Environmental analysis of one or more applications is the most basic assessment task. The goal is to inventory physical system components or objects (a term used for repository based components), categorize components, determine relationships between components, identify missing objects and summarize this information in the form of metrics, cross reference reports and narrative. Gathering this data is a required first step to assessing the installed applications base. Additional objectives for collecting this information include the following:
· Complete the first step in establishing system boundaries and provide inputs to data definition analysis, process analysis and the architectural assessment
· Provide input to disaster recovery plans, performance tuning and system auditability analysis
· Support impact analysis for system-wide maintenance planning
· Verify that a change was accomplished properly - an example includes checking that all references to a Copy were accounted for during a change
The entrance criteria for the environmental analysis task are listed below.
· Completion of current systems technical analysis section of Form 001
· Identification of all systems and sub-systems undergoing analysis as listed on Form 001
The personnel and skill requirements necessary to meet the environmental analysis task objectives are identified below.
· Current Systems Expert
- Knowledge of existing technical environment
· Redevelopment Expert
- Ability to facilitate, gather, analyze and record environmental analysis results
- Ability to use required or available environmental analysis tools
· Repository Administrator
- Ability to record environmental results in LTM repository
· Systems Programmer
- Security access to all program source/load libraries
The system components and related inputs required to initiate and complete the environmental analysis task are listed below.
Environmental Analysis Form 003A
If this is a COBOL/370 upgrade project, the "IBM COBOL/370 and COBOL for MVS & VM Compiler and Run-Time Migration Guide" is required. Hereafter, this manual will be referred to as the COBOL/370 migration guide.
All physical components that comprise production system(s) of interest. This includes the following:
· Production control language and Procedures
· On-line screen definitions
· DBMS Data Definition Language (DB/2 tables, DBDs, PSBs, IDMS Schema etc.)
· CICS (or other on-line TP monitor) table definitions
· All program source and Copy source code categorized by language type
· Production load modules
· Any other physical system components that comprise production environment
External components that further define application environment include the following:
· Operations run guidelines to support job sequencing
· Job scheduling system information
· Production control language
· Existing Dictionary or Repository definitions
· Existing logical or physical system models and existing documentation
· Application and user documentation
· Related information of a similar nature
Technologies supporting the environmental analysis task include environmental analyzer, open systems repository, spreadsheet, and word processing tools. These tools are used to represent information as required by this task..
Environmental analyzer
It is difficult to perform a large scale systems inventory without automated tools. In an IBM MVS or similar mainframe environment, gathering summary level counts across numerous systems and program libraries is very time consuming. The main role this tool plays in this task is in automating creation of an inventory of physical components within a system.
Key requirements include the ability to rapidly parse and cross reference system objects (i.e., control language, Source, Load, etc.) across multiple application areas for production hardware and software platforms.
Environmental analyzers support major languages such as COBOL, PL/I or Assembler as well as data definition languages (DDL), on-line teleprocessing monitors, screen layout macros and job control languages. Non-IBM environments and obscure languages may require manual analysis to determine size and component relationships.
Note: The level of analysis coverage in the non-IBM tools is limited. If one wishes to use another product for the environmental analysis, it requires multi-lingual parsing capability, a meta-data storage facility, cross reference analysis and reporting and, preferably, metric summary analysis.
Open systems repository
A repository provides an important, yet optional, capability to link business areas, systems and components using the legacy transition meta-model. Loading this meta-data into a repository during an environmental analysis provides an easily referenced, summary view of the current system(s). It also forms the basis for subsequent analysis and planning efforts in later Inventory/Analysis tasks.
Requirements include the ability to reflect system components as objects within the repository model and populate that model from a legacy environment. A recommended legacy transition meta-model supporting this analysis is shown in the Appendix section of the Comsys-TIM product. A secondary, and optional, requirement involves accepting an automated load format based on tools that parse and analyze legacy environments.
Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet tools offer a convenient format for recording much of the information gathered throughout this stage. Referenced Comsys-TIM Forms have been pre-loaded into certain spreadsheet tools (see the step level tool guidelines for specific tools) to facilitate data entry and analysis. While highly desirable, spreadsheets are not essential to this task.
Word processor
This is required to record the analysis narrative and, in the absence of a spread sheet tool, the metric results.
The environmental analysis task is comprised of the following task steps:
