Dating back to the 1960s, the idea behind PL/I was that it would provide a common programming language for business and scientific applications, allowing it to replace COBOL and FORTRAN. The language is largely, though not exclusively, associated with IBM mainframes.

While COBOL was commonly used to write commercial programs, some companies did adopt PL/I. The language is still offered by IBM, with support for z/OS®, VM, VSE/ESA, AIX, and Windows.

Micro Focus - perhaps best known for its COBOL compilers - has now released Micro Focus Server Enterprise Edition for PL/I to migrate IBM mainframe PL/I applications to Windows Server, Linux or Unix with minimal changes. The company claims a potential reduction in operating costs of up to 70%, without the risks involved in rewriting or replacing applications.

"PL/I applications running on IBM mainframes are nearly always business-critical. It is therefore crucial to provide a robust platform that helps organisations move applications with as few changes as possible," said Bruce Craig, general country manager at Micro Focus for Australia and New Zealand. "Our products mitigate risk, which is the number one concern of CIOs interested in exploring how migration can benefit their organisations."

Micro Focus Server Enterprise Edition for PL/I has already been used by an unspecified number of customers in Europe to move insurance, pensions and banking applications from mainfames.

"Companies worldwide are continuing to increase their deployments of mission-critical applications on Windows Server and SQL Server," said Microsoft's worldwide director of platform modernisation Bob Ellsworth. "The PL/I migration solution from Micro Focus can help companies that still depend on PL/I-based mainframe applications to move to the Microsoft application platform. Companies making this switch are driven by improved agility, price/performance, and a large ecosystem of applications and skilled resources."