Author Archives: Mike Madden

Modernising Remotely

We have all been affected in some way by the various lockdowns, and although IT has traditionally been well served by remote working, an occasional on site presence during a lengthy and technically complex modernisation project should not be underestimated. It is your opportunity to ask the difficult questions face to face to gauge the […]

MMU 2020

Disappointing end to Live Projects 2020 with the lockdown preventing proper completion and denying the students the opportunity to demonstrate their talents. However, we have taken away the work as something to build on, and we are committed to getting involved in 2021 when two of our projects including a measuring system for plasterers, and […]

Legacy Modernisation: A Hidden Menace!

After much deliberation, agonising over strategy, considering the views from diametrically opposed technicians, you have finally decided to proceed with a Legacy Modernisation project. Your business case makes it a no-brainer. Millions saved in licensing costs in year one alone. Your old COBOL applications, a mixture of time-consuming batch and archaic CICS screens, will be […]

Happy Birthday Dear COBOL: Part Three

COBOL celebrates its 60th birthday in 2019. This is the last in a three part blog looking at the cultural and technological changes that it has endured within its lifetime. Approaching the new millennium the spectre of Y2K loomed large… 1999 was much anticipated. The end of the century, the beginning of the Euro, and […]

Happy Birthday Dear COBOL: Part Two

COBOL celebrates its 60th birthday in 2019. This is the second in a three part blog looking at the cultural and technological changes that it has endured within its lifetime. We pick up the story in the mid 1970s. COBOL had survived its early growing pains and was in a period of stability… Elsewhere, things […]

Happy Birthday Dear COBOL: Part One

COBOL celebrates its 60th birthday in 2019. This is the first in a three part blog looking at the cultural and technological changes that it has endured within its lifetime. Happy birthday dear COBOL, happy birthday to you! Those of you who follow such events, and those of you who may have seen snippets on […]

The History Of (My) Coding – Part 11 Elvis To The End

My legacy modernisation company had started well, but not without some sizeable bumps in the road. It was time for some consolidation… By mid 2015 the Proof Of Concept had drifted towards an unsatisfactory though predictable conclusion, but I was getting several leads from Microfocus. These were all COBOL users that had no idea how […]