The COBOL conundrum: Navigating the lineage map

Organizations are often compelled to modernize data pipelines in legacy systems, such as those built on common business-oriented language (COBOL). This modernization is crucial for faster time-to-market, increased efficiency and future-proofing. However, implementing code changes or new functions that affect data can be daunting, carrying risks of data loss, inconsistency and integrity issues.

These challenges are even greater within mainframe ecosystems, where there is limited availability of architects and developers experienced in COBOL, PL/I and other legacy languages. These risks can lead to significant system disruptions and operational inefficiencies, which are alarming for mainframe teams handling global transactions. Migrating existing data pipelines and implementing new ones in more prevalent and accessible modern languages is key to future-proofing business operations.

Ensuring data integrity and consistency during the modernization process is critical because the data and mainframe core systems—where data resides and undergoes initial processing—form the backbone of business operations. Inaccurate or inconsistent data can lead to poor decision-making, compliance issues and loss of customer trust.

In highly regulated industries, governed by standards such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, Sarbanes–Oxley, CECL, IFRS 9, Basel II and III, LCR, FRAML, AML, IFRS-17, FASB GAAP LDTI and Solvency II, maintaining clear and auditable data lineage cannot be overstated. Accurate data lineage helps ensure traceability, verifiability and security throughout the modernization process.

Data modernization is complex and resource-intensive. Many organizations lack the tools and expertise to manage the process independently. At the same time, the uniqueness of data environments—shaped by each business’s “secret sauce” that drives success—makes full outsourcing impractical. Critical challenges include:

• Resource constraints or project complexity: According to Gartner, many efforts fail because enterprises inadequately vet their application portfolio or underestimate the resources needed for success. Misjudging the complexity of current environments or attempting overly ambitious changes can exacerbate these issues, especially when skilled personnel or advanced tools are limited.
• Risk of disruption: Poor planning and insufficient impact analysis can result in operational disruptions, leading to downtime and reduced productivity.
• Compliance requirements: Adhering to multiple regulatory standards during modernization requires specialized knowledge and systems.
• Proactive development approach: Conducting thorough impact analysis is essential but often difficult without the appropriate methodologies and tools.

1. Improved impact analysis

Proper planning is key to the success of any modernization project. As the saying goes, “the devil’s in the details,” and this often accounts for underestimated complexity or improperly allocated resources during modernization or migration projects. With detailed data lineage, IBM® Manta enables organizations to understand the interconnections within and across data pipelines, assessing the impact of changes in COBOL applications. This insight minimizes risks by facilitating better planning and decision-making.

2. Enhanced data governance

IBM® Manta Data Lineage enhances data governance by offering clear visibility into data origins, transformations and movements. This capability helps ensure regulatory compliance. Detailed lineage also enables organizations to assess the impact of poor data quality on users and understand the value of data quality improvement projects.

3. Increased efficiency

By automating the documentation and tracking of data lineage, IBM Manta significantly reduces the time and effort required for manual tracing, increasing operational efficiency. Tracing dependencies and lineage is often performed manually during modernization projects, typically alongside data and pipeline migrations. However, this approach is too late in the process. Having lineage data available in bulk at the project’s outset provides a critical efficiency boost.

4. Simplified troubleshooting

With IBM Manta, you can quickly identify and resolve issues within your COBOL applications while tracing those issues back through the analytics pipeline by understanding data flows and dependencies. This approach helps ensure more effective, less manual and faster troubleshooting. Maintaining lineage information in the new data ecosystem also reduces the total cost of ownership for the modernized platform.

5. Comprehensive end-to-end lineage

When data leaves your mainframe, do you know where it goes? Do you need to? IBM Manta helps ensure that data lineage doesn't end at the mainframe but extends to other applications sourcing data from COBOL systems. This comprehensive, end-to-end view of data lineage across both mainframe and nonmainframe environments helps maintain data integrity and consistency.

Automated lineage extraction

• Deep code analysis: Automatically extracts lineage from COBOL source code, IBM® Db2® databases, JCL and other system components.
• Comprehensive coverage: Covers common COBOL environments, providing a unified view of data movement.
• Scalability: Mainframe systems consist of tens or even hundreds of thousands of JCL, COBOL scripts and hold millions of lines of code. This scale requires automation.

Visual lineage diagrams

• Interactive visualizations: Offers intuitive diagrams that map out data flows, making it easier to comprehend complex data paths, especially when you see them for the first time.
• Customizable views: Tailor your lineage visualizations to focus on specific aspects relevant to your business needs.
• Share and export: There are multiple teams working on the modernization project who need to have the same understanding of how the current environment works.

Robust query capabilities

• Search and filter: Easily locate specific data elements, transformations and applications within your lineage documentation.
• Impact analysis: Identify downstream effects of changes through advanced querying features.
• Root cause analysis: Identify upstream sources of data and data pipeline changes through advanced querying features.

Modernization projects

When modernizing legacy COBOL applications, understanding existing data flows is vital. IBM Manta facilitates this process by providing complete visibility into data dependencies and transformations. This capability enables organizations to document and trace the flow of data from source to destination, maintaining clear and auditable records.

Data migration

For organizations migrating data from COBOL systems to newer platforms or more prevalent coding languages, accurate data lineage helps ensure the integrity and consistency of data throughout the migration process. It also verifies whether the new code replicates the function of the old system, incorporating any wanted changes.

IBM’s approach includes conducting detailed impact analyses before migration. This proactive approach helps to identify potential issues and prepare mitigation strategies, minimizing system disruptions.

Regulatory compliance

IBM’s solutions are designed to meet stringent regulatory requirements across various industries, providing organizations peace of mind. By ensuring migrated data complies with data regulations such as GDPR, CCPA and HIPAA, IBM helps businesses avoid legal and financial repercussions. Clear, auditable data lineage records support adherence to these standards, enabling reliable compliance management.

Security and risk management

Identify sensitive data and understand its flow to better implement security protocols and manage risks associated with data breaches.

Data integration

For organizations integrating mainframe data with other systems, IBM Manta extends the data lineage from mainframe COBOL applications to downstream applications. This offers a complete view of data flows and transformations across the entire ecosystem.

Mainframe integration

IBM understands the unique challenges faced by mainframe teams managing global transactions. Their tailored solutions help ensure that migrations are seamless, preserving critical operations without disruptions.

Modernizing data environments and migrating data might seem daunting, but IBM’s expertise and advanced tools make the process smooth and efficient. With IBM’s proactive development approach and robust data lineage capabilities, businesses can help ensure proper planning, regulatory compliance and minimal disruptions.

IBM® Manta Data Lineage for COBOL Applications is indispensable for organizations relying on COBOL systems for critical operations. It enhances data governance, facilitates impact analysis, increases efficiency, simplifies troubleshooting and offers a comprehensive end-to-end lineage. These capabilities not only support but also optimize data management strategies.

Investing in IBM Manta Data Lineage empowers organizations to stay ahead in today’s data-driven world, delivering better business outcomes and sustained regulatory compliance.

For more information or to request a demo or contact your IBM representative