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Mainframe migration proceeds 'exceedingly well'

A project to move major applications and data from ITD’s mainframe computer to a new place on the State Controller’s Office (SCO) mainframe in downtown Boise proceeded with precision Oct. 14, said Don Bernaiche, IT special projects manager.

The migration was completed during a four-hour period on Saturday morning and involved about 15 ITD employees and representatives from several other state agencies. ITD’s mainframe was taken of line at 8 a.m. and all applications were returned to service before noon.

“It went exceedingly well,” Bernaiche said. “It really was an excellent effort and turned very well.”

The process was completed last week after Corporate IT responded to a few minor challenges related to the transfer. The passwords of about 50 mainframe users needed to be reset, new configurations were applied to some printer functions and delayed log-in times were restored to normal.

Bernaiche said there were no work stoppages resulting from the required changes and that all mainframe functions were available following the migration to the SCO.

With completion of the migration, ITD’s mainframe was unceremoniously retired from service. It was taken offline Saturday and will be disposed of as surplus property once the new system is fully tested.

The project began with construction of a new data delivery line between ITD and the State Controller’s Office last February. Planning for the actual migration of applications and data began in May. The final phase of the three-part process will take place next spring when the dual partitions of the SCO mainframe are combined into one partition and a disaster recovery system is put in place.

ITD’s mainframe was nearing the end of its anticipated lifespan and needed to be replaced; moving data and applications to the SCO mainframe was a cost efficient alternative that will produce significant savings in the long run.

The consolidation will free up floor space at ITD, reduce power consumption, reduce cooling costs and free up ITD technology staff to perform more mission-critical functions.