2.1 Introduction

In April 2016, Air Force (AF) Logistics (A4) published the “US Air Force Enterprise Logistics Flight Plan v2.0” (ELFP) and a subordinate document titled the “Enterprise Logistics Technology Annex” (ELTA) was published in June 2016. This plan and annex describe the 2035 future state of AF Enterprise Logistics “synthesized logistics information”. To achieve the longer-term ELFP and ELTA goals, a series of enabling initiatives was defined to achieve necessary foundational near-term milestones. The “Enterprise Logistics IT (ELIT) Automated Application Modernization (AAM) Playbook Chapter” is one of these initiatives.

Automated Application Modernization (AAM) applies automated tools to efficiently transform proprietary, closed legacy applications and systems into modern applications, aligned with current AF standards, and hosted on open platforms that enable technical integration and interoperability with other authorized applications. Further, modernized applications, if modernized correctly, should be more secure, easier to upgrade, componentize, functionally modernize, share information with, integrate easier with third-party products (such as reporting tools), and less expensive to maintain and operate. The Automated Application Modernization Playbook Chapter will provide the Air Force (AF) with approaches and methodologies to convert, transform, and migrate legacy systems to modern, open, standards-based platforms using AF standard programming languages such as Java and Microsoft C#.NET.

For example, the modernization of the AF Logistics Standard Base Supply System (SBSS), that provided a major set of application functionality for Integrated Logistics System – Supply (ILS-S), was converted from a UNISYS 2200-based COBOL application to a well-designed RHEL-based Java application. This project provided many benefits including: an open system Architecture Runway, cost reduction, technical improvements, improved user experience, and improved mission integration. This Playbook Chapter leverages this experience, and others, to create a set of plays that can be applied to modernize a wide variety of applications.