10th Apr 2007 11:00
Micro Focus(R) (LSE.MCRO.L), a leading provider of enterpriseapplication management and modernization solutions, today announcesthat Paymaster, one of the largest providers of outsourced financialservices in the United Kingdom, has successfully used Micro Focusapplication modernization technology to move its core legacyapplications from a VME mainframe to a new Windows server. Paymaster'soperating costs have been reduced by 300,000 GBP per annum and bankingprocesses are now running ten to 30 times faster. £ The migration was conducted by migration partner Transoft (a MicroFocus Migration and Transformation Consortium (MTC) member) andcompleted within budget in just ten months. Paymaster now anticipatesan even better return on investment (ROI) than the 11 month ROIoriginally projected. Additionally, Paymaster has been able to improvelevels of system availability and security, while reusing its coreapplication code and data to minimize risk and expense. £ The application modernization initiative was prompted in June2005, when Fujitsu announced its plans to withdraw support for itsTrimetra mainframe line by the end of April 2006. Paymaster'smission-critical banking suite was the last remaining application onits Trimetra mainframe and running such an important system on anunsupported platform was not an option for Paymaster. By moving to aWindows server, the company has not just eliminated this problem, ithas also dramatically improved batch performance and job automation,enabling its evening batch to complete three hours earlier. £ "The savings we have been able to make of around 300,000 poundsper annum gave us our expected return on investment in just tenmonths. However, the performance improvements took us by surprise,with our batch processes completing 10 to 30 times faster runningunder Micro Focus COBOL on a small two CPU server. The project hasbeen a total success for us and has given us the confidence to reallydrive ahead with further developments," said Ralph Tigwell, chieftechnology officer, Paymaster. £ "We are pleased to assist Paymaster in its applicationmodernization strategy," said Stuart McGill, chief technology officerat Micro Focus. "Too many companies, unlike Paymaster, underestimatethe value of their core systems when looking at ways to improveoperational efficiency and business agility." £ About Paymaster £ Paymaster (1836) Ltd (previously the Office of the PaymasterGeneral) is one of the largest providers of outsourced financialservices in the UK. Established in 1836 to co-ordinate the paymentfunctions for public sector organisations, in particular pensions andpayroll administration, Paymaster became part of Hogg Robinson plc in1997 and subsequently Xafinity Ltd in July 2005. Since 1997 it hasprovided services for both public and private sector companies. £ Paymaster provides pensions administration and payroll servicesfor some of the largest schemes in the UK. It covers all aspects of DBand DC pension scheme and annuity administration. Its pension payrollservices make payments totalling more than GBP 7 billion to over 1.5million pensioners and their dependants, in 189 countries throughoutthe world. £ About Micro Focus £ Micro Focus provides innovative software that allows companies todramatically improve the business value of their enterpriseapplications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization andManagement software enables customers' business applications torespond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectureswith reduced cost and risk. For additional information please visitwww.microfocus.com. £ The very latest perspectives, expertise and developments fromCustomers, Partners and Micro Focus are under one roof at Micro FocusWorld 2007. For more information visit: www.microfocusworld.com. £ Micro Focus is a registered trademark of Micro Focus. All otherproducts and companies mentioned in this announcement are thetrademarks of their respective owners. Copyright Business Wire 2007Related Shares:
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