COBOL-IT

What COBOL-IT does

COBOL-IT is a product line of Rocket Software that provides open-source-based COBOL compiler and development tooling for enterprises seeking to modernize legacy COBOL applications without rewriting them. Founded in 2008 and headquartered at Rocket Software's offices in Waltham, Massachusetts, the company's flagship product is the COBOL-IT Compiler Suite Enterprise Edition, a COBOL compiler that translates existing COBOL programs into objects built via the host C compiler and runs them on Unix, Linux, and Windows platforms. The compiler is positioned for high compatibility with Micro Focus and IBM COBOL dialects, EXTFH-compliant indexed and sequential file handling, EBCDIC character set support, and interoperability with mainstream enterprise databases and tooling including Oracle Database, Oracle Tuxedo, and Syncsort. A complementary Eclipse-based Developer Studio provides COBOL-aware editing, debugging, code coverage, profiling, and Git integration, alongside add-on modules such as the cobcdb debugger, CitSORT external sort utility, CitSQL pre-compilers for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server, and a Web Services Perspective that exposes COBOL functions as REST-style APIs.

The solution is delivered through a structured four-step migration methodology (Application Assessment Survey, Application Analysis, Clean Compile, and Technical Services) executed by COBOL-IT specialists and a global network of certified migration partners and system integrators. Revenue is generated via annual subscription support tiers (Silver/Gold/Platinum) priced as flat-rate subscriptions, plus professional services revenue from migration engagements. Distribution runs through Rocket Software's enterprise field sales organization and channel partners, with marketing, customer support, and developer community functions also folded into Rocket's broader infrastructure (corporate website, YouTube channel, Rocket Community portal). The company claims to have migrated hundreds of customers, hundreds of thousands of users, and hundreds of millions of lines of COBOL code over its 17-year operating history, serving primarily large enterprises in verticals such as financial services, insurance, and other regulated industries where mission-critical COBOL workloads dominate.

As a privately held product line inside a privately held parent, COBOL-IT does not disclose standalone financials, has no independent funding history, and inherits Rocket Software's enterprise compliance posture (ISO 27001, SOC 1 Type II, SOC 2 Type I, TISAX, NIST 800-53, ISO 20243). The product line's strategic value to Rocket Software is the open-source core and a price-disruptive compiler alternative at the bottom of an enterprise modernization stack that also includes Micro Focus/IBM-compatible commercial alternatives.

Name

COBOL-IT

Legal name

Rocket Software, Inc.

Website

https://cobol-it.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

COBOL-IT is a Rocket Software product line that provides an open-source-based COBOL compiler, Eclipse-based Developer Studio, and migration services enabling enterprises to recompile and run legacy COBOL applications on Unix, Linux, and Windows with high compatibility to Micro Focus and IBM dialects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses and Subscriptions: Subscription-based pricing provides customers with a flat rate securing the services they need when they need them. Customers avoid expensive and sometimes unpredictable new license costs. Three service tiers available: Silver (Basic Support Services), Gold (Enterprise-class support for software development), and Platinum (Enterprise-class support for production with 24x7 rapid response).
2. Professional Services: Technical Services package providing support with modifications, testing, and migration of procedures. Services include Application Assessment Survey, Application Analysis, Clean Compile, and ongoing technical services for customers completing their migration to COBOL-IT.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

COBOL-IT provides a high-performance open-source-based COBOL compiler and integrated development tooling that enables enterprises to migrate legacy COBOL applications from mainframes to Unix, Linux, and Windows platforms while preserving compatibility with IBM and Micro Focus COBOL code. The product line is bundled with a four-step structured migration methodology (Application Assessment Survey, Application Analysis, Clean Compile, and ongoing Technical Services) and tiered subscription support (Silver, Gold, Platinum).

Product overview

Rocket COBOL-IT is a comprehensive COBOL modernization platform from Rocket Software that provides innovative and scalable solutions for enterprises to modernize legacy COBOL applications. The portfolio consists of two core products: the COBOL-IT Compiler Suite Enterprise Edition (a high-performance COBOL compiler with compatibility for Micro Focus and IBM COBOL) and the Developer Studio (an Eclipse-based IDE). Supporting these are add-on tools including the Profiler for performance optimization, Debugger for debugging capabilities, CitSORT for high-performance sorting, and the CitSQL Family of Pre-compilers for database connectivity. The platform also includes a Web Services Perspective for exposing COBOL functions as APIs, Code Coverage for testing, and Data Displayer for file editing. COBOL-IT provides structured migration services including Application Assessment Survey, Application Analysis, Clean Compile, and Technical Services, with support tiers ranging from Silver to Platinum. Founded in 2008, the platform has migrated hundreds of customers, hundreds of thousands of users, and hundreds of millions of lines of COBOL code.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rocket COBOL-IT Compiler Suite Enterprise Edition: High-performance COBOL compiler with compatibility with Micro Focus and IBM COBOL compilers for mission-critical enterprise applications.
• Rocket COBOL-IT Developer Studio

