The national vehicle authority of The Netherlands, RDW, modernises its entire mainframe applications with the AMELIO Modernization Platform from Delta Software Technology.

With this major project RDW wins

• Platform independence for its applications,
• An easy-to-maintain data access layer,
• Neutral front-ends, which simply can be generated for the usage of browser-based technologies.

More than 1 million of individual changes are accomplished for this project – without endangering the productive operation and without blocking other projects. The usage of the AMELIO Modernization Platform enables RDW to slash the costs and risks dramatically. The test expenditure for this project is reduced by more than 90%.

"Using AMELIO we are able to accomplish this demanding large project faster and with less resources",
says Gerard Doll, Manager ICT,
RDW, The Netherlands

RDW – The Dutch Vehicle Authority

Founded in 1949 and privatised 1996, RDW is the national vehicle authority of The Netherlands. As a service organisation, RDW is responsible for the central registration and administration of all vehicles, approvals and driving licences. Beyond that, its mission comprises technical standardisation, engineering expertises, annual vehicle inspections as well as the monitoring of safety and environmental aspects.

All public authorities, the post office, the police, insurance companies and all garages are directly connected to the central system of RDW. Therefore, the requirements for the reliability of the applications and the quality of the software development are extraordinarily high.

Modernising the IT Applications

RDW decided to make their mainframe applications platform independent, in order to be able to change more easily onto other less expensive platforms in the future. This requires extensive changes in the productive applications. RDW chose the AMELIO Modernization Platform because AMELIO completely automates the changes for the more than 10.000 modules and reduces the test effort by more than 90 %.

The current project is part of RDW's long-term strategy for the modernisation of its applications. As the base for this, RDW already integrated all development tools and processes using the SCOUT² Development Platform in 2005. Please read more about this in our report about the Modernization of RDW's Multi-Platform Development with SCOUT². Now the modernisation of the applications follows.

Openness for New Platforms

Extensive mainframe applications with more than 10.000 modules on Unisys OS 2200 with DPS, TIP, UCOB, ECL as well as RDMS with RSA SQL build the core of RDW's enterprise IT. RDW developed the applications with Delta COBOL. For the online systems a specific framework was built using Delta macros. The batch applications are controlled using ECL and SSG.

RDW was looking for possibilities to simplify the migration of the existing applications onto new and less expensive platforms. At the same time, RDW wanted to prepare its applications for the usage of new cutting-edge technologies:

• First, the applications should be made platform independent, in order to avoid similar efforts in the future.
• The data accesses should be transferred to a separate access layer that would be easier to maintain.
• The front-ends should be enabled to use browser-based technologies in the future.

100% Change Automation

RDW decided to automate the modernisation of their applications using the AMELIO Modernization Platform from Delta Software Technology. The tool convinced RDW particularly with the following characteristics:

• AMELIO's In-Place Migration ensures that other projects are not blocked and the involved modules can be changed safely.
• All changes are reproducible at the push of a button and documented to pass even the strictest auditing processes.
• The tailor-made factory accomplishes all changes 100% automatically.
• AMELIO allows a smooth migration without disturbing the ongoing maintenance and business operation.

Last year Delta proved in an extensive practical test that AMELIO completely fulfils the high demands of RDW. None of the programs had to be changed manually; the entire analysis and transformation were performed fully automatically. Now it is scaled up to the major project. The numbers are impressive – even for us.

Find out more about this captivating project in our project overview:

AMELIO Modernization Platform - RDW Achieves Platform Independence "AMELIO Modernization Platform is the reliable solution for the systematic modernisation of our complex applications – 100% automated, tailor‐made and generative. Using AMELIO we were able to accomplish this demanding large project faster and with less resource." Carine Joosse, ICT Manager Projects, RDW, The Netherlands

Largest Profit: Dramatically Reduced Test Effort

From the experience with previous transformation projects RDW already knew that generator-based changes need fewer tests. AMELIO accomplishes all changes automatically – 100%. Therefore, RDW could reduce the test effort by more than 90 %.

Would You Like to Know More?

You can obtain further information about the AMELIO Modernization Platform on our Web site, including a summary of typical application scenarios, a list of supported platforms as well as explanations concerning the technology behind AMELIO.

Please get in touch if you would like to know more about how the AMELIO Modernization Platform can help you to conduct changes to your applications securely, reliably, error-free and 100% automated.