PRESS RELEASE: City of Miami Reduces EMS Response Times Through IT Modernization and Eliminates Over 50% of IT Costs with Micro Focus

8th Jun 2010 14:05

Migration from mainframe to Windows results in faster, more efficient emergency services for Florida citizens while saving tax dollars ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 08, 2010-- Micro Focus(R) (LSE.MCRO.L), the leading provider of enterprise application modernization, testing and management solutions, today announces that the City of Miami has deployed Micro Focus enterprise application modernization solutions to migrate its Fire Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system for fire and medical emergency services from the mainframe to a Windows .NET environment. The move from mainframe-based applications to a Windows environment has reduced Miami's mainframe costs by over 50%, saving at least $900,000 per year. At the same time, the move off of the costly mainframe environment has enabled Miami to eliminate scheduled downtime for maintenance (up to four hours per month previously), improve disaster recovery by eliminating the single point of failure and more quickly update the system to meet changing needs. The migration, which was executed by Micro Focus and Idea Integration, was designed to improve the speed and efficiency of Miami's CAD system while ensuring it is able to meet the needs of the city's growing population. "The primary goal for our IT modernization project is to make the City of Miami a safer place by protecting the lives of our citizens and making it easier for our emergency workers to do their jobs effectively " said Peter Korinis, CIO of the City of Miami. "The bottom line is that we do a better job of saving lives because we migrated our system from the mainframe to .NET. The migration led by Idea Integration and Micro Focus enables us to not only improve our current processes and performance, but will be used in the future for emergency services including automatic vehicle location, global positioning and emergency dispatch systems. To do all of this without adding costs to the overburdened taxpayers has made the migration an unmitigated success." The City of Miami's CAD system, which was state-of-the-art when it was installed more than 20 years ago, has been strained by the demands of an increasing population and was no longer able to integrate smoothly with new systems and functionality. To move off the mainframe, the City of Miami had to decide between modernization and re-writing all of the code -- 80 applications and 180,000 lines of code -- for a modern platform. While the re-write would have taken between two and three years and with an estimated cost of more than double the cost to replatform, the modernization route enabled Miami to migrate the system in six months at a fraction of the cost. "The City of Miami is a good example of customer benefits that can be realized by choosing application and platform modernization. If your current application meets most of your business needs, projects that start with application re-use reduce the cost and risk of IT modernization," said Bob Ellsworth, Director Platform Modernization, Microsoft. "In addition to realizing significant cost reduction, the City of Miami was able to create a solution that improves the well-being of its citizens. Microsoft is focused on helping customers save money in a time where IT budgets are being stretched. It is rewarding to work with our partners, Micro Focus and Idea Integration, on helping customers save money while they modernize their existing COBOL system by utilizing the cost benefits of the Microsoft Application Platform." "The partnership we have with Micro Focus is a clear example of how we are continuously looking to improve the efficiencies for our customers," said Steve Ziff, President, Idea Integration. "The success realized at the City of Miami is a testament to the relationship Idea Integration has with Micro Focus." About Micro Focus Micro Focus, a member of the FTSE 250, provides innovative software that allows companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization, Testing and Management software enables customers' business applications to respond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectures with reduced cost and risk. For additional information please visit www.microfocus.com. CONTACT: Micro Focus Laura Stiff, 650-930-2114 [email protected] or LEWIS PR Erica Salamida, 617-226-8840 [email protected] SOURCE: Micro Focus Copyright Business Wire 2010 Order free Annual Report for Micro Focus International PLC Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=GB00B079W581 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028 (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 08, 2010 09:05 ET (13:05 GMT)