Products and services

• Rocket COBOL-IT Compiler Suite Enterprise Edition

Quantifiable outcome

• COBOL-IT takes advantage of performance-oriented features of the C compiler, with compiler flags allowing identification and elimination of performance bottlenecks. High degree of tuning available for arithmetic computations, PERFORM tests, CALL statements, initializations of large tables.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability8 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• OraclecoreTechnology or IntegrationCOBOL-IT is certified for interoperability with Oracle Database and Oracle Tuxedo transactional monitor. Provides connectivity to latest Oracle database releases via Oracle Pro*COBOL pre-compiler. The certification ensures seamless integration of COBOL-IT compiled applications with Oracle enterprise infrastructure.
• SyncsortcoreTechnology or IntegrationCOBOL-IT holds certification for interoperability with Syncsort data manipulation tools. This certification is part of COBOL-IT's strategy to provide broad compatibility with industry-leading tools in the enterprise solution stack.
• Certified COBOL-IT Migration PartnerscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCOBOL-IT works with a global network of certified migration partners including legacy modernization specialists and open systems software providers. These partners are endorsed by COBOL-IT and trained to deliver the four-step migration process: Application Assessment Survey, Application Analysis, Clean Compile, and Technical Services. Partnership agreements enable rapid, low-risk deployment worldwide.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Fresche Solutions: Specializes in IBM i (AS/400) and RPG/COBOL modernization with assessment, refactoring, and rehosting tools. Adjacent peer because it operates in the same legacy-modernization niche with comparable customer pain points, even though its primary language focus is RPG rather than COBOL.
• TmaxSoft: Offers mainframe re-platforming via its OpenFrame solution, which moves COBOL and PL/I workloads to Linux/x86 environments. Comparable to COBOL-IT in that it sells a migration path off the mainframe, but competes more on full stack replacement than on a drop-in COBOL compiler.

Direct peers

• Astadia: Mainframe modernization consultancy and tooling provider covering COBOL, PL/I, and related workloads. Comparable to COBOL-IT because it sells both migration services and modernization technology aimed at large enterprises seeking to exit mainframes.
• Modern Systems (Modern Systems FEG): Provides automated COBOL and other legacy application modernization and translation services for enterprise clients. Targets the same enterprise mainframe-modernization buyer that COBOL-IT addresses, with an emphasis on automated conversion rather than open-source compiler delivery.
• Micro Focus (now part of OpenText): The closest direct competitor to COBOL-IT, offering enterprise COBOL compilers (Visual COBOL, Micro Focus COBOL) and modernization tooling. COBOL-IT explicitly markets on 'very high compatibility with Micro Focus' COBOL compilers, positioning itself as a lower-cost, open-source-core alternative to Micro Focus's proprietary stack.
• Heirloom Computing: Specialist in modernizing COBOL and PL/I applications to Linux, Unix, and cloud platforms, with a focus on automated conversion. Targets the same mainframe-to-open-systems migration use case as COBOL-IT, including batch processing, EBCDIC handling, and database integration.
• Rocket Software: COBOL-IT's parent company and the operator of competing COBOL brands in the same portfolio, including Visual COBOL, ACUCOBOL-GT, and RM/COBOL. Comparable because it sells enterprise COBOL compilers, modernization tools, and migration services into the same mission-critical mainframe replacement use cases.
• mLogica: Provider of mainframe application modernization, migration, and testing services across COBOL and related legacy stacks. Competes with COBOL-IT for the same enterprise migration engagements and often partners with or substitutes for COBOL-IT at the services layer.

Broad incumbents

• IBM: Owner of Enterprise COBOL for z/OS, the dominant proprietary COBOL compiler on mainframes. Comparable as the incumbent that COBOL-IT's customers are migrating away from; IBM spans hardware, operating systems, and COBOL toolchain rather than specializing in open-systems COBOL modernization.
• NTT Data Mainframe Services: Global systems integrator with a large mainframe and application modernization practice that performs COBOL migrations and re-platforming. Comparable as a buyer and competitor for the same enterprise migration budgets, even though its core offering is services rather than a COBOL compiler.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/rocket
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@RocketSoftwareOfficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/RocketSoftwareInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rocket-software

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about COBOL-IT