Accelerating Mainframe Offload to MongoDB with TCS MasterCraft™

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading multinational information technology services and consulting company, leverages its IP-based solutions to accelerate and optimize service delivery. TCS MasterCraft™ TransformPlus uses intelligent automation to modernize and migrate enterprise-level mainframe applications to new, leading-edge architectures and databases like MongoDB. In this blog, we’ll review the reasons why organizations choose to modernize and how TCS has made the process easy and relatively risk-free.

Background

Legacy Modernization

Legacy modernization is a strategic initiative that enables you to refresh your existing database and applications portfolio by applying the latest innovations in development methodologies, architectural patterns, and technologies.

  • At the current churn rate, about half of today’s S&P 500 firms will be replaced over the next 10 years
  • $100T of economic value is ready to be unlocked over the next decade via digital transformation

Source

Legacy System Challenges

Legacy technology platforms of the past, particularly monolithic mainframe systems, have always been challenged by the pace of disruptive digitalization. Neither the storage nor the accessibility of these rigid systems is agile enough to meet the increasing demands of volume, speed, and data diversity generated by modern digital applications. The result is noise between the legacy system of record and digital systems of engagement.

This noise puts companies at a competitive disadvantage. It often manifests as a gap between customer service and user experience, impeding the delivery of new features and offerings and constraining the business from responding nimbly to changing trends.

Operational costs of mainframe and other legacy systems have also skyrocketed. With each million instructions per second (MIPS) costing up to $4,000 per year, these older systems can create the equivalent of nearly 40% of an organization’s IT budget in technical debt, significantly increasing the overall annual run cost. And as qualified staff age and retire over the years, it’s becoming harder to find and hire people with the required mainframe skills.

To manage MIPS consumption, a large number of our customers are offloading commonly accessed mainframe data to an independent operational data layer (ODL), to which queries are redirected from consuming applications.

IT experts understand both the risk and the critical need to explore modernization options like encapsulation, rehosting, replatforming, refactoring, re-architecting, or rebuilding to replace these legacy systems. The key considerations when choosing an approach are familiar: risk of business disruption, cost, timelines, productivity, and the availability of the necessary skills.

MongoDB + TCS MasterCraft™ TransformPlus = Transformation Catalyst

To stay competitive, businesses need their engineering and IT teams to do these three things, among others:

  • Build innovative digital apps fast
  • Use data as a competitive moat to protect and grow their business
  • Lower cost and risk while improving customer experience

Some customers use a “lift and shift” approach to move workloads off the mainframe to cloud for immediate savings, but that process can’t unlock the value that comes with microservice architectures and document databases. Others gain that value by re-architecting and rewriting their applications, but this approach can be time consuming, expensive, and risky. More and more, customers are using a tools-driven refactoring approach to intelligently automate code conversion.

What TCS MasterCraft™ TransformPlus Brings to the Table

TCS MasterCraft™TransformPlus automates the migration of legacy applications and databases to modern architectures like MongoDB. It extracts business logics from decades-old legacy mainframe systems as a convertible, NoSQL document data model for deployment. This makes extraction faster, easier, and more economical, and reduces the risk that comes with rewriting legacy applications.

With more than 25 years of experience, TCS’s track record includes:

  • 60+ modernization projects successfully delivered
  • 500M+ lines of COBOL code analyzed
  • 25M+ lines of COBOL code converted to Java
  • 50M+ new lines of Java code auto-generated

What MongoDB Brings to the Table

MongoDB’s document data model platform can help make development cycles up to 5 times faster. Businesses can drive innovation faster, cut costs by 70% or more, and reduce their risk at the same time.

As a developer, MongoDB gives you:

  • The best way to work with data
  • The ability to put data where you need it
  • The freedom to run anywhere

Why is TCS collaborating with MongoDB for Mainframe Offload?

Cost. Redirecting queries away from the mainframe to the ODL significantly reduces costs. Even cutting just 20%-30% in MIPS consumption can save millions of dollars in mainframe operating costs.

Agility. As an ODL built on a modern data platform, MongoDB helps developers build new apps and digital experiences 3—5 times faster than is possible on a mainframe.

User Experience. MongoDB meets demands for exploding data volumes and user populations by scaling out on commodity hardware, with self-healing replicas that maintain 24x7 service.

More details can be found here.

