Category Archives: COBOL

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 […]

The History Of (My) Coding – Part 10 Loans And Long Haul

After leaving a safe and well paid job the brave new world of Legacy Modernisation awaited. However, it did not all go according to plan… Things started slowly for the new company. I had a couple of minor engagements, including changes to the website of a wholesale fruit and vegetable merchant. Of course, I didn’t […]

The History Of (My) Coding – Part 9 Americans, Dutch And Rock And Roll

With seven graduates integrated into the IT department I was free to move on to other things, but first I had to persuade the new management team that “The Training Guy” could do more than just teach… As the graduate training programme came to an end in the autumn of 2008, and the new management regime […]

The History Of (My) Coding – Part 8 Pirates And Pupils

After eleven years as a freelancer I was given the option to take a permanent role at a place I knew well… In truth it was not a difficult decision. The COBOL gravy train was showing signs of being derailed, and IR35 was a threat to the contract profession everywhere. I went to the pub […]

The History Of (My) Coding – Part 7 Pool And Panto

New century, new start. Or in my case, not so new as I returned to familiar ground in the centre of Manchester… Agencies can be a rare and strange breed. Even when you decide that you want to switch contracts they rarely help you, its almost as if they are in denial. This appeared to […]

The History Of (My) Coding – Part 6 Birdies And Bugs

After three contracts travelling to Leeds, Chester and Oldham, it was a welcome change to head back to the easily commutable Manchester city centre… By Spring 1996 the fashion retailer had ditched Mantis. The 4GL that worked particularly well with the hierarchical database Supra was causing all sorts of problems. Performance, record locks, unfamiliarity; it […]