COBOL Experts in Düsseldorf
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Meet FRATCH Experts in Düsseldorf, who have recently used COBOL
Olaf K.
Last position:
CIO Advisor・IT Strategy・Tech/IT Due Diligence・Enterprise Architecture・IT Governance・AI Transformation・ex-BCG Platinion at Kiese IT
- -- ENGLISH Version (Deutsche Version unten) ---
Experience
- Ex-BCG Platinion: 14 years as Manager & Chief IT Architect, leading large-scale IT transformations in complex group structures
- 20+ years of C-level consulting across AI/IT strategy, enterprise architecture, IT organization, transformation, M&A due diligence, project recovery, and interim management
- IT leadership experience with cross-functional, intercultural teams of up to 100+ people
- Hands-on background in software engineering, IT architecture, and project management
- Fortune Europe 500 focus; numerous international projects; SME and start-up experience
Core services:
- IT strategy, enterprise architecture (EAM), target architectures and roadmaps
- PE/M&A/carve-out IT/tech due diligence, asset valuation, cost estimation
- GenAI transformation, process automation, and AI governance
- IT reorganization, target operating model (TOM), agile transformation
- IT governance, development and ITSM process optimization (BizDevOps, SAFe)
- Review and recovery of critical large-scale IT programs
- Planning and steering of transformation programs and IT project portfolios
- IT vendor and platform selection (RfI / RfP)
- Coaching & Interim management
Industries (selection): Insurance, financial services & banking, energy & utilities, telecommunications, retail & consumer goods, logistics, media, industry & engineering, healthcare, professional services
Projects (selection):
M&A Buy-side IT/Tech Due Diligence of an Acquisition in the Energy Sector (Utility, Smart Home) — AI-augmented with Anthropic Claude
AI Initiative for LLM-Based Optimisation and Automation of Sales and Billing Processes
Interim management Enterprise Architecture & group target architecture/roadmap development (METRO)
Reorganization: Design and introduction of agile IT target operating model at international wholesale group (METRO)
Design and implementation of agile BizDevOps target operating model (E.ON Grid Solutions)
Platform/vendor selection for renewal of core insurance solution of start-up (ELEMENT Insurance)
Establishment of project assurance capability and review/recovery of critical transformation projects (ERGO)
Enterprise architecture management and development of divisional/solution architectures (Deutsche Post DHL)
Strategic pricing architecture decisions in digital sales application landscape (E.ON Energie)
IT due diligence: Architecture evaluation and monetary valuation of IT assets (ProSiebenSAT.1 Media)
Interim management of group-wide security/compliance programme (ERGO)
Enabling an application landscape for different sales organizations and product structures (E.ON Energie)
Realignment of business/IT strategy and InsurTech platform selection (RfI, RfP) (nexible, ERGO Digital Ventures)
Stabilization/optimization of an agile/SAFe business/IT DevOps landscape transformation (Lufthansa AirPlus)
Process optimization and design/management of digitization and robotics introduction in power plants (RWE Nuclear)
BSS target architecture development for fixed/mobile networks convergence (Deutsche Telekom)
Optimization of IT organization model and methodology in application development and testing (Deutsche Telekom)
Evaluation of fulfillment of a general contractor agreement for run-off/migration of contract portfolios (ERGO)
-- DEUTSCHE Version (English version above) ---
Experience
- Ex-BCG Platinion: 14 years of strategy and implementation of large-scale IT transformations in complex corporate structures (Manager & Chief IT Architect)
- 20+ years of C-level-adjacent IT consulting: IT strategy, enterprise architecture, IT organization, transformation, due diligence, project recovery, and interim management
- IT leadership responsibility for cross-functional, intercultural teams of up to 100+ people
- Solid hands-on experience in software development, IT architecture, and project management
- Focus on Fortune Europe 500, numerous international projects; SME and start-up experience
Industries: insurance · financial services & banking · energy · telecommunications · retail & consumer goods · industry & engineering · logistics · media · healthcare
Services (focus areas):
- IT strategy, enterprise architecture (EAM), IT landscape target visions and roadmaps
