Compuware and SonarSource Enable Agile Delivery of Quality COBOL Code by Mainstream-Skilled Development Teams

On-the-Fly QA and Multi-Project Dashboards Empower Large Enterprises to Protect and Increase the Long-Term Value of Mainframe Applications


  • Mainframe applications remain critically important to large enterprises—but the supply of expert, experienced COBOL developers is rapidly dwindling as mainframe veterans approach retirement age. 


  • Compuware and SonarSource are enabling new developers with mainstream skills to rapidly delivery quality COBOL by providing them with automated on-the-fly QA as they work in a familiar Eclipse environment.

  • Compuware and SonarSource are also making it easier for IT leaders to manage mainframe application development activities with rich dashboards that provide visibility into individual, team and project metrics.

  • These enablements help large enterprises optimize their agility across both mainframe and non-mainframe platforms—while also reducing total cost of ownership for their IBM z Systems environments.

DETROIT, Jan. 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Compuware® and SonarSource® are helping large enterprises protect and increase the long-term value of their mainframe applications by 1) giving mainframe-inexperienced developers with mainstream programming skills the ability to rapidly deliver quality COBOL code and 2) simplifying smart management of agile mainframe development activities.

Both these capabilities are essential for enterprises with mainframes. The first is essential because enterprises must more frequently update their legacy applications to fulfill rapidly changing business requirements—even as their experienced COBOL programmers retire. By integrating Compuware Topaz® Workbench—an intuitive Eclipse-based environment for mainframe source-code editing, debugging, and tuning—with SonarSource’s SonarLint®, which automatically discovers defects introduced into COBOL code, the companies are enabling IT to assign vital mainframe tasks to mainstream-skilled developers without putting application integrity at risk.

The second is essential because IT managers need clear visibility into individual, team, and project metrics as they seek to increase the agility of their mainframe environments and aggressively shift responsibility for COBOL development to programmers with little or no mainframe experience. Leveraging Jenkins® for continuous integration and integrating Topaz Workbench with SonarSource’s SonarQube®—a popular dashboard for tracking defects, complexity and technical debt—these managers can more easily keep projects on schedule and address shortfalls in developer performance.

“Large enterprises must move quickly to safeguard the long-term integrity of their mainframe applications as their senior COBOL specialists retire—and they must more aggressively leverage their mainframe application logic to enhance their digital customer engagement,” said Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley. “Compuware and SonarSource are helping large enterprises achieve these objectives by empowering their existing IT staffs to more rapidly, effectively, and efficiently enhance mainframe code.”

“Compuware has a great vision for bringing mainframe application development, data management, and platform operations into the mainstream of agile enterprise DevOps,” said Olivier Gaudin, CEO SonarSource. “SonarSource is contributing to the fulfillment of that vision by providing our mutual customers with the continuous automated code quality and project management they need to increase their mainframe agility without compromising their mainframe integrity.”

“In software development, our agility is only as nimble as its slowest link. The time has come for the convergence of the mainframe and distributed systems DevOps processes,” said Mike Wells, Director Software Development at Ameritas. “Compuware and SonarSource are enabling us to do exactly that by giving us tools with functionality and look-and-feel our Java development teams utilize every day.”

Compuware and SonarSource announced their partnership in conjunction with the introduction of Compuware’s ground-breaking strategy for transferring mainframe platform responsibilities from traditionally siloed mainframe management specialists to mainstream enterprise DevOps teams using popular, mainstream DevOps tools. Read the press release.

Compuware Corporation
Compuware empowers the world’s largest companies to excel in the digital economy by fully leveraging their high-value mainframe investments. We do this by delivering highly innovative solutions that uniquely enable IT professionals with mainstream skills to manage mainframe applications, data, and platform operations. Learn more at compuware.com.

Follow us on:

Press Contact 

Kristina LeBlanc, The Medialink Group, kristinawleblanc@gmail.com, (508) 930-5636
Mary McCarthy, Public Relations Manager, Compuware, mary.mccarthy@compuware.com, (313) 227-8188.

For Sales and Marketing Information
Compuware Corporation, One Campus Martius, Detroit MI 48226, 800-521-9353, compuware.com.

Copyright © 2016 Compuware Corporation. Compuware, the Compuware logo and Topaz are registered trademarks of Compuware Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. SonarSource, SonarLint and SonarQube are the registered trademarks of SonarSource S.A, Switzerland in the United States and/or other countries. Jenkins is a registered trademark of Software In Public Interest, INC.