Telstra Corporation, Ltd.

Telstra Corporation Limited, based in Melbourne, Victoria, is Australia’s leading telecommunications company and the licensed supplier of land-based telecommunication systems. Telstra’s Switched Data Network (SDNM) division provides most of the leased line data services that are critical to Australia’s commercial operations.

Sector7 was engaged to convert CUSTODIAN, Telstra's real-time configuration management system for the SDNM division, from VAX/Rdb to Sun Solaris/Oracle. The project included conversion of VMS Pascal to Sun “C”, Rdb to Oracle, and embedded system services support, such as Digital’s UCX (TCP/IP) and WAN32 (X.25) QIO interfaces, in a high-performance, high-availability environment.

By 1998, Telstra used CUSTODIAN to manage the allocation and provisioning of its customer services. This OpenVMS-based system maintained an inventory of data communication facilities, enabling customer service representatives to view, manage, and adjust these services as needed. Orders for services were automatically processed through the system, which allocated equipment, tracked work orders, and generated billing details for each customer. The entire system was essential for real-time management and billing for Telstra’s vast customer base.

Sector7 began by performing an in-depth situational analysis of Telstra’s system. The 24x7 nature of CUSTODIAN was considered along with its reliance on X.25, TCP/IP, and DECnet communication links. Many components, such as the PSI interface for X.25, required close examination to ensure their functionality could be migrated seamlessly to Solaris.

After the situational analysis, Sector7 developed a migration plan that would fit both Telstra’s immediate needs and long-term business goals. The project required migration of the application logic from PASCAL to C, as PASCAL had become obsolete and costly to maintain. Sector7's VX/Pascal tool was used to automatically convert PASCAL code to C, preserving Telstra's existing logic and reducing manual recoding errors.

Additionally, Telstra used many OpenVMS-specific libraries and operating system calls. Rather than rewriting these calls, Telstra opted for Sector7’s VX/RT library, which provided support for SYS$(), LIB$(), and other common routines. This allowed Telstra to avoid costly reprogramming efforts, preserving the functionality of their system’s I/O interface, including the essential SYS$QIO used extensively in communications with telecommunications facilities.

To further aid the transition, Sector7 deployed VX/SMG, a UNIX-based solution that maintained the user interface, and VX/RMS, which supported various file formats used by the original OpenVMS system. RMS's file structures were critical for Telstra's legacy system, and VX/RMS ensured compatibility between these files and the Oracle database environment.

Communication with telecommunications equipment, such as Nortel, Cisco, and OCTEL, was key to CUSTODIAN's operation. The original OpenVMS system used X.25 extensively for communications, which was managed via the PSI interface. Sector7’s VX/X25 package provided a seamless interface to Solaris’ X25Connect product, enabling the system to continue communicating with external telecom systems without needing extensive rewrites.

DCL (Digital Command Language) scripts were also preserved using Sector7’s VX/DCL tool, which enabled these OpenVMS command scripts to function within a UNIX environment. VX/DCL’s interface provided a smooth transition for managing batch processes and automated tasks, ensuring that the system’s business logic was maintained without rewriting the scripts.

The successful completion of this project allowed Telstra to retain its substantial investment in CUSTODIAN while transitioning to a modern, scalable system. By moving to Sun Solaris and Oracle, Telstra improved system performance, reduced maintenance costs, and preserved the essential functionality of its telecommunications management system. This migration also enhanced Telstra’s ability to scale operations and respond to growing customer demands, all while minimizing disruption during the transition.

• Migrated 1.3 million lines of Pascal and Fortran to C.
• Converted the Rdb database to Oracle 7.3.
• Seamlessly transitioned from VAX OpenVMS to Sun Solaris, preserving the 24x7 real-time application.
• Deployed VX/SMG, VX/RMS, and VX/X25 to maintain system interfaces and file structures.
• Preserved critical DCL scripts and batch processing with VX/DCL.