HCLTech's AIForce Powered Mainframe Migration to Azure

Modernizing the mainframe ensures legacy systems don't create bottlenecks, while updating surrounding systems like integration middleware, data management, and user interfaces ensures smooth communication between old and new infrastructures. HCLTech’s AIForce powered mainframe modernization services helps customers in seamless migration of its mainframe base on to the Microsoft Azure cloud.

HCLTech leverages its patented AIForce platform along with professional services capabilities to modernize legacy programming languages hosted on mainframes onto modern cloud native stack on Azure. HCLTech Advantage Modernize approach provides a comprehensive framework that supports every stage of mainframe modernization, helping businesses move from legacy systems to agile, cloud-based architectures efficiently.

Powered by Generative AI, our framework automates code refactoring, system reengineering, and workload migration, significantly reducing the complexity and time required for modernization. With AI-driven insights and automated decision-making, our solution minimizes disruption, strengthens operational resilience, and enhances performance. This holistic approach accelerates digital transformation while future-proofing IT environments and maintaining critical functionality.

HCLTech's approach is centered on the business capability first view wherein Enterprises can prioritize and reimagine their core and non-core business capabilities to realize their modernization objectives. It also enables a risk-free approach and minimal disruption to business operations while ensuring functional parity in a connected ecosystem.

The key components of the HCLTech AIForce service transformation platform to enable the build and modernization of mainframe include: -

Assessment Methodology

1. Discovery and Analysis – A tool led discovery to identify dependencies & complexities, identification of modules to decouple & decompose functional modules.

2. Gen AI assisted Analysis – AIForce iLIT is our proposed accelerator to enable Gen AI assisted analysis for deep insights into functional aspects, business rules extraction, comprehensive understanding & documentation, analysis of surround systems including integration points , data flows etc. This includes disposition analysis of the target state in terms of Rehost, Revitalize, Refactor or Re-engineer

3. Target State Design – EA driven cloud ready target state design enabling business process re-engineering, persona-based user experience revamp, choosing modern choices for technology, platform, data architecture.

4. Holistic Modernization – We take a holistic approach for the modernization keeping into consideration a modular/scalable architecture with decoupled integration layer to enable hybrid connectivity between legacy and modern cloud native architecture. A combination of Gen AI led automation for automated code re-engineering and refactor enabled by consistent architecture and design patterns.

Our accelerators in this area include: -

1. Reengineering - AIForce.Code is our accelerator for automated code scaffolding and code generation, pipeline generations. Pattern Based code generation with customer specific naming conventions and best practices.

2. Refactor – AIForce.ATMA Modernize is our accelerator for automated code transpilation , code simplification onto a cloud native architecture. Its a customizable toolset which can be aligned with the target technology stack and frameworks preferred by the customer

3. Data Migration – Advantage AIForce.Migrate is our accelerator for modernization of mainframe-based databases which have complex data dependencies, integrations with and dependencies on multiple systems, enables data migration strategies for lean downtimes or zero downtimes, and treatment of business logic in database code

4. Data Validation - AIForce.Gatekeeper to automate automates manual data reconciliation and validation efforts, Identify and triage data problems upfront to save valuable effort and cycle time. It improves data trust and reduce risk of error, also supports heterogeneous data platforms

5. Validation - Automation and Gen AI assisted testing with automated test case and contextual test data generation leveraging Gen AI tools and automation test scripts generation powered by AIForce.Test. It also enables generation of insights on Test Optimization, Test Selection, Release Readiness, Defect Prediction

Key Customer Benefits offered include:

1. Highly reduced risks (both effort and cost) due to elevated level of automation during implementation and testing

2. In case of refactor and data migration, proven tools that guarantee 100% functional and data equivalence between legacy and target systems through automation

3. Reduced need of SMEs from client IT teams through code mining and code transpilation using tools

4. Well-trained teams augmented with Templates, runbooks and scripts to accelerate implementation