Zeuron newsletter july 2014

JULY 2014 WWW.ZEURONSYSTEMS.COM

The Big Question? Migration Vs Modernisation

The present global market scenario is no doubt challenging – they are becoming more dynamic each day. Companies world over are implementing stricter budget to ensure operational efficiencies and maintain competence. Dynamic markets further call for, quicker decision making, smarter reporting and staying up to date with the current technology. In such a scenario, many companies across the globe are forced to walk a tight rope - faced with the challenges posed by legacy critical applications, which lie at the very heart of their business process. To solve the impeding problem at hand, many users have either opted for, or are in process

!1

THE BIG QUESTION ? MIGRATION VS

MODERNISATION

Companies across the globe are

forced to walk a tight rope - faced

with the challenges posed by legacy

critical applications.

NEWSLETTERWEB SERVICES

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR CRITICAL APPS

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

PARTNERING FOR CUSTOMER’S SUCCESS

http://www.zeuronsystems.com


of considering a reliable migration option. But before concluding with the migration solution, one needs to truly answer one critical question, “Do I need to migrate, or can my legacy applications be converted to a modernized environment using the existing 4GL logics and a database built over decades?” Business processes are rarely static. They are subjected to prevailing market and economic conditions of the particular business domain. They undergo different phases in their life cycle. First they are created, then they mature and then finally they either evolve or become obsolete. In the continuously evolving IT world, the applications handling business processes have to catch up with the latest technological trends to support the enterprise. This ensures a quicker and accurate decision-making as well as keeps the critical application competent. Enterprise applications and platforms are mere reflections of the business processes on IT infrastructure. They also have a similar life cycle but are much short lived. Most enterprises have a variety of platforms that span decades of IT innovation. According to a research done by a major global IT firm, all business applications are between 5 and 20 years old. Within this time period newer technologies appear and compatibility issues are faced within the enterprise. As a result, there are problems in integrating business logic and applications written in legacy systems with other modern applications and languages. Organisations seeking flexibility and inter-compatibility of codes written in multiple languages across diverse location had only a few options like ‘do nothing', 'buy-in', 'rewrite' or 'modernise'. To solve such issues, consultants often prefer modernising over other alternatives. Today a lot of organisations are providing modernising solutions to enterprises looking for an overhaul. A few examples are Microsoft Application Platform extending its capabilities for COBOL and 4J’s Genero Suite as one stop shop for all Informix 4GL-modernising solutions. Let's consider an example of a typical Informix 4GL application suite consisting of the following: • 200 separately compiled 4GL programs • 1500 4GL source-code modules • 600 screens (4GL forms) • 500 KLOC of 4GL source code This application provides data maintenance and data entry functionalities for an enterprise. Converting the original application to another technology say Java or C# would be a complete new development as they cannot leverage the existing 4GL code. The entire application would have to be rewritten. Assuming approximately 160 lines of code per day (based on the Gartner Group1 estimates for code modernization), we can easily assign at least 2 years of development job with 10 experienced Java developers. This time excludes the bug fixing time which will be spent on fixing the bugs that appear during development. If the team is really capable and finishes if off within a year, still

!2

Cure the code phobia!

Migration at times can be a gruelling experience which might involve rewriting decades of codes, testing from the scratch, designing a new application architecture to name a few: apart from a heavy investment both in terms of time and money. Modernisation on the other hand is achieved by working upon existing reliable codes written over decades. Besides providing a better look and feel, modernisation can also :

- ease navigation - include web services - enable platform independence - introduce mobility - enhance user experience ! for your critical business applications.



because the new application would be entirely new Java logic, a complete testing and certification process would need to be performed, as with any other new application. Retraining the staff and end users on the new platform/application is another daunting task that comes along with rewriting. Modernising on the other hand will reuse the existing 4GL code, a direct saving on rewriting as well as testing. With various options available to deploy, the modernised code can be rendered as GUI on any platform like Mac, Windows, and Linux etc or Genero Web Client can be used as a web service. Modernisation galvanises your investments in business logic, developer skills and end-user experience against rust of time by refreshing the application. Hence, considering a suitable modernisation scenario is always a logical approach, before one decides to invest years, and thousand sometimes millions of dollars into a lengthy and unpredictable migration process. The bottom line is “Why migrate when you can modernise!”• !

!3

Modernising with Genero on the other hand will reuse the existing 4GL code, a direct

saving on rewriting as well as testing

Web services Get the most out of your critical application

Web services can be at times a simpler solution to complex issues generated by platform dependent softwares.The present article outlines the basic fundamentals of web services and where they can be employed effectively for legacy enterprise applications.



!4

Applications written in different programming

languages and running on different platforms can

seamlessly exchange data over intranets or the internet using Web

services

What are Web Services?

Web Services is a software service that allows two applications/devices to communicate with each other. Web services are hardware, programming language, and operating system independent. This means that applications written in different programming languages and running on different platforms can seamlessly exchange data over intranets or the internet using Web services. Web services are powered by XML and three other core technologies: WSDL, SOAP, and UDDI.

