Estate inventory and dependency graphs, ranked technical debt, strangler-fig program planning, assisted code migration with human gates, characterization tests, parallel-run reconciliation, and cutover runbooks - the same discipline behind the free diagnostic on this site and our /solutions/modernization practice. Tooling that scales architect judgment through assisted migration, with humans still on the hard calls.
A two-year rewrite with one giant cutover is usually the riskiest plan on the table: the new system must reproduce twenty years of undocumented rules on day one. Modernize Studio follows the surgical path - instrument first, isolate, replace one bounded capability at a time, old and new in parallel until the numbers reconcile.
Tooling finds facts; architects decide meaning; the migration toolkit executes the boring 70% so engineers concentrate on the hard 30%. Assisted COBOL-to-modern translation with characterization tests and human review beats unsupervised transpilation that just prints modern-looking COBOL.
Key-person risk is an outage with a countdown. Phase 0 captures knowledge and runs automated analysis while the people who wrote the system can still confirm intent - turning an emergency into a plannable program.
20 capabilities, each one something you can point at during a security review.
Estate inventory & dependency graphs
Catalog systems, interfaces, batch jobs, data stores, and runtime topology - you cannot modernize what you haven't counted.
Risk & cost scoring
Per-component risk, run-cost, change-cost, and key-person concentration - scored for sequencing, not slides.
Technical debt register
Continuous, ranked, costed debt with business-impact - what it costs today, what it blocks tomorrow, pay-down order.
Strangler program planner
Slice candidates with bounded I/O, meaningful pain, and survivable failure - first cutovers designed to be boring.
Business-rule recovery
Static analysis of COBOL/copybooks/JCL/CICS, VB6/Forms, aging .NET - recover real rules into living specs.
Characterization test harness
Pin current behavior before change; golden inputs/outputs; regression gates for every slice.
Code Migration Toolkit
Assisted translation and refactoring pipelines with human review gates - syntax help, intent stays human.
Parallel-run & reconciliation
Old vs new nightly compare; break classification; cut over only after sustained matching evidence.
Cutover & rollback OS
Runbooks, freeze windows, dual-write toggles, rehearsed rollback - weekends don't host miracles.
Knowledge capture studio
Structured interviews + auto-analysis while experts remain; docs/tests as deliverables into Knowledge.
Cloud-readiness scoring
Rehost / re-platform / re-architect / retire recommendations tied to Symbiosis Cloud engagements.
Interface & contract catalog
Stable seams (APIs/events/files) that wrap slices - strangler edges as first-class assets.
Data migration workbench
Mapping, dual-write, backfill, and reconcile for stores that move with the slice.
Security & compliance overlay
Transformation windows are attack windows - posture checks and Secure handoffs mid-modernization.
Diagnostic /assessment UX
The site's free diagnostic is assessment logic in miniature - stack in, path/risk/effort out.
Portfolio roadmap studio
Sequenced multi-year plans with quarterly value slices and executive readouts.
Team & capability map
Skills gaps vs target architecture - bridge to Recruit/Learn so the modern stack has owners.
Analysis agents (governed)
Agent Cloud agents that draft inventories, diff reports, and migration notes - humans approve.
Progress analytics
Slice burn-down, reconciliation health, debt paid vs remaining - Analytics-ready.
Vendor & package inventory
COTS/custom mix, license traps, and replace-vs-wrap decisions documented.
ASSESS PLANE
Inventory, dependencies, risk/cost scoring, diagnostic UX.
DEBT OS
Continuous technical-debt register with business-impact ranking.
STRANGLER STUDIO
Slice planning, seam catalog, sequencing, executive roadmaps.
MIGRATE TOOLKIT
Assisted translation/refactor, characterization tests, human gates.
PROVE & CUTOVER
Parallel-run reconciliation, cutover runbooks, rollback drills.
KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE
Expert interviews + rule recovery into living specs/tests.
CLOUD & SECURE BRIDGE
Readiness scoring, landing-zone handoffs, mid-transform security.
PROGRAM OPS
Roadmaps, team/capability maps, analysis agents, progress analytics.
Investment is bespoke to estate size, compliance needs, and deployment shape - book a demo and we'll map the right fit.
STARTER
- → Estate inventory (bounded)
- → Debt register v1
- → Diagnostic-class readout
- → One strangler candidate brief
- → Executive summary
BUSINESS
- → Everything in Starter
- → Full Assess Plane + continuous debt scan
- → Strangler Studio sequencing
- → Migration toolkit for first slices
- → Parallel-run harness
- → Knowledge capture workflows
- → Cloud-readiness scoring
ENTERPRISE
- → Everything in Business
- → Multi-system portfolio roadmaps
- → Analysis agents (Agent Cloud)
- → Secure overlay mid-transform
- → Team/capability → Recruit/Learn bridge
- → Progress analytics & evidence packs
- → Private deployment options
Modernize Studio, answered
Can tooling really translate COBOL to a modern stack?
Tooling translates syntax; teams translate intent. Assisted translation with characterization tests and human review is reliable; unsupervised transpilation is how you get modern-looking COBOL. We sell the former.
Can you modernize without downtime?
Yes - strangler-fig extraction: carve capabilities behind stable interfaces, parallel-run with reconciliation, cut over per capability only after sustained matching evidence. Big-bang weekends are what this method exists to avoid.
Our COBOL developers are retiring. How urgent is this?
Treat key-person risk as an outage with a countdown. Phase 0 is knowledge capture and automated analysis while they can still confirm intent - then a sequenced program, not a panic rewrite.
Is the free diagnostic the full product?
No - it's assessment logic in miniature. Modernize Studio runs the same discipline against your real codebase and estate with inventory, debt, strangler plans, and migration tooling.
Do you only do mainframe?
No - COBOL/mainframe is a flagship path, but VB6, Oracle Forms, aging .NET, monoliths, and package+custom estates are in scope. The OS is the method; languages are modules.
Where does cloud fit?
Cloud-readiness scoring and handoffs to Symbiosis Cloud Platform / landing zones - modernize the capability, land it where it should run, with cost governance built in.
See it against your reality.
A 30-minute walkthrough with an engineer who builds it - your use case, not a script.