Durability

Durability is an important benefit of the Odyssey Digital Automation Platform. Durability, along with Speed to Value , Efficiency and ROI are the four benefit pillars that Odyssey creates for an organization. When we speak about “Durability” as a benefit, we are referring to a few different things.

In the first instance, Durability is taken in the context of how current automation tools are created and utilized and the technical debt created when simple changes to underlying processes, like changes in the applications used, impact negatively the automation created and amount of rework that must be done. All of the automation tools like RPA, workflow, ITSM, ETL tools and Low Code create huge technical debt because the amount of rework incurred when the large software houses update their products which require total integration rework. Odyssey task agents, the connectors, are Pantheon’s responsibility to keep up to date. For all of the above-mentioned tool categories, it is up to the customer to do the rework or pay someone to do the rework. When the time comes to change an underlying application, Odyssey, through its pluggable technology (task agents), can swap one task agent out and replace it with the new application task agent. All of the other applications will require a complete rebuild.

Re-Platforming

Durability also has to do with the re-platforming of applications, be it mainframe or distributed, to the Cloud and the optimization of the code to be less costly when considering the consumption-based pricing models of the large Cloud providers, like AWS, Azure and GCP. Traditional Cloud migration occurs in one of two ways. The first is to use a tool that translates COBOL, FORTRAN and Assembler into a current technology, like SQL. The problem is that all of the sins of the bygone era, when optimization was not a thing, and MIPS were cheap, are drug along with it. This will result in a 2x or 3x bill from the Cloud providers based on today’s consumption models. Applications (re)built in Odyssey will result in a lower total cost in ownership because Odyssey was built to optimize (lower) your cost to the Cloud providers and only brings across (Edge Computing) the data actually needed and not the entire data stack.

The second means of moving from legacy platforms to Cloud applications is a ground up build using .Net or SQL or other modern language. This is highly risky, as this is a “Big Bang” approach, where everything, from training to the application itself, had better be ready day one, or that important application becomes unusable. In addition, this is an extremely time consuming and expensive process, which may stretch anywhere from 18 – 24 months or longer depending on the size of the application and number of Scrum Teams deployed. Odyssey offers a phased approach, which will allow a controlled and risk-free way to move the application, while optimizing the application for Cloud consumption measurements. The process to re-platform with Odyssey is as per the chart below:

Re-Platforming with Odyssey

• Re-Platforming: Carrying the Sins of the Past

  • Cloud Platforms measure usage totally different from mainframe and distributed processes of the past
  • A straight lift & shift carries those inefficiencies to re-platformed application, causing a bloated Cloud charge

• Rebuild & Big Bang with Traditional Applications Has its Own Issues

  • Risky, as you are changing everything at once, including application settling, bug fixes and end-user training.
  • A long development cycle with teams of developers doing a ground up build.

• Using Odyssey Provides a Controlled and Phased Approach

  • Phase 1: Odyssey can create “ring” around the legacy platform and enable integration with all modern applications
    • Provide time to identify high value functionality in Phase 2, lowering risk and providing more control.
    • Allows for the usage of the data at the business and UI level, eliminating risk as Odyssey provides the integration.
  • Phase 2: Odyssey enables the movement of high priority functionality outside of the mainframe
    • An Odyssey-build is already optimized for the way the Cloud providers measure usage.
    • Odyssey’s Edge Computing ensures that only data needed will be transported to and from the Cloud.
    • The end-user is unaffected with the functionality moved to the cloud, as the combined application continues to operate as one.
    • All Cloud protocols and security enforced by Odyssey’s 10-levels of security (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.)
  • Phase 3: Complete the build process with Odyssey
    • Build time in Odyssey typically 70 – 95% faster
    • Pluggable architecture allows the application to run at the microservice level and future-proofs the application

The Phases

In the first phase, Odyssey is enabling the legacy platform to speak with modern applications while the work around identifying the key functionality to be moved first is happening. In Phase 2, the important function(s) are moved to a Cloud application which are built in Odyssey. No impact is felt by the end-user, as Odyssey, acting headless in the background and continues to pass all data between the legacy application and the new Cloud apps acting as the glue. Finally, in phase three, all of the green screens and other functions are built and optimized in Odyssey for the new application now totally in the Cloud.

The Journey

The final Durability definition, but perhaps the most important, involves the journey from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow. The journey has always been painful, compiling various fragile means to link applications and data sources together on the road to nirvana, but Odyssey changes all of that. Odyssey, as in the Cloud Migration Scenario Phase 2 above, becomes the glue to hold together the various pieces, such as applications, data sources, and workflow, as things are swapped in and out. Odyssey, as an Enterprise Grade Solution, provides the control amongst the imperfect pieces. This control allows for a risk-free journey that ensures that the envisioned becomes reality by the quickest means possible. Odyssey minimizes the cost of change while optimizing optionality.

Contact Us

Should you have any questions, please contact us at the “Contact Sales” at the bottom of the page. To find out for yourself how easy it is to use Odyssey, sign up for Odyssey’s Free Trial, where you will be hands-on in developing a few Odyssey apps. To learn more about how Odyssey can deliver on the breadth of use cases, visit the Features page.