Case Study
Unlocking Performance and Scalability in Airline Software Through Legacy Modernization
The customer, a provider of mission-critical software for airline operations, relied on a legacy monolithic product built in large extent on Oracle PL/SQL. This system had been in service for many years, supporting a large global customer base, processing high volumes of transactions, and managing complex data flows.
However, growing technical debt, performance bottlenecks, and scalability limitations posed increasing risks. To maintain operational efficiency, meet regulatory requirements, and remain competitive in the aviation software market, the customer identified the need to modernize.
Their long-term goal was to move toward a modular, microservices-based architecture that would support cloud adoption and future growth. The immediate objective was to reduce reliance on the legacy PL/SQL codebase, which had become increasingly complex and difficult to maintain.
Approach
To explore modernization strategies and evaluate AI advancements, the customer partnered with Grape Up—a consultancy specializing in large-scale digital transformation. Grape Up leveraged its proprietary G.Tx platform, which uses Agentic AI to accelerate code generation and transformation at speed.
The initial focus was twofold:
- Developing a Transformation Strategy
Grape Up conducted a feasibility assessment to map out the modernization path. This analysis helped the customer estimate effort, costs, and risks while aligning strategic and technical goals. It served as a foundation for informed decision-making across business and technology stakeholders. - Launching the First Modernization Project
Grape Up executed the first stage of transformation initiative— decoupling critical business logic from database layer, by transforming PL/SQL code into a modern Java-based microservice architecture.
Outcome
The collaboration delivered both strategic clarity and tangible technical results:
- A comprehensive feasibility report and modernization roadmap, enabling the customer to answer key questions:
- What business value will modernization unlock?
- What strategy and technological direction should be adopted?
- What is the estimated investment and ROI?
- How can AI accelerate delivery and reduce costs?
- In the initial implementation, Grape Up used G.Tx Platform to transform, test, and deploy the legacy code to production in just 5 weeks—5x faster than originally estimated. This acceleration was enabled by the Agentic AI engine, which automatically generated up to 70% of the code, with a developer-in-the-loop approach for validation and refinement.
- Key benefits achieved:
- Significant reduction in maintenance costs associated with legacy PL/SQL
- Enhanced code quality, readability, and maintainability—enabling quicker adaptation to business changes
- A scalable foundation for continued decoupling of the monolithic system, accelerating the path to full modernization and eliminating critical technical debt.