eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Oracle announced the release of Oracle Tuxedo ART 12c, which includes Oracle Tuxedo Application Runtime for IBM CICS, IMS and Batch; and Oracle Tuxedo Application Rehosting Workbench.
Oracle Tuxedo ART 12c helps enterprises reduce IT costs, compared to their current mainframes, by rehosting larger-scale mainframe applications more rapidly and running them more efficiently on traditional Linux/UNIX servers, engineered systems and in enterprise clouds. Powered by Oracle Tuxedo 12c and optimized for Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud, Oracle Tuxedo ART 12c delivers up to 8x performance gains for rehosted IBM CICS and IMS applications.
The new Tuxedo technology provides a number of new features to help migrate IBM CICS, IMS, and batch applications faster, by automating configuration and deployment with new Oracle Tuxedo Application Rehosting Workbench tools and supporting new client UI options. The latest release also makes the post-migration evolution of these applications easier with new Java services extensibility and enhanced standards-based integration options, Oracle said.
The perceived costs, complexities and risks tied to large-scale mainframe migration projects can deter some organizations from reaping the benefits of moving to open, flexible and scalable cloud environments, said Frank Xiong, vice president of software development at Oracle, in a statement. Oracle ART 12c greatly simplifies application rehosting for larger-scale applications by reducing the cost and time associated with mainframe migration projects. This gives customers the flexibility they need to transition to high performance cloud environments and reduce IT costs.
Oracle Tuxedo Application Runtimes 12c can be used to run large scale mainframe applications more efficiently on horizontally scalable open systems and enterprise clouds with simplified provisioning, virtualization, dynamic scale-out, accounting/chargeback and integrated monitoring and management at a fraction of mainframe cost. And Oracle Tuxedo Application Runtimes 12c provide mainframe programming models, while leveraging the distributed infrastructure and the high performance of Oracle Tuxedo 12c. Combined with the automated code and data migration tools in Oracle Tuxedo Application Rehosting Workbench 12c, this solution can simplify and accelerate mainframe rehosting projects while reducing overall cost and risk. The software reduces infrastructure and operations costs by more than 50 percent by rehosting IBM mainframe applications on an open, dynamically scalable enterprise cloud environment.
The system also integrates existing Windows clients, using CICS Universal Client with Oracle Tuxedo Application Runtime for CICS, to help avoid any impact on clients and front-end applications, while rehosting the back-end CICS services to Oracle Tuxedo. And it provides a solid foundation for enterprise cloud deployments of rehosted mainframe applications using application runtimes for CICS, IMS and batch. It also simplifies application provisioning and virtualization using Oracle Exalogic and Oracle Virtual Assembly Builder to package rehosted applications into software appliances and automate deployment through Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c, Oracle said.
Meanwhile, the focus on the mainframe is seeing a resurgence with other vendors and not only mainframe maker IBM, which continues to update its mainframe hardware and software portfolios. In a recent report, analyst Jillian Mirandi of Technology Business Research (TBR), said CA Technologies will focus on increasing profitability in FY13 through a renewed focus on its mainframe solutions portfolio.
In FY2013, CA Technologies will focus on profitability over growth a far-fetched concept to up-and-coming tech vendors such as Salesforce, ServiceNow and Box but a concept that a company with a large and established customer base will benefit from. CA Technologies traditional mainframe solutions business, although decreasing 3% year-to-year, increased its operating margins from 57% to 59% resulting in $368 million in profit, Mirandi said. In short the mainframe business accounts for 84% of CA Technologies profits, while generating just over half of its revenue. The enterprise solutions business was flat year-to-year, with operating margins decreasing from 11% to 8% (not including IP sales).
Mirandi added that in order to increase focus on the mainframe solutions portfolio, CA Technologies is doing things: 1) releasing more mainframe-based solutions; and 2) expanding its CA Global Partner Program to include mainframe modernization solutions. TBR believes that the company will remain focused on its more profitable portfolio, along with private and hybrid cloud solutions, in coming quarters through continued product launches and partner incentives. By focusing on mainframe solutions, CA Technologies will not experience the rapid growth it had hoped through initial cloud-based acquisitions.