Nielsen
Product Manager - COBOL

scot.nielsen@microfocus.com