Modernize AIX, DB2, and WebSphere. Migrate to the cloud, reduce licensing costs, and unleash agility.
For decades, the "Blue Stack"—IBM AIX, DB2, and WebSphere—has been the gold standard for enterprise computing. It powered the mission-critical systems of banks, insurers, and governments with unmatched reliability and performance. However, the landscape has shifted. Today, these once-mighty fortresses are often viewed as expensive, rigid, and isolating. The specialized hardware (Power Systems) is costly to maintain. The licensing fees for DB2 and WebSphere consume a massive chunk of the IT budget. Finding talent skilled in AIX administration or WebSphere tuning is becoming increasingly difficult as the workforce retires.
"Modernize Legacy IBM Stack" is a targeted service designed to help organizations transition from these proprietary, monolithic environments to modern, open, and cloud-native architectures. We understand that you cannot simply turn off these systems; they are the heartbeat of your business. Our approach is one of careful, calculated migration and modernization, ensuring business continuity while unlocking the benefits of the cloud.
We help you break free from the hardware lock-in of AIX, the licensing burden of DB2, and the heavyweight complexity of WebSphere. We pave the way to Linux, open-source databases (PostgreSQL), and lightweight application runtimes (Tomcat, Spring Boot, Liberty), all running on commodity cloud infrastructure.
Tailored strategies for each layer of the stack
Re-platforming
AIX is a robust Unix OS, but it ties you to IBM Power hardware. The first step to freedom is migrating to Linux (RHEL, Ubuntu, CentOS) running on x86 architecture.
Database Freedom
DB2 is powerful but expensive. We specialize in migrating DB2 databases to enterprise-grade open-source alternatives like PostgreSQL.
App Modernization
WebSphere Application Server (WAS) is a heavyweight Java EE container. Modern microservices don't need that overhead.
Automated scanners analyze source code, schemas, and configurations. We produce a "Complexity Scorecard" and roadmap.
We select a representative slice and migrate it to validate the technical approach and benchmark performance.
Proprietary and industry-standard tools automate code and schema conversion for consistency and speed.
Rigorous functional and performance tests. We fix issues from platform shift (endianness, file system differences).
Detailed cutover strategy using "blue/green" deployment or data replication for near-zero downtime.
Eliminate hardware maintenance and reduce licensing fees. ROI often achieved in 12-18 months.
Far easier to hire Linux administrators and Java/Spring developers than AIX and WebSphere experts.
Leverage DevOps pipelines, auto-scaling, Kubernetes, and AI services on open standards.
Modern x86 cloud infrastructure often outperforms aging Power systems at a fraction of the cost.
A large insurance carrier was running its core policy administration system on AIX, DB2, and WebSphere. The hardware was reaching end-of-life, and the renewal quote was in the millions. They felt trapped.
We executed a full stack modernization. We re-platformed the OS to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on AWS. We migrated the 5TB DB2 database to Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL compatible). We refactored the WebSphere application to run on JBoss EAP.
Migrating off the IBM stack is not for the faint of heart. It requires deep knowledge of both the "old world" (AIX, mainframe concepts, DB2 internals) and the "new world" (Cloud, Linux, Microservices). CodeRenew has this dual DNA.
We have successfully liberated mission-critical systems for Fortune 500 companies. We know the pitfalls—the hidden dependencies, the character set encoding issues, the transaction management nuances. We guide you safely through the minefield, ensuring that you arrive at your destination: a modern, open, and cost-effective future.