Although VSAM databases provided efficient data access to corporate data in the past, today organizations often need to manage corporate data using relational databases. Migrating VSAM files to current industry standards can make company data more accessible and significantly simplify the process of integrating new applications. In addition, using the same up-to-date corporate standard to access all corporate data reduces the cost of operating data management systems.

VSAM Migration to DB2, Oracle, SQL Server

VSAM databases contain complex data structures. Migrating VSAM databases to RDBMS environments is a complex task. MOST’s OnTarget technology controls the process and automates a wide range of migration activities. As a result, project duration becomes shorter and well defined.

OnTarget migration methodology includes these steps:

• Design of the new target database by analyzing existing VSAM file structures and proposing a fully normalized data model
• Customer intervention to facilitate changes to the proposed data model based on specific customer related constraints
• DDL generation to ensure the creation of an efficient easy-to-use target database
• Migration program generation to produce the scripts and programs that migrate data from the old to the new database
• Application conversion to replace the COBOL, Natural or PL/I code with the required SQL commands

OnTarget‘s knowledge base takes into account the structures that exist in a typical VSAM file structure and generate the functionally equivalent structures that are needed by the target RDBMS.

The converted application has a 3-layer architecture which includes a Data Access layer that controls the update and retrieval of all data in accordance with the required application functionality.