How TCS MasterCraftTM Accelerates Mainframe Offload to MongoDB

TCS Mastercraft Accelerates Mainframe Offload to MongoDB

Data Migration

  • Configures target document schema to corresponding relational schema
  • Automatically transforms relational data from mainframe sources to MongoDB documents
  • Loads data to MongoDB Atlas with the latest connector support

Application Migration

  • Facilitates a cognitive code analysis-based application knowledge repository
  • Ensures complete, comprehensive application knowledge extraction
  • Automates conversion of application logic from COBOL to Java, with data access layer accessing data from MongoDB
  • Splits monolithic code into multiple microservices
  • Automates migration of mainframe screens to AngularJS-based UI

Together, TCS MasterCraft™ TransformPlus and MongoDB can simplify and accelerate your journey to the cloud, streamlining and protecting your data while laying the foundation for digital success. Download the Modernization Guide to learn more.

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Decoding Inclusion: The Intersection of Race and LGBTQ+ Issues

Earlier this year, MongoDB launched “Decoding Inclusion,” an internal event series for our employees aimed at building community and foundational knowledge on various diversity and inclusion topics such as neurodiversity and racial justice. In June, we had a Decoding Inclusion session focused on the intersection of race and LGBTQ+ issues. The movement surrounding racial equity and police brutality in the U.S. is an opportunity to understand and discuss the role of trans people of color in the origins of Pride and the LGBTQ+ community’s fight for civil rights. Jonathan Balsano (he/him), who is a Lead Software Developer at MongoDB and leads our employee affinity group "Queeries," was the moderator, and Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza (they/them) and Dr. Koach Baruch Frazier (he/him/they/them) joined us as speakers. Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, who founded the Activist Theology Project , is trained as a constructive philosophical theologian and ethicist and practices public theology via film, writing, and speaking engagements. Dr. Koach is a healer and musician who is working towards the day everyone experiences liberation. He helps people reconnect with the world around them by helping them improve their hearing and providing love and support through revolutionary listening. Pictured (from left to right): Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Jonathan Balsano, and Dr. Koach Baruch Frazier The Conversation: A Brief Recap (Note this transcript has been edited and condensed) We began the session watching this video about the Stonewall riots in 1969, which were demonstrations by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began on June 28th, 1969. We discussed many key figures who stood on the front-lines of the demonstrations — like Marsha P. Johnson, for example, who was a Black, transgender pioneer, activist, and a self-identified drag queen. After watching the video, we began our discussion. Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza : Thank you for hosting a pivotal conversation in a moment in history. I move in the world with power, access, and privilege because of my skin privilege, but I live in sections of marginality with the intersection of gender, sexuality, and race. I’m very excited to be here! Dr. Koach Baruch Frazier : I come to you as a Black trans Jew living at the intersection where life can be hard and is hard, and yet there is also joy, and I’m thriving. I want to be able to hold all of that as we talk about this important story within queer history, where there is joy and celebration of life as well as tragedy. What is your recollection of Pride personally? Dr. Robyn : I remember the first Pride event I attended. I had just finished my first graduate degree in Chicago and went to Chicago Pride. I had moved from a small town in West Texas to the big city of Chicago and was confronted with the rest of the world, but when I went to Pride, it was a mostly white and male event. I love the gay men in my life, but what I was hungry for was where are the LatinX people, the people of color. Because that’s who I was surrounded by growing up but I didn’t see that at Pride. It took many years for me to see that people of color have a separate Pride. Dr. Koach : I went to Pride for the first time when I attended St. Louis University. My first interaction with Pride was Black Pride. That’s how I got enculturated into the queer community in St. Louis. I didn’t know much about this other Pride, all I knew was about Black Pride, and I was so happy to be around Black queer people. I felt like I searched for my family all my life and I finally found them. Then I was exposed to more corporate Pride and found myself disappointed both in representation and in the narrative that our movement was only about marriage. Me being a trans person didn’t come into the conversation at all. Jonathan : A lot of what you’re saying is resonant for me. As a white cis gay man, my own relationship with Pride was complicated, for a long time, by wanting to assimilate. It wasn't until after college that I felt comfortable attending a Pride event, because I felt like going to one was too radical for me, and that made me feel as if there wasn't space for me. Now, there are two things that always hit me hard at Pride. One is the parents who are willing to be a part of Pride. Having parental support in such a public way is something I didn’t always feel like I had, and when I see that, it always makes me want to cry. The second thing is acknowledging people who have lost their lives. After the Pulse nightclub shooting and now as we focus on the impact of police brutality, we all need to take a moment to stop and acknowledge these are people who lost their lives and can't be here to celebrate with us. Amidst all the celebration of pride, it's important to simultaneously hold onto the idea that celebration is a privilege when so many others are fighting for their lives. We all have these distinctive Pride experiences, and we remain curious about what can become of our community. What is your imagination for our community? Dr. Koach : If I’m dreaming really wildly, my hope is that the people who are at the center of the target for white supremacy culture in terms of transphobia, misogyny, and so on are at the center of our attention. I also hope we are able to do the work. I want us to approach each other with different kinds of energy where I don't make assumptions about who you are and you don’t make assumptions about who I am, but instead, we see each other for who we really