Micro Focus to extend mainframe apps

Micro Focus has released Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition, a Windows-based environment for mainframe application development to help create service oriented architectures and cut development costs by 30 per cent.

The software vendor said that the package combines a mainframe emulation and development environment with application analysis and automated program and component generation.

Micro Focus claimed that the software can help extend legacy services to web services, Microsoft's .Net or J2EE without the cost or risk of application changes.

Mike Gilbert, vice president of marketing and director of product strategy at Micro Focus, explained that the product provides a 'studio' development environment much like Visual Studio for .Net.

"There are big issues in being able to deploy programs on different, large code bases removing the dependence on legacy," he said.