GEODIS capitalizes on custom code and resolves IBM i skill shortage, modernizing applications automatically with ARCAD MaaS

Success Story GEODIS

The Customer

GEODIS ranks among the top supply chain companies in its field worldwide. Part of the SNCF Group, GEODIS is the number one Transport and Logistics operator in France and ranked number four in Europe.

GEODIS logo

Context

GEODIS is committed to the IBM i as the most secure, cost-effective and dependable platform for their business. But their 4GL language was holding them back from exploiting the latest IBM i features. Synon (CA 2E) has not evolved much in 15 years and the “gap” was growing with every new release of IBM i. Also they were often unable to find Synon skills to staff their projects.

Solution

To minimize risk and avoid delays, GEODIS opted for ARCAD’s Modernization as a Service (MaaS). With MaaS, GEODIS teams could continue development as usual on their maintenance code branch, while ARCAD staff performed code conversions on a parallel branch, merging in bug fixes and enhancements during the project.

Case Study Highlights

  • Company: GEODIS
  • Industry:  Transport & Logistics
  • Characteristics: Their core mission-critical warehouse management system was developed on the IBM i platform in 1993 using the CA 2E (Synon) 4GL.
  • Challenge: Being written in CA 2E Synon, their application was unable to exploit the latest technology on IBM i | Synon development skills were hard to find.
  • Solutions: ARCAD Modernization as a Service (MaaS)
By converting to a modern language and tools, our IBM i application is now easy to maintain by young developers.
Hugues Clement, IT Manager