are. Jonathan : I want us to be at a place where we feel comfortable examining our own identities so that we can understand why we might look at somebody else and not recognize what they are going through and what they need help with. I think we should be able to interrogate ourselves about why we might deny that help to someone else. One of the things that took me a long time to understand was the internalized misogyny I was holding onto. This was part of why I avoided Pride and the queer community in general. I was worried about coming off as too feminine myself, and I would judge gay men who were too feminine. It's just one small facet of the ways power dynamics that have been ingrained in us from society play out. So when I dream, I think it would be amazing if we can be a community that supports one another in interrogating within ourselves where those feelings come from. How has Pride and Black Lives Matter worked together (or not) during this time, especially during a pandemic? Dr. Robyn : LA Pride worked with Black Lives Matter Los Angeles to do a Black Lives Matter march in place of Pride. I saw that as a sharing of space and leadership and bringing together our different movements. As we know, Pride isn’t just white people, so it’s really wonderful to see these big cultural movements come together and support one another. That's one really tangible way. Dr. Koach : It’s regional. There are some places where the relationship has been fostered for years or other areas where it’s strained. In St, Louis, the Black trans community said there is no Pride until Black trans lives matter, and I have seen that conversation happen around the country. There are folks on the street saying "Pride, get your act together, and you need to disconnect from the police," and that is an ongoing campaign where we understand what safety means for all members of our community and work on how we can achieve actual safety for all of us. People are trying to see where they fit in, and I’m grateful for that and I hope that continues. Jonathan : For New York, there is usually the Pride "parade" and then there's the Queer Liberation March. The Queer Liberation March was still scheduled for this year as a march for Black lives against police brutality. So the question is, what is Pride at its root? In New York, we think of the parade, a celebration that is now on several news networks. But at the same time there are people marching in the Queer Liberation March in protest, drawing attention this year to BLM and police brutality, and in the past to sex workers' rights and other issues that disproportionately affect the queer and trans community. What is the role of religion between LGBTQ+ Pride and race rights? Dr. Koach : A rabbi I learned from says we have to have queer folks looking at religious texts, because when they see the text, they see themselves in the text. Just like back when women were able to study the scripture they saw themselves in the text and we got a feminist theology, so queer people can create a liberation theology. Dr. Robyn : As someone who is trained in Christian tradition, I see a lot of energy at Pride and other LGBTQ+ related events where Christian supremacy is not only present but is also violent toward our community. I agree with Dr. Koach that trans and queer people need to be interpreting text on their own terms so that we can create religious narratives to create conditions for flourishing in our communities. How can that be a liberative experience for the queer and trans people in the congregation, and how can it be liberative for me even though these narratives have been formed to oppress me? How can we also have a power analysis when we think about religious traditions? Many queer and trans people feel like there is no space for them in religion or spirituality, but scripture has been weaponized against our community to marginalize us and that breeds loneliness and disconnection from the larger community. This is why for a lot of people, church is having brunch on a Sunday — and I want to say that is just as sacred and holy as being in a church house on a Sunday. If you could choose a focus for the movement, what would it be? Dr. Robyn : That’s a big question. I immediately go to housing for queer and trans people. Housing is a need for people to flourish, and it is a human right. People need to have their basic needs met. If we can create conditions for people to have housing, I think that would eliminate so much violence. Dr. Koach : In addition, when we think about basic things people need to survive, I think of food, shelter, and some form of connection to other people. It doesn't have to be a physical connection, but some kind of connection to other humans. Trans folks need that too, so how can we make sure trans folks have food, shelter and connection to other humans — all of which are basic things stripped away from trans people, especially trans people of color, just because we want to live and breathe. I just want to be able to go to the grocery store without being harassed so I can buy food and eat at my kitchen table. How do we ensure we have basic rights? Can you speak to intersection of marginalized individuals with disabilities and people with chronic conditions? Dr. Robyn : Largely all of our communities have erased people living with mental health challenges and experiences and different abilities. Part of what we do at my organization, Faith Matters Network , is connect the dots and help people understand the reality we live in. So much of supremacy culture has made it impossible for people with disabilities to live in our communities. This is also true for Pride, where not everything is accessible. We need to realize there are people living with varying degrees of abilities in our communities, so what is stopping us from exposing people with those differences so we can live all together? If we really believe there is no degree of separation, how do we form that community? Dr. Koach : It's putting people who need our attention at the center. When we do that, that's how we all get free. We have to prioritize those who have been the target of discrimination and put them at the center of our attention. Thank you so much Jonathan, Dr. Robyn and Dr. Koach for joining us in this very important conversation around intersection of race and LGBTQ+ issues. Interested in pursuing a career at MongoDB? We have several open roles on our teams across the globe , and would love for you to build your career with us! Join MongoDB in supporting organizations fighting for racial justice and equal opportunity. Donate to our fund by December 31, 2020 and MongoDB will match the donation up to a maximum aggregate amount of $250,000. Learn more here .

