ATM’s ‘dying technology’ problem may hit data centres as engineers ‘disappear’

The continued relevance of COBOL, a programming language developed 66 years ago, poses a potential risk to data centers supporting financial services. With an estimated 95% of ATM transactions still running on COBOL and the language still powering critical financial infrastructure, the scarcity of skilled engineers who maintain these systems could create challenges.

As experienced COBOL programmers retire, the shortage of experts to keep these systems running may worsen. While COBOL has evolved over time, with features such as object-oriented programming introduced in 2002 and a new standard released in 2023, modernizing these decades-old systems remains a complex task. Simply translating the massive codebases into newer languages is not a straightforward solution, as it requires substantial data architecture redesign, runtime replacement, and transaction processing integrity.

The shortage of COBOL engineers has been a concern for years, with experts highlighting the aging workforce as early as 2008 and 2012. Financial institutions, businesses, and governments continue to rely on COBOL, making the challenge not only about the language's age but also its widespread and deeply embedded usage. The scarcity of skilled COBOL programmers has led to increased demand and lucrative job opportunities, but the bigger issue lies in ensuring there will be enough experts to maintain the existing infrastructure.