Nedbank makes strategic investment in Micro Focus technology
Nedbank makes strategic investment in Micro Focus technology
Nedbank has invested in Micro Focus products following an extensive evaluation conducted with the support of local representative, MigrationWare.
Over the next months MigrationWare will work with Nedbank to integrate 150 seats of Micro Focus' Mainframe Express products into its IT development environment and assist in the training of the bank's IT systems development community in the best use of the products.
The choice of Micro Focus Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition will enhance the bank's mainframe development environment and reduce overall cost and risk associated with application development on the mainframe. Cape Town-based MigrationWare will lead the implementation and training for this key technology solution.
Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition is a unified environment for mainframe development significantly reduces risks and costs and offers improved business agility through extension to J2EE, .NET and Web services.
It includes capabilities to allow COBOL programmers to quickly and easily extend their core systems into these contemporary environments without changing the original code, or having to learn new architectures.
The adoption of Micro Focus technology at Nedbank will allow Nedbank to improve the quality, reliability and capability of mainframe systems using existing assets, skills and applications.
According to Len Berzen, senior mechanization manager at Nedbank, the new regulatory environment and framework in which banks operate is changing, particularly in how they manage risk. In ensuring regulatory compliance, the banking and other financial service companies in South Africa are taking the lead in testing and implementing the latest technologies available.
"Consequently, since these important but subtle changes are happening mainly in the background within the supporting IT systems, the way banks build and test systems is also changing," said Berzen.
"Micro Focus products will enhance productivity and quality and will lower existing costs while still providing for business agility and innovation. By offering a comprehensive mainframe development environment with advanced development tools on the workstation, our developer productivity will be significantly enhanced through better analysis and rapid problem resolution."
Joao De Oliveira, sales director at MigrationWare, said the integration of Micro Focus' Mainframe Express into Nedbank's IT environment was a critical step in improving overall productivity.
"Mainframe customers make substantial investments in core applications to support key business processes. However, to remain competitive and deliver more value, IT managers face mandates to reduce costs and drive business agility. We are pleased to have this opportunity to assist Nedbank in the best use of this market leading technology."
Stuart McGill, vice-president of worldwide marketing at Micro Focus, said Nedbank's decision to utilise the latest in PC-based mainframe development and extension technology was testament to its continued belief in the mainframe as a platform that delivers continued business value.
"We look forward to continuing our partnership with MigrationWare to deliver a clear competitive advantage for Nedbank," he said.