- M&A/carve-out IT/tech due diligence, asset valuation, and cost estimation
- GenAI transformation, process automation, and AI governance
- IT reorganization, target operating model (TOM), agile transformation
- IT governance, development and ITSM processes (BizDevOps, SAFe)
- Review and recovery of critical large-scale IT projects
- Planning/steering of transformation programs and IT project portfolios
- IT service provider/platform selection (RfI, RfP)
- IT project management (agile, classic, hybrid)
- Coaching & interim management
Projects (selection):
- M&A buyer-side IT/tech due diligence of an acquisition in the energy sector (utility, smart home) — AI-augmented with Anthropic Claude
- AI initiative for LLM-supported optimization and automation of sales and billing processes
- Interim management of Enterprise Architecture and development of group target architecture in wholesale (METRO)
- Reorganization: design and introduction of an agile IT target operating model (TOM) at an international wholesale group (METRO)
- IT reorganization: introduction of an agile BizDevOps target operating model (TOM) at an energy group (E.ON Grid Solutions)
- Platform selection / vendor selection for renewal of the core insurance solution of a B2B2C start-up (ELEMENT Insurance)
- Process optimization, digitalization, and introduction of robotics in power plants (RWE Nuclear)
- Assessment of fulfillment of a general contractor agreement for run-off/migration of life insurance portfolios (ERGO)
- Business/IT strategy and InsurTech platform selection for a digital insurer/start-up (nexible, ERGO Digital Ventures)
- Enabling an energy application landscape for multiple sales units (E.ON Energie)
- Strategic architecture decisions in price management of a digital sales application landscape at an energy group (E.ON Energie)
- Stabilization/optimization of an agile DevOps IT transformation in business travel and payment management (Lufthansa AirPlus)
- Interim management in a group-wide security and compliance program of a global insurer (ERGO)
- Building project assurance capability as well as review and optimization/recovery of critical IT projects in an insurance group (ERGO)
- Building enterprise architecture management and development of domain and solution architectures for a logistics group (Deutsche Post DHL)
- M&A IT due diligence – evaluation and valuation of IT assets in the media sector (ProSiebenSAT.1 Media)
- Development of BSS target architecture and roadmap for fixed/mobile convergence (Deutsche Telekom)
- Optimization of IT governance/organization and methodology in application development and testing at a telecommunications group (Deutsche Telekom)
Jürgen S.
Last position:
IT – Consultant / Analyst / Developer / Tester / Support at Automotive manufacturer
- Analysis, software development/adaptation and testing of various transaction and batch objects
- Execution of specialist integration and regression tests on TEST and QA platforms under z/OS for subsequent implementation in production
- Hardware / software / tools: IBM-MVS, z/OS, JES2/3, TSO-ISPF, JCL, DB2, SQL, SQL/PL, QMF, QMF for Work-Stations, SPUFI, FileAid, IMS-DB/DC, MFS, XPEDITER, COBOL, REXX, Windows-10, MS-Office-365, MS-Teams, batch job management via OPC, BETA92, RVS, BVB, ABL, DIALOGplus, PROBA, PRODPR (VW internal systems), JIRA, CONFLUENCE
Andreas G.
Last position:
Senior Fullstack .NET (Core) & Angular Developer at IT Service Provider
- Supporting several agile teams in the new product development of an enterprise CRM and ERP application
- Web frontend development with Angular 17–21 (microfrontends, Domain-Driven Design, MDB-Bootstrap)
- Backend development with C# and .NET 7–10, MongoDB, MassTransit, RabbitMQ, Entity Framework Core, ElasticSearch (microservices, DDD)
- Technical feature design for assigned tasks
- Technical architecture design including forward-looking planning of AI-supported extension options
- Proof-of-concept implementation of AI-supported workflows with n8n and a locally hosted LLM (Ollama)
- Coordination with stakeholders and Product Owners, support with sprint planning
Result: Delivery of production-ready microservices and frontend modules in agile sprint cycles.
Environment: .NET 7–10 · Angular 17–21 · C# · TypeScript · OpenAPI · Microfrontends · DDD · Kubernetes · Docker · Helm · MS SQL Server · PostgreSQL · MongoDB · MassTransit · RabbitMQ · EF Core · ElasticSearch · Kibana · Azure DevOps · KeyCloak · n8n · Ollama
Dalia C.
