DB2 Upgrade for Leading Insurance Company
The Client is a leading financial protection company based out of Germany. They are a premier provider of life insurance, annuities, and related financial services.
Business Challenge
Our client’s business generates enormous amounts of Data, over 90% of which, spread across over 20 environment and an inventory of all the applications, was stored using version 8 (V8) of DB2, a database software, for Z/OS. A major problem emerged when support for DB2 V8 was discontinued. Some other challenges of continuing with DB2 V8 were:
- Difficulties in testing due to lack of application or environment knowledge
- Involvement of multiple stakeholders and incumbent parties
- Application incompatibilities due to the use of unsupported technologies
To address these challenges our client needed to upgrade mainframe DB2 to version 9.
Solution
Recognizing the need for an expert consultant to ensure a successful upgrade, the company approached me owing to our vast experience and ability to leverage industry best practices as well as learning from similar engagements. We examined the business situation and performed detailed analysis to structure a comprehensive plan for DB2 V9 upgrade. This helped us provide the Discovery Report, Impact Analysis Report and Implementation Planning Report that served as a basis for the upgrade.
We then followed a four-step approach:
Discovery: We prepared an inventory of the mainframe environment and an inventory of all the applications using DB2 on the mainframe. We designed and circulated questionnaires, conducted workshops, and held meetings with stakeholders to understand the mainframe environment in detail.
Analysis: After understanding the requirements of the DB2 V9 CM upgrade, we evaluated the requirements for capacity, performance and systems.
Strategy and planning: Our team analyzed downstream requirements and performed impact assessment of the upgrade. We acquired a thorough understanding of application dependencies before creating a strategy for the overall upgrade process and detailed implementation plan.
Implementation: We prepared scripts for the DB2 V9 CM upgrade and performed the upgrade for all the DB2 subsystems one by one. Issues found during each of these upgrades were tracked and supported. We also coordinated with third-party vendors to troubleshoot and resolve issues faster.
Upgrades were scheduled for each subsystem within the stipulated timeframe, successfully addressing the technical challenges encountered. We also recommended performance improvements for DB2.
Our knowledge of the client’s system environment, processes, and applications helped us achieve excellent results and handle multiple DB2 related projects simultaneously in a short duration.
Results
Our client successfully upgraded to V9 CM without adversely impacting over 20 applications, 100 databases, 5 DB2 sub-systems and 8 system software products associated with DB2. The upgrade has enabled the organization to strengthen its security significantly and enhance online service availability. The implementation of several industry best practices in IT service management has helped reduce the response time dramatically.
With our help, the client achieved major improvements in its application’s performance such as saving the CPU time (which also impacted processor cost) as well as elapse time through the DB2 upgrade. Migration of the unsupported version of database to a newer one has resulted in reduced cost of IT and minimized risk to the business. Other key benefits include:
- Availability of XML-based enterprise applications with exceptional performance and flexibility
- Enhanced support for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
- Improved business agility
- Robust security and auditing capabilities
- Reduced processing times and costs
