testimonial
"We've moved from an increasingly cost-prohibitive mainframe application stack to a modern open technology platform without disrupting the critical services that millions of students, families, and institutions of higher education depend upon every day."
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WhoMichael J. Hendler
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RoleSVP & CIO
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Company
project
overview
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) is one of the nation's leading providers of student financial aid services, serving millions of borrowers through loan servicing, grant administration, and guaranty programs. Their mission-critical systems—supporting student loan servicing, Pennsylvania state grants, and guaranty operations—run the infrastructure that students, families, and institutions of higher education depend on every day.
PHEAA faced a challenge common to large enterprises: an increasingly cost-prohibitive mainframe application stack constraining their ability to innovate, scale, and compete. Their IBM Z15 mainframe—16,951 MIPS with 4.3TB RAM—hosted 64 million lines of COBOL/CICS/JCL code and 39 terabytes of Db2 data across multiple production instances. The systems couldn't fail. Millions of borrowers depended on uninterrupted service.
PHEAA chose to work directly with Heirloom Computing. This direct engagement model ensured strong alignment, agility, and accountability throughout a technically & operationally complex transformation.
PHEAA faced a challenge common to large enterprises: an increasingly cost-prohibitive mainframe application stack constraining their ability to innovate, scale, and compete. Their IBM Z15 mainframe—16,951 MIPS with 4.3TB RAM—hosted 64 million lines of COBOL/CICS/JCL code and 39 terabytes of Db2 data across multiple production instances. The systems couldn't fail. Millions of borrowers depended on uninterrupted service.
"There was no room for error, given the enormity and importance of our loan servicing system." — Jessica Morris, Senior Vice President, American Education Services, PHEAAThe technical scope was formidable: transpiling 64 million lines of code to Java, migrating 39TB of Db2 to PostgreSQL, deploying on AWS infrastructure under Apache Tomcat—all while maintaining zero disruption to production operations serving millions of users. PHEAA needed a partner who could deliver, not just promise.
PHEAA chose to work directly with Heirloom Computing. This direct engagement model ensured strong alignment, agility, and accountability throughout a technically & operationally complex transformation.
"This was not just a vendor project—it was a unified effort. Our teams worked hand-in-hand to deliver a seamless transition without compromising functionality or disrupting critical services." — Michael Hendler, Chief Information Officer, PHEAAThe partnership began with three successful guaranty platform migrations, establishing a repeatable framework and building confidence before tackling the crown jewel: the COMPASS loan servicing system. Heirloom's unique compiler technology transpiled the entire COBOL/CICS/JCL/Db2 application portfolio to Java, and PostgreSQL, deployed on AWS—on time, on budget, and without disruption.
outcomes
The migration delivered the largest mainframe-to-AWS migration ever completed—and PHEAA succeeded on the first attempt.
64 million lines of COBOL became Java applications running under Apache Tomcat on AWS. 39 terabytes of Db2 data migrated to PostgreSQL. A 16,000+ MIPS IBM Z15 mainframe—decommissioned. The cost-prohibitive mainframe application stack replaced by a modern, open technology platform. And critically: zero disruption to the millions of students, families, and institutions who depend on PHEAA's services every day.
The modernization unlocks new business opportunities, enabling PHEAA to deploy new remote client instances more quickly and efficiently while expanding deeper into the remote servicing market.
64 million lines of COBOL became Java applications running under Apache Tomcat on AWS. 39 terabytes of Db2 data migrated to PostgreSQL. A 16,000+ MIPS IBM Z15 mainframe—decommissioned. The cost-prohibitive mainframe application stack replaced by a modern, open technology platform. And critically: zero disruption to the millions of students, families, and institutions who depend on PHEAA's services every day.
"Thanks to the dedication and diligence of our staff, we completed a successful migration without an unexpected disruption of service to our borrowers. That is the real win." — Jessica Morris, Senior Vice President, American Education ServicesStrategically for PHEAA, the transformation extends beyond replatforming. PHEAA is now positioned to leverage Heirloom/X™ to evolve their applications to idiomatic Java—breaking free from the constraints of the COBOL ecosystem and retaining full optionality over their platform future.
The modernization unlocks new business opportunities, enabling PHEAA to deploy new remote client instances more quickly and efficiently while expanding deeper into the remote servicing market.
"At PHEAA, we are modernizing and investing in our future. We have moved to a platform that is robust and flexible, centered around automation, that will allow us to dive deeper into the remote servicing market in ways that we've never attempted before." — Jim Steeley, President and CEO, PHEAAThis achievement—direct partnership, first-try success, largest-ever AWS migration—demonstrates that mainframe modernization doesn't have to be a multi-year, high-risk gamble. With the right solution, the right team, and committed client leadership, it can simply be about A-class execution and delivery,