Last position:
Oracle Developer at Freelance
- Design and implementation of an OCI-based DWH and ETL system to replace legacy mainframe applications
- Development of a database optimization strategy and planning the rapid conversion of JCL and COBOL routines to PL/SQL with the help of AI
- Development of an Oracle Apex-based app for internal administrative processes in the public sector (office equipment, employee training)
- Implementation of PL/SQL workflows for approval processes and creation of a responsive mobile version with JavaScript and CSS
- Use of Azure DevOps for backlog and documentation, as well as Git for version control
- Development of REST interfaces for CRM systems
- Replacement and reprogramming of Oracle Forms screens with Oracle Apex and upgrading to the latest Apex versions
- Design of a Git branching strategy and conducting code reviews
- Maintenance and further development of an EDI-based data exchange system based on Oracle Advanced Queuing for the public sector in Austria
- Data analysis and creation of charts in the Oracle Apex frontend; installation of standalone ORDS and Apex 23.1
- Agile working according to the Spotify Model; development of complex Apex screens with the support of Oracle JET
- New development and customization of existing PL/SQL packages, workarounds for database version differences and query optimization
- Development of Apex applications for broker pools to manage and optimize Oracle databases in the banking sector, including SSO-based authorization systems with OAuth2 and Keycloak
- Development of extensive Oracle Apex applications for BI and data mining modernization projects, as well as development of manual and automated projection methods in the frontend
- Implementation of data warehousing projects in the banking sector and use of Scrum and Kanban in team-oriented projects
Alois G.
Last position:
Bank DZ Privatbank S.A.
- Various programming tasks as specified
- Work carried out from home office, meetings/tasks via email, phone and Microsoft Teams
- Version control via GIT
- Implementation with RDI, FreeSQL SQL
- Extension of automatic test environment creation as specified - adding automatic transfer of existing iSeries users and preparation as well as anonymization of test data
- Creation of trigger and service programs in SQLRPGLE, FreeRPG, ILE RPG and CLLE
- Development and implementation of the CallKredite project including additional extensions for other departments
- Conversion of RPG to Free-RPG and SQL as well as extension of existing modules as specified
- Migration to a new banking release
- Support for specialist segment / OIV
Esmail S.
Last position:
Senior Load and Performance Tester at Deutsche Bahn (DB-Netz)
- Design, development, and execution of load and performance tests for the PRISMA project
- Use of Apache Jmeter, Gatling, Apache ActiveMQ, Jms/Tibco Ems, SikuliX, Jython, Amazon AWS, PAN-Client
- Methods: load tests, test automation
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Statistics of experts using COBOL
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
36 years (Germany: 31 years)
Position duration
2.8 years (Germany: 3.2 years)
Positions per freelancer
18 (Germany: 19)
Top business areas
Information Technology, Product Development, Business Intelligence
Top industries
Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Transportation
Certification focus areas
Business Intelligence, Information Technology, Quality Assurance
Bachelor's degree or higher
75% (Germany: 76%)
Master's degree or higher
75% (Germany: 50%)
Doctorate
25% (Germany: 7%)
Certifications per freelancer
1 (Germany: 3)
Most common languages
German, English, Spanish
Speak two or more languages
83% (Germany: 95%)
Based on our profile pool as of 29 Oct 2026.
Daily rate distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of experts in this technology in Düsseldorf are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows the share of experts charging within that range.
Average rates of experts in Düsseldorf using COBOL
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 29 Oct 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
COBOL experts industry focus
See which industries our matched freelancers work in most often — every figure is calculated live from the freelancers on FRATCH.
- Information Technology (100%)
- Banking and Finance (83%)
- Transportation (83%)
- Retail (83%)
- Government and Administration (67%)
- Telecommunication (67%)
- Automotive (50%)
- Energy (50%)
Please note that freelancers can work across multiple industries, so percentages overlap.
About the technology
Core systems and workloads
COBOL is a business programming language built for reliable, high-volume transaction processing. It remains central to banking, insurance, public administration, logistics and other operations where accuracy, auditability and continuity matter. Typical workloads include account processing, claims, billing, payroll, reservations and batch reporting.
