COBOL drives most in-house applications on HP 3000s, so the combination of a classic language with a legendary platform now gives software companies opportunities through change. Some vendors like to use the word legacy, but with the 3000's success, legendary seems to fit better.)

Migration means movement, away from HP's COBOL II and onto another compiler. While Acucorp has courted 3000 customers openly, another COBOL vendor also works toward gaining 3000 business — once it's moving.

Micro Focus could be a company several times larger than its COBOL competitor, but the firm was going through a "meltdown" last year, according to an article in Computer Business Review. To help raise the software ship, new CEO Stephen Kelly refocused Micro Focus on legacy captures: the opportunity to replace COBOL on platforms like the 3000, sliding out of the vendor's plans.

A recent press release from Micro Focus announced a Migration and Transformation Consortium (MTC) that includes several HP 3000 migration advisors: MB Foster, Transoft, iMaxsoft and Unicon appear in the Micro Focus matrix. Each of these MTC companies, according to Micro Focus, "focuses on just one or two platforms, with each partner having complete depth of expertise."

The MTC "ecosystem" has performed more than 500 migrations already, so it's not exactly a new alliance. It just might be new to the 3000 customer. What may seem familiar is a software vendor whose business plan is to " ensure the market for legacy modernization software and services is robust." Your move keeps some software companies healthy. But partners with expertise are often needed for your platform. Enter the MTC.