Subject: CM First Group April 2026 Newsletter

Explore the future of modernization with us

April 2026

In this issue...

  • Featured: Data Contracts Start in the Code, Not the Data Platform - CM First Group

  • Watch: Shortening the Rewrite Time for Legacy Applications

  • Watch: Latest Advances in Code Analysis and Transformation

  • Broadcom Support: Let us Help You Get the Support You Need

  • Article: COBOL developers will always be needed, even as AI takes the lead on modernization projects - IT Pro

  • Intelligence: Further Reading on the Web

Heads Up

The Real Data Governance Problem Started Long Before Your Platform


At Data + AI Day, a sharp insight emerged: while teams rush to define data contracts on modern platforms, they’re overlooking those already buried in COBOL and RPG code. For years, those systems have quietly enforced validations, workflows, and business constraints. The real logic that keeps everything running.


Now bring AI into the mix, and that gap starts to matter. When models use data without those built-in rules, things don’t just break. They drift, misfire, and become harder to trust.


So why rebuild the logic from scratch when it’s been there all along?


Read our recent article for a full breakdown  →

Stream

Watch: "Shortening the Rewrite Time for Legacy Applications"


For most organizations, the hardest part of rewriting a legacy application isn’t the rewrite itself, it’s what comes before it. Teams spend months, sometimes the better part of a year, trying to understand what the old system actually does. Code that hasn’t been touched in a decade. Documentation that was never written, or was written and then lost. Business rules buried inside COBOL routines that only one retired developer ever fully understood. By the time the team is ready to write a single line of new code, the schedule is already in trouble.


This session examines how AI-powered analysis is fundamentally changing that equation. Using CM evolveIT, organizations can compress the discovery and analysis phase dramatically, reducing what once took six weeks of manual reverse engineering to two weeks or less. Automated inventories, process flow documentation, and business rule extraction give modernization teams an accurate, complete picture of the legacy system before the first architectural decision is made. That means fewer assumptions, less rework, and a rewrite process grounded in reality rather than guesswork.


Viewers will leave with a clear understanding of how to:

  • Compress the discovery phase from months to weeks using automated code analysis and business rule extraction

  • Surface cross-program dependencies and embedded logic that manual review consistently misses

  • Enter the rewrite phase with a complete, documented picture of what the legacy system does, reducing rework and mid-project surprises

  • Connect discovery findings directly to scope, phasing, and architecture decisions

If your organization is planning a legacy rewrite in 2026, or struggling with one already underway, this session will show you how to shorten the most expensive phase of the project before it derails the rest.


Watch now →

Announcing CM evolveIT 11.7


Available for Streaming: Join us for informative, hands-on sessions focused on the new CM evolveIT 11.7 release. 


Tailored for future-minded developers, these sessions showcase groundbreaking enhancements aimed at revolutionizing your code analysis and transformation workflows. Expect hands-on demonstrations that you can take to your development workflows right away.

Watch a webinar now...

Mainframe COBOL

Latest Advances in Mainframe COBOL Code Analysis and Transformation

Learn about cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools that promise streamlined analysis and transformation processes, automated tools that convert legacy COBOL code to Java, and advanced code slicing.


IBM i

Latest Advances in IBM i Code Analysis and Transformation

Learn how to cut your analysis costs by up to 80% with new capabilities. We'll demo new CA 2E (Synon) and CA Plex superpowers, AI and Code slicing innovations, and improved support for DB2 and COBOL and more.


Heads Up

The Real Work of Enterprise AI: Why CFOs Must Move Beyond Pilots and Into Production


Most enterprise AI initiatives stall for the same reason: the intelligence lives outside the workflow. Writing in Enterprise Times, Deltek's Dinakar Hituvalli argues that CFOs, not technologists, are best positioned to move AI from pilot purgatory into production. 


The key? Start with KPIs, not demos. Define the business outcome before a single line of code is written. For legacy-heavy organizations, that logic cuts even deeper: you can't embed AI into workflows you don't fully understand. Discovery comes first.


Read the article on Enterprise Times UK  →

 Broadcom Support 


Many enterprises struggle with obtaining Broadcom support for their CA 2E (Synon, COOL:2E) or CA Plex systems


If you're working with an older unsupported release, upgrading your IBM OS, or otherwise under the shadow of lapsed maintenance, we can get you back on Broadcom support based on your unique situation. We specialize in all sizes of customers.


Fill out our 2 minute form and schedule a no-commitment fifteen minute conversation with a CM First Group technical rep.

CM First Support

Current CM First Group customers can access tutorials and submit support tickets at support.cmfirstgroup.com.

Current Releases


CM WebClient 1.8.8 (with nightly builds) For details, go here.

CM Matchpoint ALM 7.0 Build 004. For details, go here.

CM evolveIT 11.7, last supported 10.6
CM M3 2024 Edition
CA Plex 7.3, last supported 7.2.1 (as of October 31, 2024)
→ Details can be found here at Broadcom (login required)
CA 2E 8.7.4, last supported 8.7 (as of October 31, 2024)
→ Details can be found here at Broadcom (login required)
Contact CM First to learn more: info@cmfirstgroup.com

Intelligence