A new platform
One significant change on the product strategy side became clear in May 2007 with the announcement that Fiserv had completed a version of ICBS for Linux. The development involved converting the IBM AS/400/iSeries-specific RPG code into C using a third party tool. It marked the first time that the system had been available on any platform other than the IBM midrange. The supplier was not committing to supporting any platform aside from Linux, although this looked feasible. Also for the time-being there were no plans for a similar shift of the CBS version of its system for domestic US banks. The project started around two years earlier, said Fiserv’s
SVP, global solutions and CTO, John Macaluso. A number of different routes were evaluated. A total transformation of the code into Java, as attempted by Fiserv a few years previously, was ruled out. Concept work suggested there would be a heavy hit on performance. ‘We were very disappointed, not so much with the transaction times but batch processing times,’ he said. Having RPG and Java versions of the system would also have meant duplication of effort. Fiserv’s intellectual property was in both software and people, he said, and it also didn’t want to abandon the RPG clients. Expanding on the Java issues, Robert Irwine, VP, senior
system architect, said some vendors had done like-for-like code conversions and some had done conversions of the syntax but the resultant code was generic, with no accounting for what the software was trying to do. When Fiserv took some programs and redesigned and rewrote them from scratch, the outcome was much better. Working with IBM, Fiserv’s attention turned to an alternative tack. Macaluso said: ‘Frankly, the performance of C significantly outpaced the performance of Java.’ Nevertheless, being a lower level language was a concern for some people, with little enthusiasm for working directly with C code. Irwine explained that ‘one of our goals was to reuse the assets that we already had’. Fiserv evaluated a tool from a company called PKS in Germany. This had done a fair amount of work moving applications from the iSeries to other environments and was keen to work with Fiserv on Linux. PKS’s tool moves the RPG code into platform independent meta data and from here into C, with the tool tuned for certain operating systems and hardware platforms, as well as having the intelligence to understand the basics of the processes that it is being applied to. A team of five to six people from Fiserv spent one month in Germany running the ICBS code through the tool. Then there was an iterative process, revisiting the RPG to adapt it to optimise the eventual C code. For instance, it was possible to embed SQL into the RPG as well as ‘hints’ to be picked up by the tool and used in the transformation process. Portions of reworked code can be put back through the tool independently, rather than having to convert everything each time. The tool also has C++ APIs to manage data access.
Performance-related work was probably about one-third
of the project, said Macaluso. ‘We’ve always been stable and scalable so there’s been a lot of emphasis on performance aspects.’ A separate tool from PKS has been applied to the ICBS user interface, producing browser support and additional features, with this set to become available for the existing RPG version. A ‘fatter’ client on Windows is also an option. There has also been work to integrate other Fiserv applications, including its strategically important Aperio layer, data warehouse and teller systems. A first phase of testing showed the system supporting two million accounts, with the ability to add servers meaning expectations are for considerably higher figures than this.
The new platform was Suse Linux with IBM’s UDB database for the pSeries. All development work continues to be carried out in RPG, so Fiserv has one core system version of the code and this is used to generate the C/UDB version. Fiserv has the PKS tool and is self-sufficient, albeit working with the German company where the tool needs to be enhanced, as well as for guidance. Fiserv could also come up with a version for the IBM zSeries mainframe, although Irwine pointed out that there were still differences between IBM’s different databases so work would be needed at this level. If there was demand for a C version for, say, a Hewlett-Packard and Oracle platform, then this would not be a big leap, said Macaluso, but there were no plans. Linux support via a partition on the iSeries means it could run on this platform, he added. In terms of market demand for the Linux version, Hamilton said there was something of a leap of faith when the project began. Confidence that Linux was the right platform increased as the project progressed; at the same time, he noted, the route taken meant Fiserv had not tied itself into one technology, as would have been the case with .Net or Java rewrites. Within the existing client base there were two camps, he said. Many were strong advocates of the iSeries, even if some were apprehensive before adopting it. There were others where the IBM platform was contrary to their corporate IT strategies. ‘Every year they have to defend the iSeries, they get their exception and move on.’ Some users run multiple copies of ICBS in partitions for multiple countries, and they might want to do so in the future using both Linux and the native iSeries version. A couple of potential takers were in the pipeline, he said, from both inside and outside the existing user base. With the Linux version, the company is also looking to expand its market particularly in areas with a preference for open systems like China and Russia. In terms of CBS, Macaluso said: ‘The US market hasn’t asked us [for Linux]’ but Fiserv now had the tool and processes to move this version across as well when someone wants it. Hamilton was not around to see the strategy through to the end, moving to Sungard during 2008. Aside from the C/Linux plans, Fiserv pressed on with its
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