Alchemy Solutions Launches NeoKicks and CICS on Windows Azure
BEND, Ore., Oct. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Alchemy Solutions, Inc. announced at The Gartner Symposium/ITxpo today that NeoKicks™, their CICS modernization tool, can push CICS applications to Windows Azure™. NeoKicks V3.1 runs on Windows servers and is the first CICS migration framework to run natively on Windows Azure without the use of virtual machines.
"We're committed to giving businesses a clear route to the cloud and all the benefits it offers," said Alchemy Solutions President Jim Harrer. "We've worked hard to ensure our solutions are fully integrated with Windows Server, and now our clients can take advantage of all the benefits of Windows Azure."
Alchemy Solutions is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and has worked with Microsoft to fully integrate its products into the .NET Framework and Windows Azure. NeoKicks takes full advantage of Windows Azure without relying on virtual machines or emulation.
"The latest version of NeoKicks lets mainframe customers take advantage of the elasticity, scale, availability and economics of Windows Azure while retaining their unique business logic," said Microsoft's worldwide Director of Platform Modernization Bob Ellsworth. "Solutions like NeoKicks continue to demonstrate that Windows Azure is an excellent platform for enterprise workloads."
Full Windows Azure Compatibility
NeoKicks uses the Windows Azure web and worker roles to enable true cloud computing. "NeoKicks is based on .NET and so is Windows Azure," said Kelly Hollis, Vice President of Engineering at Alchemy Solutions. "It can take full advantage of the platform without compromise."
NeoKicks now includes a Windows Azure Wizard in Microsoft Visual Studio® that makes launching CICS applications to the cloud simple and fast, said Hollis. "It's just a matter of publishing your NeoKicks application with Visual Studio by clicking a button. Because NeoKicks already runs in ASP.NET, there are only a few configuration steps."
Premier Cloud Platform
Windows Azure is Microsoft's premiere public and private cloud computing platform. It features full scalability, automatic backup and disaster recovery and includes professional IT services. The platform offers nearly unlimited performance and storage space at a fraction of the cost of mainframes. Windows Azure automatically scales up to meet computing demands and scales down when demands decrease. Businesses only pay for what they use, drastically reducing costs versus mainframes or even distributed systems.
"We are beginning to see inquiries from our mainframe clients who are considering moving workload to the cloud," said Dale Vecchio, Research VP at Gartner, Inc. "Many clients have already moved mainframe workload to a distributed environment and cloud implementations that mirror the same technology approach may be appropriate for some systems."
Moving CICS Online Workload to Windows Azure Enables True Modernization
This week at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, Alchemy Solutions is demonstrating a retail video store application written in COBOL, running in a web role in Windows Azure talking to a Windows 8 Tablet utilizing the Metro UI. The demonstration will be held in Booth 628.
"It's extremely exciting to see this in action," says Harrer. "It's a completely modernized COBOL application using the latest Microsoft technology that exists. Using different technologies like this will allow our clients to truly modernize their applications—with limited effort. I encourage everyone at the symposium to stop by and experience the demo."
Alchemy Solutions will also be demonstrating this technology next month at the Gartner Application Architecture, Development & Integration Summit in Las Vegas.
The Future of Cloud
Alchemy Solutions configured its COBOL compiler, NetCOBOL® for .NET, to run on Windows Azure earlier this year. The modernization firm plans to add Windows Azure support to the rest of its product line, including NeoBatch® and NeoData™, in the coming months.
"Windows Azure is the future of distributed computing and we want to give our clients the best tools to get there," said Harrer. "It's part of our overall commitment to providing our clients with the most powerful and cost effective IT solutions."
Interested early adopters can receive NeoKicks V3.1 for evaluation now. Contact the Alchemy Solutions sales staff to reserve your copy now.
The final release of NeoKicks V3.1 will be available for purchase November 2011.
About Alchemy Solutions
Alchemy Solutions modernizes business IT through software developed for the Microsoft® application platform. NetCOBOL® for .NET runs COBOL on the Microsoft .NET™ Framework. NeoKicks™ translates CICS to ASP.NET web pages. NeoData™ converts indexed data files to SQL. NeoBatch® executes JCL in Windows. The mainframe modernization tools can also launch COBOL and CICS into the cloud via Windows Azure™. Alchemy Solutions, Inc. is a privately held company with its headquarter in Bend, Oregon, USA.
SOURCE Alchemy Solutions, Inc.
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