Migrating 30,000 Natural Objects and 5.6M Lines of Payroll Code 80% Faster Than a Rewrite

The company is responsible for the IT processing and operation of the entire municipality of Campinas and other municipalities in the region.

The application is a Human Resources and Payroll System for all employees of the municipality of Campinas, São Paulo. It encompasses in a single application with more than 2,000 functions the payment of municipality employees in areas such as: civil servants, police officers, teachers, health professionals, etc.

The system was running on outdated hardware with no possibility of maintenance and support. Switching licenses to other environments became prohibitively expensive.

This mission-critical application started with one package but underwent 70% new implementfations, reflecting the client's specific needs.

These implementations took years.

Any effort to rewrite the application or adopt another package and implement everything that has already been done would require much more time, cost, and risk.

Adabas/Natural migrationf

mLogica implemented a Natural migration approach designed to preserve application behavior while removing legacy dependencies. The solution is centered on:

• Natural runtime emulation to execute existing Natural logic unchanged, in a Java standard environment
• Automated database transformation from Adabas structures to Oracle schemas
• Controlled cutover and validation to ensure functional equivalence and production readiness

This approach enabled the Customer to retain the full value of the existing business logic investment while transitioning to an open, modern data platform and broader talent ecosystem.

mLogica delivered the program through a structured, quality-gated methodology focused on speed, predictability, and low operational risk.

Five-phase delivery preceded by assessment:

1. Assessment
   Comprehensive discovery of application inventory, Adabas data model characteristics, integrations, batch schedules, performance baselines, and risk areas, culminating in an approved modernization plan and migration decision.
2. Database Migration
   Automated Adabas-to-Oracle conversion, including schema mapping, data migration, and validation. Performance considerations were built into indexing and access patterns to meet or exceed baseline expectations.
3. Application Migration
   Installation and configuration of the migrated environment, migration of execution dependencies, and transfer of all 30,000+ Natural Objects with zero code changes.
   
   Compiling all objects, deploying and executing them in a new robust and stable environment.
4. Testing & Quality Gates
   Functional equivalence validation, batch reconciliation, interface verification, and performance benchmarking. All test cases were required to pass prior to production readiness.
5. Knowledge Transfer & User Delivery
   Operational handover, enablement, and production rollout, delivering the system to users with zero operational disruption.
   
   No end-user training necessary.

• They eliminated the risk of stopping the environment due to obsolescence (hardware);
• No purchase of HR packages, which would have to be highly adapted to the client's characteristics, which would imply costs in the order of millions, adaptation and implementation time would not be less than five years;
• The existing analysts are supporting and increasing new functionalities in the migrated system.

Financial Impact

• Eliminated upwards of $500,000 (or more) in recurring annual licensing costs for Adabas and Natural, as well as expenses associated with the legacy platform
• Achieved upwards of a 24-month payback window, driven primarily by avoided licensing and accelerated realization of savings
• Plus, the intangible gain of eliminating a production stoppage due to a failure in unsupported, obsolete equipment.

Timeline and Risk Reduction

• Delivered in 8 months versus an estimated 3 to 5 yards path for conversion-based modernization
• 80%+ faster timeline, enabling earlier go-live and faster benefit capture
• Lower risk profile by maintaining the known-good business logic path rather than introducing large-scale recoding variability

Technical Benefits

• All 30,000+ objects executed unchanged, preserving behavior and reducing regression risk.
• Application performance met or exceeded baseline expectations, supported by Oracle optimization and migrated runtime tuning.
• Modernized data foundation improved maintainability, extensibility, and operational tooling options.

Strategic Advantages

• Reduced reliance on proprietary constraints and improved flexibility for future modernization phases.
• Expanded access to mainstream Oracle skill pools versus scarce Adabas expertise.
• Positioned the Customer for incremental modernization (API enablement, UI modernization, DevOps improvements, cloud readiness) without forcing a “big bang” rewrite.

• 30,000+ Natural objects migrated
• 8 months delivery duration
• 80%+ faster delivery
• Zero code changes
• Zero operational disruption
• ~$500K+ annual licensing eliminated
• 2 years of support services included
• Long-term compliance alignment, including retention requirements extending up to 30 years (where applicable)

Source Environment

• Software AG Adabas database
• Natural application components (online and batch workloads)

Target Environment

• Oracle database
• Natural migrated runtime with functional equivalence controls
• Modern operational tooling for monitoring, support, and performance management

mLogica delivered a modernization outcome that balanced speed with certainty, protecting business continuity while modernizing the underlying platform. The engagement applied mLogica’s proven legacy-to-modern transformation expertise, disciplined delivery governance, and modernization engineering practices to ensure functional equivalence, predictable execution, and production-ready performance.

This engagement also reinforces a critical modernization principle for SLED organizations: Natural rehosting is a practical, low-risk strategy to reduce cost and dependency while preserving mission-critical functionality. By transitioning from Adabas to Oracle and retaining the Natural logic unchanged, the Customer accelerated delivery, achieved measurable savings, and established a durable foundation for future modernization initiatives, without sacrificing operational stability.

Modernize with Confidence. Operate with Continuity. Scale for the Future.