The future of Cobol: Challenges and Opportunities

Cobol, the over 60-year-old programming language, faces an uncertain future. On the one hand, Cobol is still the backbone of many critical infrastructures. On the other hand, the number of Cobol programmers is steadily declining, which makes the maintenance and further development of these systems difficult.

The Challenges

The Cobol world faces a number of challenges, including:

• Lack of Cobol programmers: The number of Cobol programmers is steadily decreasing as fewer and fewer young people are learning the language. This leads to a shortage of skilled workers, making the maintenance and further development of Cobol systems difficult.

• Outdated technology: Cobol is an old language that no longer meets the latest technological standards. This makes it difficult to modernize Cobol systems and integrate them with modern technologies.

• Security concerns: Cobol systems are vulnerable to security breaches as the language does not have the same security features as modern programming languages.

The Opportunities

Despite these challenges, the future of Cobol also offers some opportunities, including:

• Modernization: Cloud technology offers new possibilities to modernize and scale Cobol systems. Companies can migrate their Cobol systems to the cloud to make them more efficient and secure.

• Revival of interest in Cobol: In recent years, Cobol has experienced a renaissance. Increasing digitalization and the shortage of Cobol programmers have led companies to search for Cobol experts again.

• Use in new application areas: Cobol can also be used in new application areas, such as blockchain technology or the Internet of Things.

Conclusion

The future of Cobol is open. The language will probably continue to be used for critical infrastructures, but it is questionable whether it can establish itself in new application areas. The Cobol world faces a number of challenges, but there are also some opportunities. Companies that modernize their Cobol systems and migrate them to the cloud can benefit from these opportunities.