Mainframe Modernization - with Mechanical Orchard

AI-Accelerated Mainframe Modernization with Mechanical Orchard tackles the critical challenges of legacy system modernization: technical complexity, business disruption, and historically low success rates. Traditional approaches prioritize code conversion over understanding system behavior, resulting in extended integration and testing cycles delivering a new codebase that is difficult to maintain and of questionable quality.

Thoughtworks and Mechanical Orchard take a holistic approach to legacy modernization, focusing on system behavior rather than just code. Leveraging Thoughtworks’ CodeConcise for rapid system comprehension and Mechanical Orchard’s AI-driven modernization platform, integrated with Microsoft Fabric for data ingestion and transformation, and Azure AI for advanced analytics, we transform legacy applications with unprecedented speed, delivering high-quality, maintainable code that’s easy to evolve. Unlike other AI-based approaches that can only accelerate comparable functionality, we can achieve comparable functionality and compliant data flow in a fraction of the time of any other approach—maximizing efficiency without compromising integrity.

Outcomes

• Derisked dependency on monopolistic mainframe vendors: This is a key foundational benefit, as it opens other possibilities.
• Reference architecture: Having a solid architecture guides future projects.
• Engineering Platform to accelerate delivery of business value: A crucial enabler for rapid development.
• Increased ability to deliver new products and innovations to market faster and easier: A direct business outcome.
• Ability to hire to meet needs of the organization: Addresses the often-challenging aspect of mainframe talent acquisition.
• Adaptive operational model for technology initiatives: Ensures the organization can evolve and adapt to new technologies.

Key Benefits

• Aligns modernization with business and human factors, addressing core drivers.
• Creates a functional replica in modern, idiomatic code with minimal disruption, utilizing Azure Migrate and Azure Mainframe Modernization Services
  for real-time data collection and analysis.
• Reduces risk by incrementally delivering proven value into production, supported by Azure AI for reliable and auditable outcomes.
• Enables continuous innovation by making system changes easy and safe, leveraging large language models and generative AI.

Sample agenda

• Minimum Viable Modernization (if not done previously.)
• Kickoff to align on project goals, milestones, risks, and mitigations: This sets the stage and ensures everyone is on the same page.
• Complete the program inception, with a positive decision to move forward to execution of the disposition strategies: Formalizes the project's start and direction.
• Establish delivery organization and target operating model supporting progressive ways of working: Builds the team and establishes the working structure.
• Program and manage the implementation of the offloading roadmap: Start the execution following the plan.
• Execution of modernization program: The core activity of the initiative.
• Continuously deliver modernized workloads to production: Deliver the modernized features incrementally.
• Continuously evaluate, prioritize, and deliver system and capability enhancements (innovation): Ongoing improvement and advancement of the modernized system. 
• Regular demos, check-in, and next steps: Regularly communicate progress and on-going plan.