U.S. Air Force Modernizes Mission Systems on Azure with Amdocs

Overview

The United States Air Force (USAF) operates a mission-critical maintenance and logistics system serving more than 260,000 users worldwide. IT leaders sought to increase agility and establish a foundation for digital transformation while preserving decades of investment in existing application code.

A 2019 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified the system as one of the federal government’s 10 most critical legacy systems in need of modernization. Concerns included escalating operating costs, aging hardware, potential security vulnerabilities and a shortage of qualified personnel to support legacy technologies.

The existing mainframe environment also limited the adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics. Air Force leaders wanted to deliver system enhancements more frequently and respond faster to the needs of frontline personnel.

Given the system’s mission-critical role, the USAF required stringent security, disaster recovery and operational continuity. It selected Microsoft Azure as the foundation for modernization, working with Amdocs and Micro Focus Government Solutions to migrate the system while minimizing disruption.

The project received AFCEA International’s Distinguished Award for Excellence in Engineering.

Challenge

The USAF faced several interconnected challenges:

Rising operating costs: Annual costs were projected to exceed $29 million in 2020, with further increases anticipated.

Restricted delivery flexibility: A shared-services mainframe environment constrained the timing and scope of system enhancements.

A shrinking talent pool: Limited availability of skilled mainframe professionals increased the cost and risk of maintaining and enhancing the system.

Barriers to innovation: Limited integration and analytics capabilities hindered the adoption of modern technologies.

The USAF had invested heavily in the system and needed to preserve its business logic without the disruption and risk of extensively rewriting or replacing application code. The migration also had to maintain continuity of operations without requiring the system’s 260,000 users to undergo retraining.

For military IT leaders, the project represented a pathfinder initiative: an opportunity to demonstrate how a complex, mission-critical mainframe system could be modernized through careful planning and execution.

Solution

The USAF pursued a cloud replatforming approach that preserved existing application investments while creating a foundation for future transformation.

Amdocs brought established mainframe modernization expertise, experience with complex Unisys migrations, and proprietary tools and methodologies for planning and executing large-scale projects. Its collaboration with Microsoft and Micro Focus Government Solutions supported coordinated delivery across the application, database and cloud environments.

Preserving application logic while modernizing the platform

The team migrated the USAF’s Unisys 2200 COBOL application to Microsoft Azure with minimal changes to application source code. It also moved the system’s legacy Unisys DMS data to Azure SQL.

OpenDMS database management software enabled existing application code to work with Azure SQL, reducing the need for code changes and helping control migration risk. The modern database platform also created opportunities for predictive analytics and other data-driven capabilities.

Using Micro Focus Visual COBOL and supporting tools, the team enabled the existing COBOL code to run within Microsoft’s .NET environment in the cloud. This approach preserved application functionality while allowing COBOL components to operate alongside modern programming languages and technologies.

Establishing a foundation for continuous improvement

Microsoft Azure provided scalability, performance, disaster recovery and failover capabilities. Its cloud services also created a foundation for future applications of AI and machine learning, including anomaly detection and predictive maintenance.

The team introduced a DevSecOps process and adopted Agile delivery practices to support more frequent releases. Parallel development, repeatable automated testing and continuous integration enabled faster delivery of functional enhancements.

Results

Amdocs worked alongside USAF IT staff, Microsoft and Micro Focus Government Solutions to migrate a complex, mission-critical application to the cloud while preserving existing functionality and minimizing source-code changes.

The team moved from two to four releases per year to an on-demand release process, reporting a 92% improvement in its capacity to respond to changing USAF needs and requirements.

A common DevOps model aligned application delivery with the USAF’s broader enterprise cloud initiatives, supporting faster and more flexible system enhancements.

The modernized environment incorporated enhanced security, monitoring and disaster recovery capabilities, including:

Assured Compliance Assessment Solution (ACAS) scanning and vulnerability assessments integrated into the delivery process.

Automated application and updating of Defense Information Systems Agency Security Technical Implementation Guides (DISA STIGs) for Windows Server.

Azure monitoring and recovery services, including Azure Monitor metrics, Application Insights and Azure Site Recovery.

The migration established a modern data foundation for AI, machine learning and advanced analytics. Services such as Azure Data Factory, Azure Batch and Azure Logic Apps can support data integration, processing and workflow automation.

These capabilities create opportunities for predictive maintenance initiatives designed to improve equipment availability and mission readiness.

The platform also supports a gradual transition from COBOL to C# within the .NET environment. Existing COBOL applications can continue to operate alongside C# modules, allowing the USAF to modernize incrementally.

The project was expected to reduce system operating costs by 82.7%. The modernized environment also broadened access to the skills needed to maintain and enhance the system over time.

Recognized with AFCEA International’s Distinguished Award for Excellence in Engineering, the project demonstrated a practical path for modernizing complex government systems while preserving critical application investments.

Through its collaboration with Amdocs, Microsoft and Micro Focus Government Solutions, the USAF established a scalable cloud foundation for continued innovation and mission readiness.