Mainframe ecosystem
COBOL work often sits within IBM z/OS environments and interacts with CICS, IMS, JCL, DB2 and VSAM. Professionals may also work with Enterprise COBOL, Micro Focus Visual COBOL or GnuCOBOL, depending on the operating environment. Useful adjacent knowledge includes SQL, mainframe security, schedulers, source control and production release processes.
Typical project work
- Maintain and extend transaction-processing applications
- Refactor legacy modules without disrupting business rules
- Design batch jobs, reports and data migrations
- Connect mainframe workloads to APIs and distributed services
- Investigate production incidents and improve operational controls
The deliverable may be a new business function, a safer release process, a documented interface or a controlled migration. Strong specialists protect existing behavior while making changes understandable and testable.
When companies need specialists
Freelance expertise helps when internal knowledge is concentrated in a few people, a critical system needs urgent change or a modernization program must preserve established rules. It is also valuable during audits, platform migrations, merger integration and the replacement of undocumented interfaces. Companies in Düsseldorf may need professionals who can work with local teams on-site while coordinating securely with remote stakeholders.
Modernization without disruption
COBOL modernization is rarely a simple rewrite. A sound approach starts with code and data analysis, dependency mapping and tests for current behavior. Professionals may introduce service interfaces, improve observability, move selected workloads, or translate business rules into newer services while keeping the mainframe as the system of record during transition.
What strong professionals bring
Look for specialists who can explain unfamiliar business logic clearly, trace data across programs and jobs, and distinguish safe refactoring from risky change. They should understand compiler behavior, transaction boundaries, error handling, performance constraints and recovery procedures. Experience with automated testing, documentation and collaboration in German and English can make Düsseldorf-based projects run more smoothly.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about COBOL? Start with the answers below.
COBOL is mainly used for high-volume business processing in banking, insurance, government, logistics and other operational environments. It handles transactions, batch jobs, billing, account records and reporting where dependable processing is essential.
COBOL is optimized for established business workflows, large data volumes and long-running mainframe operations. Java and C# are often preferred for new distributed services, but replacing a COBOL system can risk losing deeply embedded rules, interfaces and operational knowledge.
COBOL work commonly requires knowledge of JCL, CICS, IMS, DB2, VSAM and IBM z/OS. SQL, API integration, batch scheduling, automated testing, source control and mainframe security are also valuable, especially during modernization.
COBOL projects vary widely, but the specialist should match the system’s environment and risk level rather than a generic seniority label. Work involving regulated transactions, undocumented rules or production incidents calls for proven experience with the relevant platform, tools and release process.
COBOL work can often be done remotely when secure access, clear documentation and reliable communication are in place. On-site sessions in Düsseldorf may still help with workshops, knowledge transfer, access procedures or collaboration with business owners.
COBOL should not be replaced solely because it is old. Modernization makes sense when maintenance risk, integration limits, skills availability or business change justify it; a staged approach can expose services and improve testing while preserving stable core processing.
Ask whether the COBOL specialist can explain transaction flows, trace data through programs and jobs, and show how changes will be tested and released safely. Good professionals discuss recovery, monitoring, dependencies and documentation instead of focusing only on code changes.
Enterprise COBOL is IBM’s COBOL product for z/OS mainframe environments. It follows the language’s core principles while providing compiler features and integration suited to IBM systems; project requirements should determine which compiler and runtime are relevant.
The average hourly rate of freelancers in Dusseldorf, Germany who have used COBOL in their recent projects is 90 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 722 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers in Dusseldorf, Germany who have used COBOL in their recent projects, 75% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 75% hold at least a Master's degree, and 25% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers in Dusseldorf, Germany who have used COBOL in their recent projects have 36 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 2.8 years.
The most common languages among freelancers in Dusseldorf, Germany who have used COBOL in their recent projects are German (100%), English (83%), and Spanish (17%).
The most common industries among freelancers in Dusseldorf, Germany who have used COBOL in their recent projects are Information Technology (100%), Banking and Finance (83%), and Transportation (83%).
The most common business areas among freelancers in Dusseldorf, Germany who have used COBOL in their recent projects are Information Technology (100%), Product Development (83%), and Business Intelligence (67%).
Main locations of FRATCH Experts, who have recently used COBOL
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