To understand these terms let’s look at a hypothetical analogy. Let’s say you need some details from your bank. So you write a letter to the bank in English, with the details you need and post it to the bank’s address. You got your bank address by searching it on Google. Considering this scenario in the world of Web Services, XML is the English language as it is a global standard and is understood by both, you and the bank. SOAP is the envelope in which you put your letter. UDDI is like a search engine, (like Google for example) which gave you the WSDL or the address of the bank and the services it provides.

An example:

A real world example can be of stock price quotes. There are a thousand of companies listed on various stock exchanges. Stock prices for all these companies change every second. Just imagine the amount of data produced- it’s a staggering number! Also, imagine the infrastructure required in terms of manpower and machine to maintain such data.

Now, if your application demands the stock price quotes for a company, you would prefer to get the information without investing a fortune in maintaining the aforementioned infrastructure. In a world without web services you would have either made a phone call or written a letter asking the price quotes from a firm “XYZ” that provides this service. This would again require human intervention, which will increase the response time of the application.

A relatively easier, quicker and effective method would be adding a web service from the firm “XYZ” and including it in your application. This will remove the human intervention for every request, minimising the response time and increasing productivity.



Benefits:

1) Interoperability

Web services provide interoperability between various software applications running on disparate platforms/operating systems by employing language independent XML technology and the ubiquitous HTTP as transport means. By utilising HTTP, web services work through many common firewall security measures without requiring changes to the firewall filtering rules.

2) Versatility

Web services can be used by humans or by other applications for further processing. Multiple web services can also be combined to produce an application that updates orders, sales and customer data from a single unified interface, even if systems handling orders, sales and customer data are incompatible.

3) Reusability

An effectively designed web service can cater to many clients. Those clients don’t require pondering over creating a custom service for each unique requirement.

4) Cost Effective

All the above points add up to a significant cost savings. There is no need to create highly customised application for integrating data. Existing investments can be capitalised for creating additional value to the application. Because of smaller learning curve and use of open standards and ubiquitous protocols it requires a very little amount of technological investment.

Web Services in legacy systems

Inclusion of web services in legacy applications can boost the performance and capabilities of the system by a commendable extent. You can protect your investment by implementing web services to wrap legacy software system for integration with modern IT systems. It can leverage on wide usage and familiarity of your application and can create additional values for your enterprise. Web Services can even bring in mobility to your solution. Specific modules can be deployed over smart phones or dedicated tabs increasing business scope and enhancing the user experience.

To summarise

Web Services offer a cost effective and simple approach to increase the capability of your system either by leveraging a large number of available services or by allowing you to host your application as a service. Properly implemented web services can help you in increasing your revenue by minimising operating costs and expanding system’s capabilities.

!5

Inclusion of web services in legacy

applications can boost the performance and

capabilities of the system by a

commendable extent



!!!!!!!!!!!!

!

!6

Zeuron exists to deliver technology

solutions critical to our customers and the society. The sole

purpose is to deliver technology where it

matters.

Founded with a key focus on developing and modernising legacy enterprise level applications, Zeuron has fast grown to be a global leader for 4GL, Informix 4GL and Genero modernisation, development, consulting, training and support services. The company works with some of the most respectable and renowned companies around the world helping them bridge the gap to the 21st century business environments.

Zeruon’s comprehensive range of offering includes:

‣ Modernisation services- for legacy to modernised environment ‣ Value Adds- Custom libraries for custom tailored solutions ‣ Enhancements- For custom features like widgets, tree menus,

multi format reports etc for modernised legacy applications ‣ Support services- 24/7 support for critical applications !The company’s ongoing success is attributed to it’s robust delivery mechanism backed by a strong expertise in the domain. Zeuron’s key strength lie in it’s people who drive the technology. Our team consists of experienced 4GL and Informix Genero developers, who have vast experience in handling projects at various levels of complexities driving the technology at the forefront. As an agile organisation, Zeuron’s business is built around its customers. Everything that we do and every solution that we provide is focused on delivering excellent value not only to our customers, but also to our customer’s customer.

Four Js Development Tools recently signed up Zeuron as the global Genero professional services provider, and granted the company with value added distribution rights for the US, Canada and South West Asian regions. This partnership is of strategic importance as it will enable the companies to strengthen the technical and commercial ties and provide comprehensive support to their joint customer base.

Zeuron was founded with a very basic idea- to serve the needs of the customers. What is unique is the proposition that the company has to offer in the domain. “We understand the challenges that many of the organisations face in finding a suitable support partner for legacy enterprise applications, and we are committed to extend our support to the best of our ability”, comments Abhishek Hansda, EVP operations, Zeuron Systems.

!

Professional Services Partnering for customer’s success

http://www.4js.com


http://www.4js.com


!

!7

Delivering Tomorrow’s Technology www.zeuronsystems.com

Contact Information:

Commercial [email protected] +1 972 786 0930 +91 9972753553 www.zeuronsystems.com

mailto:[email protected]?subject=



mailto:[email protected]?subject=


