Case Study: Smals achieves major cost and time savings with Software AG's webMethods EntireX

Smals gets big savings from webMethods EntireX

Smals is a major Belgian not‑for‑profit ICT shared‑services provider (1,700+ employees, three data centers) that runs mission‑critical mainframe platforms and 42 specialized COBOL applications for over 60 government organizations in social security and healthcare. After adopting a Service‑Oriented Architecture to connect with Belgium’s Crossroads Bank for Social Security, Smals faced the challenge of efficiently linking its SOA to legacy mainframe applications—LU 6.1 was unsuitable and reworking the COBOL estate would have been time‑consuming and costly.

Software AG’s webMethods EntireX delivered a rapid proof of concept in two weeks and a full production rollout within six months, enabling seamless communication between the SOA and Smals’ mainframe without rewriting applications. The solution preserved existing investments, improved response times for about two million monthly requests, reduced development time, resources and budget, and proved easy to maintain and manage.

Smals

Jean-Luc Vanneste

Managing Director, ICT & Operational Services