Through 3D-VE, users can see the impacts of applications changes at the technology and business layers more clearly, Shadman said.

The bulk of Unisys's alliance with Oracle will be geared toward moving z/OS and MVS mainframes over Linux. But the company has seen instances of users moving over very large Unix systems, said Shadman.

Unisys can move over applications without rewriting code in some instances. Code conversions can be done manually or automatically. There are tools, for example, to convert over Addabas code.

Other Oracle products featured in the alliance with Unisys include Oracle applications and the Oracle Enterprise Manager tool for application management as well as Oracle On-Demand outsourcing services.