COBOL’s future lies in the clouds

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Despite its age, COBOL isn't vanishing. A recent survey by software company Micro Focus claimed that the average American still interacts with a COBOL program 13 times a day. That includes ATM transactions, ticket purchases and telephone calls.
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Rosen also said that COBOL might hang in for the long haul simply because many old COBOL programs still work well in a hands-off environment. “There's a lot of code out there in use in a lot of companies," he said.

"I think a lot of companies right now are looking and saying, 'If I spend a bunch of money to get rid of COBOL, I don't end up with more than I started out with. If I can leverage what I've got, and I don't touch a lot of it too often, I'm better off.'"
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Coker said that when it comes to business applications written in COBOL, “the language doesn't matter, it's the applications that matter. The applications have made sense both in public clouds and in private clouds.

“I'm constantly looking forward to new technology, but also looking back to where they're coming from,” he continued. “We'll definitely be moving in the direction of the cloud and making Web-style applications become the norm. There are plenty of applications that need a Web presence.”