When an ERP system running over a mainframe becomes outdated, there are a variety of options for upgrading, including rewriting the code for an updated environment or replacing the system altogether. A less conventional option involves moving the old code off the mainframe and onto servers, which is what medical supplier Owens & Minor decided to do.  

Owens & Minor began using a Cobol-based ERP system in the 1980s and modified it over the years as new needs emerged. Currently, the company's inventory management, purchasing, accounts receivable, accounts payable and other core business applications run over the system. Now, as Patrick Thibodeau describes in a detailed article in Computerworld, the company is updating the system but retaining the Cobol code.

Owens & Minor did not want to get rid of the original code because it contains valuable business logic, according to Rick Mears, the company's CIO. What's more, Mears said his company is saving between $100 million and $200 million by moving the code from the mainframe to servers rather than rewriting it or replacing the system outright. "There are all sorts of stories of companies taking on nine figure rewrite projects. I don't understand the payback for that," he told Computerworld.  

For more:
- here's Patrick Thibodeau's article at Computerworld

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