Adroitent

Legacy LMS Modernization: IBM AS/400 & RPG | Adroitent

Customer Story · Software Engineering

Keeping a legacy LMS alive: AS/400, RPG & compliance

How Adroitent took end-to-end ownership of maintaining and modernizing a decades-old legal management system across IBM AS/400 (RPG, LANSA), PowerBuilder and Java — while delivering a US 1099 tax-compliance overhaul.

Engineer maintaining and modernizing legacy server infrastructure

The inflection pointA complex, multi-layered legacy estate

The customer's core application, LMS, spans multiple layers and versions — built on IBM AS/400 with RPG and LANSA for back-end processing and PowerBuilder and Java for the front end — and needed ongoing maintenance and modernization across LMS 4, LMS 5 and LMS Plus, plus a major US 1099 tax-reporting overhaul.

  • Maintaining LMS 4, a legacy RPG/LANSA system
  • Supporting feature enhancements across LMS 4, LMS 5 and LMS Plus
  • Integrating compliance-driven changes within short timelines
  • Managing multi-channel communication and ticket lifecycle via Zendesk & Jira
  • Navigating VPN access and security issues while collaborating remotely
Keep decades-old software stable, supported and compliant.

The interventionEnd-to-end modernization & support

Adroitent provided end-to-end ownership of modernization, support and enhancement activities across all LMS layers of the customer's system.

Feasibility analysis

  • Full-lifecycle delivery with feasibility analysis for RPG/LANSA code changes
  • New feature addition for LMS Plus

Testing process

  • Unit, System Integration and User Acceptance Testing with the product owner
  • End-to-end testing of all peripheral applications with issue resolution at every stage

1099 tax-reporting overhaul

  • Rebuilt tax-form logic and shifted output format from PDF to CSV
  • Ensured compliance with the latest U.S. Government standards

Agile practices

  • Daily SCRUM ceremonies — sprint planning and backlog refinement
  • Direct customer communication throughout delivery

The game changer

A 1099 tax-compliance overhaul in 2.5 months

  • Rebuilt 1099 tax-form logic (MISC, NEC) end-to-end
  • Shifted output format from PDF to CSV per US Government standards
  • Delivered across LMS 4 and LMS 5 within 2.5 months
  • Full ownership of the ticket lifecycle from Zendesk to resolution
RPGLANSAPowerBuilderJavaZendeskJiraSelenium

By the numbers

Ensured business continuity

Delivered 1099 compliance

Streamlined ticket lifecycle

Resolved VPN connectivity

By the numbers

Ensured business continuity

Delivered 1099 compliance

Streamlined ticket lifecycle

Resolved VPN connectivity

The payoffContinuity, compliance, trust

Ensured business continuity
Proactive maintenance kept the LMS platform stable and available.
Delivered 1099 compliance
Successfully delivered the 1099 compliance project within 2.5 months across LMS 4 and LMS 5.
Improved collaboration
Better collaboration and visibility using Jira and Confluence workflows.
Streamlined ticket lifecycle
Full ownership of the ticket lifecycle from Zendesk intake through to resolution.
Secure remote support
Resolved critical VPN access issues, ensuring secure and seamless remote support.
Strengthened trust
Consistent delivery and rapid response to production issues improved performance and operational efficiency.

The stack behind itTools & technology

RPGControl Language (CL)LANSAPowerBuilderJavaZendeskJiraConfluenceSelenium

This engagement was delivered as part of Adroitent's Software Engineering Services practice.

Good to knowFrequently asked questions

What is IBM AS/400 (IBM i)?
IBM AS/400, now known as IBM i, is a reliable midrange server platform widely used for business applications. It runs languages like RPG and integrates the database, security and operating system into one system, and many enterprises still rely on it for stable, mission-critical workloads.
What is legacy application maintenance and modernization?
It is the ongoing work of keeping older software running — fixing issues, adding features and meeting compliance — while gradually upgrading its architecture, code or platform to improve performance, security and maintainability without disrupting the business.
What are RPG and LANSA used for?
RPG is a programming language for business applications on IBM i/AS-400, strong at data processing and reporting. LANSA is a low-code platform that extends and modernizes IBM i applications, enabling web and mobile front-ends over legacy back-ends.
What changed in US 1099 tax reporting (MISC and NEC)?
US 1099 forms report non-employee and miscellaneous income. The IRS reintroduced Form 1099-NEC and revised 1099-MISC, and agencies increasingly require structured electronic formats such as CSV instead of PDF, so software must update its form logic and output to stay compliant.
Why not just replace a legacy system entirely?
Full replacement is costly and risky because legacy systems hold years of critical business logic and data. Maintaining and incrementally modernizing preserves that value, ensures continuity and compliance, and spreads risk — often more pragmatic than a big-bang rewrite.

Keep your legacy systems running and compliant.

Proactive maintenance and modernization for mission-critical legacy software.

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