① Guide · Software AG
You keep paying Software AG maintenance on every Natural and Adabas component until the day it retires, and these migrations run for years. A business case that models only the target platform misses the overlapping license cost that runs the whole length of the project. This is the exit math.
The license line does not end at cutover. It runs the entire migration.
Adabas is the database and Natural the application language, so the two retire together, application by application, not in a single switch. Until the last dependent application crosses over, Software AG maintenance is paid in full. The error we commonly observe in modernization business cases is treating the license as a cost that stops at the end, when in fact it is a recurring cost that overlaps the entire target build. Model it correctly and the payback date moves; model it as a single line at the end and the case looks better than reality.
The vendor context has also shifted. Silver Lake acquired Software AG in 2024, the integration portfolio including webMethods and StreamSets went to IBM, and Adabas and Natural now run as a standalone business with its own management under the Software GmbH structure. That concentration of focus onto the retained legacy estate raises the value of an independent exit plan. For audit exposure on these legacy contracts, see our Software AG audit defense page.
The overlapping cost lines of a Natural and Adabas exit · model each across the full migration
| Cost line | When it runs | Why it is underestimated |
|---|---|---|
| Software AG maintenance on the live estate | Full rate until each application retires | Modeled as a one time end cost, not a multi year overlap |
| Target platform build and run | From project start, rising as workloads move | Usually the only line the business case includes |
| Application rewrite or conversion | The bulk of the project effort | Natural logic and Adabas data model both have to move |
| Parallel run and reconciliation | Per application, before each cutover | Double running cost is easy to leave out of the model |
The decisive variable is sequencing. Retire the highest maintenance components first and the overlapping license cost falls early; leave the estate whole until a single final cutover and you pay full maintenance for the entire migration.
Order the migration so the components carrying the heaviest Software AG maintenance retire first. Every early retirement removes a recurring line from the rest of the project, not just the end.
Retire the expensive licenses first, not last.
As applications retire, remove their entitlement from the maintenance base rather than carrying it forward by inertia. The contract should track the shrinking footprint at every renewal.
Pay for what still runs, not what once did.
A credible, dated exit plan reshapes the maintenance schedule. The vendor that knows the estate is leaving on a clock negotiates the interim cost differently from one that assumes you will stay.
An exit date is a negotiating instrument.
Put the full overlapping license cost into the business case, not a single end line. The honest payback date is later than the brochure version, and decisions built on the honest number survive contact with finance.
A case that hides the overlap fails in year two.
④ What changes with us in the room
Most exit business cases model the destination. Few model the years of overlapping maintenance. We price the whole road, not just the arrival.
Typical reduction negotiated on renewal spend
Mainframe spend negotiated on the buyer side
Engagements delivered since 2019
You keep paying Software AG maintenance on every Natural and Adabas component until it retires, and these projects run for years. The license is a recurring cost across the whole migration, not a one time line at the end. Modeling it correctly moves the payback date.
Silver Lake acquired Software AG in 2024, the integration business including webMethods and StreamSets went to IBM, and Adabas and Natural now run as a standalone business under the Software GmbH structure. The focus on the retained legacy estate raises the value of an independent exit plan.
Until the last dependent application retires. Because Adabas is the database and Natural the language, applications move whole, so maintenance runs in full until each crosses over. Sequencing high maintenance components out early compresses the cost.
Sometimes. As applications retire, remove their entitlement from the maintenance base instead of carrying it by inertia. Right sizing as the estate shrinks and negotiating the schedule against a credible exit timeline are the levers, claimed at each renewal.
Related: Software AG licensing hub · audit defense · EntireX licensing · license negotiation service
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