Rocket Software named Challenger in Gartner modernisation

Rocket Software has been named a Challenger in Gartner's 2026 Magic Quadrant for AI-Augmented Code Modernization Tools, placing it among vendors assessed in a market focused on software modernisation.

The recognition covers Rocket's work helping large organisations update mission-critical applications across mainframe and distributed environments. Its tools support AI-assisted analysis, business-rule extraction, application transformation and validation, with a focus on COBOL and PL/I systems that remain central to many established businesses.

The ranking comes as companies face mounting pressure to update older applications without disrupting day-to-day operations. In sectors with heavy regulatory obligations and long-established technology estates, that often means balancing demand for new digital services with the need to keep core systems running.

Rocket's application modernisation portfolio is designed to help organisations understand existing code bases, decide how to move applications forward and test the results before changes go into production.

Modernisation paths vary. Some customers keep applications on the mainframe while updating surrounding systems, while others move workloads to distributed or cloud environments, or refactor and replatform code more extensively.

Modernisation Focus

According to the company, its approach combines AI-assisted analysis with deterministic tooling, automated testing and validation. The aim is to preserve business logic and transaction integrity during system changes, particularly where applications have evolved over decades and contain embedded operational rules that may not be well documented.

Rocket said its software also supports broader transformation work, including integration with APIs, cloud services, newer architectures and AI projects. It presents that as a way for enterprises to extend the life of core systems while preparing for further technology changes.

Figures cited for users of its code modernisation products included 30% gains in developer productivity, 50% reductions in testing cycles, 40% less redundant code and annual savings worth millions of dollars. Rocket also said customers had maintained operational continuity during modernisation programmes and reduced transformation risk while preserving business-critical functionality.

Such claims reflect a wider market focus on measurable returns from modernisation spending. For many large organisations, software renewal programmes can stretch over several years, and buyers increasingly want evidence that tools can reduce manual work, speed up testing and avoid interruptions to core services.

Industry Pressure

Mainframe and legacy application modernisation has drawn renewed attention as companies try to address skills shortages alongside technical debt. Older programming languages remain widely used in banking, government, insurance and other sectors, but experienced developers are harder to find, increasing interest in tools that can interpret and transform existing code.

Rocket serves that market with products aimed at understanding dependencies and extracting business rules before applications are changed. The company said this can simplify planning and help customers choose a modernisation route based on business priorities rather than technology constraints alone.

Neil Fowler, Senior Vice President of Hybrid Cloud Engineering at Rocket Software, said application modernisation had grown more complex as organisations tried to support innovation while continuing to run essential systems.

"Application modernisation has become increasingly complex, especially in regulated industries, as organisations work to balance innovation with the demands of running mission-critical systems," said Neil Fowler, Senior Vice President of Hybrid Cloud Engineering at Rocket Software.

"Organisations need more than AI-assisted modernisation. They need a trusted approach that precisely addresses architectural nuance and dependencies and helps them move faster without introducing unnecessary risk. This recognition, we believe, reflects our commitment to helping enterprises modernise mission-critical systems while preserving the business knowledge and capabilities that power their operations," Fowler said.

Rocket works with more than 13,500 customers and 850 partners and employs more than 3,000 people globally. It is headquartered in the Boston area and is backed by Bain Capital Private Equity.

The market for AI-assisted code modernisation has expanded as software suppliers try to apply machine learning and generative AI to long-standing problems in code analysis, migration and testing. Buyers, however, still tend to focus on reliability, auditability and continuity when assessing tools for systems that handle high-value transactions and core business processes.

Against that backdrop, Rocket's position in the Gartner ranking highlights how established software vendors are adapting their modernisation portfolios for a market that now expects AI features alongside conventional testing and validation methods.