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Six MultiValueMythsDebunked

BRIEFING PAPER

Introduction

Rocket Software is the global leader in providing MultiValue (MV) technology. Thousands

of organizations and millions of users depend on applications that use MV. Its unique

features make rapid development and easy maintenance a reality for applications in many

vertical markets. Despite these strengths, misconceptions sometimes arise, largely due to

misunderstandings of MV and its place in the technology world today.

1SIX MULTIVALUE MYTHS

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SIX MULTIVALUE MYTHSMyth #1: MV Is Old Technology

Myth

The classic MV data model has a rich history,

starting as the original PICK database released

in 1973. Since then, the PICK/MV model has

spawned more than 50 commercial variations.

Only the fittest have survived. Rocket Software

maintains the largest MV market share, with

four variations, including Rocket® UniVerse,

Rocket® UniData, Rocket® D3, and Rocket®

mvBase. IBM approached Rocket in 2009 to

sell its U2 business, based on Rocket

Software’s strong track record of acquiring

companies and technologies with loyal user

bases and continuing to invest in and grow

them.

To date, Rocket has invested more than $100

million in the MV roadmap, adding key features

based on market trends and specific customer

requests. These include:

• Enhanced high availability/data recovery/hot back up

• Support for major development languages, including Java, .NET, Node.js, and Python

• Audit logging and security enhancements to address regulatory compliance requirements

• 64-bit architecture

• National language support for globalization

• IPv6

• SSL and SSH support

• RESTful services for access to data, business processes, and B2B integration

• Integration of business intelligence tools

• Support for mobile development

• Support for lifecycle management

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SIX MULTIVALUE MYTHS

The reasons MV was so appealing years

ago are still true today: Intuitive data design,

flexibility, and performance are at the core of

Rocket MV application platforms. Other

advantages include MV’s fast performance

combined with a minimal IT footprint and

low total cost of ownership over time. The

MV platform runs on all major operating

systems, providing all the database

functionality enterprise applications require.

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SIX MULTIVALUE MYTHS

Myth

Myth #2: MV Looks Old

Rocket has modernized MV products over

the years, and continues to enhance MV

with both fat and thin client Graphical User

Interface (GUI) application development. The

most recent modernization enhancements

focused on development utilizing MV

RESTful web services. We also added

advanced support for connection

management, authorization, monitoring, and

load balancing for web and mobile

application development, while providing for

efficient resource utilization.

Some legacy applications have retained their

character-based screens. The MV platform

supports a number of options to convert

those applications to a modern interface.

For example, support for the .NET

framework allows for development of rich

Its character-based screens are foreign to my newer employees and users

GUI Windows forms to provide a contemporary,

state-of-the-art front end to legacy software

while potentially saving millions of dollars by

extending proven, in-place applications.

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SIX MULTIVALUE MYTHS

MV has become quite open in recent years, so

the perception that it is closed, proprietary

technology is out of date:

• Though you can develop applications using Rocket® MV BASIC and the GUI development tools of Rocket® SB/XA, or Rocket® WebDE for the web, you are not limited to these.

• MV supports Python, the modern language for data scientists (and the many Python modules available), so you can extend your BASIC application with Python or write your application in Python.

• RESTful web services let MV applications consume software as a service (SaaS) requests and return data in JSON format. This allows a web front end of your choice to access the flexible MV data structure and an application’s business rules.

• MV lets you deliver functionality anywhere, in any form you wish. You

have complete control over the presentation layer, whether as a GUI front end or as a consumer of data in JSON format in a SaaS architecture.

• Analysis of application data has become much more important to business users in recent years, and we have extended MV to enable BI. MV data can be analyzed using Rocket® Discover, a self-service BI and data prep tool, or normalized for export for use by other systems.

The MV application platforms provide

everything you expect from an enterprise-

ready solution. MV offers secure,

recoverable data, yet is open and

embeddable within a larger IT infrastructure. Myth

Myth #3: MV Technology is Proprietary

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SIX MULTIVALUE MYTHS

When IBM sold its MV businesses, it did so with

the goal of seeing more investment in MV

technologies and customers. IBM believed its

customer base would be well served by Rocket

Software based on the two companies' long

partnership history. Rocket is a deeply

committed partner. Its unique relationship with

IBM for more than 25 years gives Rocket

access to IBM IP, customers, and channels. As

part of the IBM to Rocket transition, all of the U2

senior executive and technical staff took roles

within Rocket. Here are just a few examples of

Rocket’s ongoing commitment to MV:

• Rocket has expanded the MV technical team by adding engineers in the United States and new labs in Russia and China.

• MV is the largest product lab within Rocket Software, and the largest contributor to its direct and partner sales, as well as profitability.

Myth #4: Rocket is Not a Committed MV Player

• In 2014, Rocket acquired D3, the third-largest MV database after UniVerse and UniData. This represented a significant expansion of the company's MV market share, as well as its MV technical expertise.

• The Chief Technical Officer of D3 now holds a senior leadership position at Rocket, running several development labs.

• Rocket has invested in educational and training events, and expanded resources devoted to marketing and sales enablement for the MV portfolio, including large-scale technical training events in Las Vegas, as well as smaller regional events.

• Rocket continues to support the MV ecosystem, and maintains several collaborative projects at any given time. For example, one project focuses on enhancing replication of data and dynamic creation of MV instances in the cloud. 4Myth

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SIX MULTIVALUE MYTHS

Actually, MV is one of the most successful

Rocket investments to date, with an active

roadmap, a global network of partners, and a

sizable customer base.

• There are more than 100 Rocketeers dedicated to the MV business, most of whom are engineers.

• MV Lab engineers are globally distributed, and work on MV technologies and tools in the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, and China.

• MV partners and distributors span North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

• Rocket has more than 700 MV partners, 54,000 user sites, and more than 2.7 million seats on active maintenance (many times more than the company's largest MV competitor). MV applications have significant penetration (40 percent or more) in the insurance, energy, automobile

dealership, and higher education markets. Established players in these markets are continuing to develop their capabilities, and are modernizing their user experiences (GUI, web, mobile) and delivery models (cloud).

Myth #5: MV is Not a ThrivingBusiness

5Myth

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SIX MULTIVALUE MYTHS

With more than 85 percent of the Fortune

50 as customers, Rocket helps some of the

world’s largest companies maintain and

optimize their infrastructure while enabling

them to take advantage of newer

technologies such as cloud, mobile,

analytics, and self-service.

• With products that “connect” vs. merely “collect” data, and extend critical back-end systems without the need for costly code rewrites, Rocket plays a major role in many of today's digital transformation efforts. Rocket is also a longstanding and trusted IBM partner, with more than 93 percent of its business touching customers in the IBM eco-system.

• Rocket employs more than 800 engineering Rocketeers across 20 research and development labs in four continents.

• Rocket’s broad portfolio of enterprise technology includes DevOps, application modernization for IBM z Systems, IBM i, and MV, as well as business intelligence, data virtualization, and much more.

• Rocket clients include the top five U.S. car and truck manufacturers, the top five U.S. managed health care providers, and the top ten U.S. commercial banks, to name a few sectors the company dominates (Source: Forbes Global 2000; Forbes).5 6Myth

Myth #6: Rocket is Not a Significant Force in the Enterprise Software Business

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