티맥스소프트

• IBM mainframe shutdown and end of contract
• Complex service and engine maintenance applications could not be migrated to standard ERP or rewritten
• Relationship with GE and customers at risk
• Tight migration timeframe

Safran Aircraft Engines designs, develops, produces and sells engines for commercial and military aircraft and satellites, deploying capabilities that are behind some of the world’s most innovative technology developments.

For example, it is helping the aviation industry meet its ambitious environmental protection objectives by developing aircraft engines that are increasingly quiet and economical.

Part of the international high-tech group Safran, the agency also offers a complete range of support services to airlines, armed forces and other operators, including fleet management and engine maintenance. In addition, it facilitates the extension of credit by enabling individuals and businesses to access crucial information quickly and easily, so they better understand their finances when they engage with lenders.

Thanks to Safran’s significant investment in research and development (13% of revenue), Safran Aircraft Engines can develop and offer its customers solutions to improve operational efficiency and reduce operating costs—while reducing their environmental footprint.

Yet, its own operational efficiency and operating costs were being affected by an IBM mainframe. For more than 20 years, Safran Aircraft Engines has been in the process of shutting down its mainframe, and most of the applications have been migrated to a standard ERP solution.

Four critical applications were still running on the mainframe, however, and the IBM contract was coming to an end. Complex and hard to migrate, these applications could not be rewritten. The applications support the management of the CF6 engine, which was developed in partnership with General Electric and are installed in 14,000 planes that are flying round the world. Compounding matters were the fact that the knowledge needed to maintain and update the applications (Assembler, IMS-DB) had disappeared over time.

So, Safran Aircraft Engines turned to rehosting as a solution for preserving the applications and meeting the contract deadline.​   

• Application fully operational after rehosting with OpenFrame
• Relationship with GE and customers not affected
• Operational and maintenance cost savings of 80%
• ROI in just 8 months

Safran Aircraft Engines chose TmaxSoft OpenFrame as its rehosting platform because it was the best fit for ensuring the application remained fully operational as-is after it was moved. In addition to batch and IMS-DC management, only TmaxSoft supported Assembler and IMS-DB and RACF definition without any changes. These factors were key to speeding up the migration.

The rehosting project enabled Safran Aircraft Engines to implement its strategy and move forward in its transformation. Moving the aircraft engine maintenance applications off the mainframe as-is was critical to maintaining the agency’s relationship with GE and user satisfaction. It also resulted in operations and maintenance cost savings of 80% and delivered ROI in just 8 months.

Safran’s 20-year mainframe exit strategy was coming to an end, but four critical applications that could not be rewritten were still running on the mainframe. The rehosting project with OpenFrame was the key to implementing their strategy and moving forward in their transformation.​