October 26, 2020
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Customer Service Expert Wati.io Scales Up on MongoDB

Wati.io is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that empowers businesses to develop conversation-driven strategies to boost growth. Founded by CEO Ken Yeung in 2019, Wati started as a chatbot solution for large enterprises, such as banks and insurance companies. However, over time, Yeung and his team noticed a growing need among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to manage customer conversations more effectively. To address this need, Wati used MongoDB Atlas and built a solution based on the WhatsApp Business API. It enables businesses to manage and personalize conversations with customers, automate responses, improve commerce functions, and enhance customer engagement. Speaking at MongoDB.local Hong Kong in September 2024, Yeung said, “The current solutions on the market today are not good enough. Especially for SMBs [that] don’t have the same level of resources as enterprises to deal with the number of conversations and messages that need to be handled every day.” Supporting scale: From MongoDB Community Edition to MongoDB Atlas “From the beginning, we relied on MongoDB to handle high volumes of messaging data and enable businesses to manage and scale their customer interactions efficiently,” said Yeung. Wati originally used MongoDB Community Edition , as the company saw the benefits of a NoSQL model from the beginning. As the company grew, it realized it needed a scalable infrastructure, so Wati transitioned to MongoDB Atlas. “When we started reaching the 2 billion record threshold, we started having some issues. Our system slowed down, and we were not able to scale it,” said Yeung. Atlas has now become an essential part of Wati’s infrastructure, helping the company store and process millions of messages each month for over 10,000 customers in 165 countries. “Transitioning to a new platform—MongoDB Atlas—seamlessly was critical because our messaging system needs to be on 24/7,” said Yeung. Wati collaborated closely with the MongoDB Professional Services and MongoDB Support teams, and in a few months it was able to rearchitect the deployment and data model for future growth and demand. The work included optimizing Wati’s database by breaking it down into clusters. Wati then focused on extracting connections, such as conversations, and dividing and categorizing data within the clusters—for example, qualifying data as cold or hot based on the read and write frequencies. This architecture underpins the platform’s core features, including automated customer engagement, lead qualification, and sales management. Deepening search capabilities with MongoDB Atlas Search For Wati’s customers, the ability to search through conversation histories and company documents to retrieve valuable information is a key function. This often requires searching through millions of records to rapidly find answers so that they can respond to customers in real-time. By using MongoDB Atlas Search , Wati improved its search capabilities, ultimately helping its business customers perform more advanced analytics and improve their customer service agents’ efficiency and customer reporting. “[MongoDB] Atlas Search is really helpful because we don’t have to do a lot of technical integration, and minimal programming is required,” said Yeung. Looking ahead: Using AI and integrating more channels Wati expects to continue collaborating with MongoDB to add more features to its platform and keep innovating at speed. The company is currently exploring to build more AI capabilities of Wati KnowBot , as well as how it can expand its integration with other conversation platforms and channels such as Instagram and Facebook. To learn more about MongoDB Atlas, visit our product page . To get started with MongoDB Atlas Search, visit the Atlas Search product page .

November 25, 2024