by webadmin | Aug 5, 2013 | general
There are many benefits to off-the-shelf software, but companies should be aware that they are also relinquishing control in some critical areas. In the past decade, there has been a sea change in the business software domain. Many companies are no longer expending significant internal resources to develop software from scratch. Instead, they are opting for software that meets most or all of the business requirements as delivered “off the shelf” by a third party. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software is an extremely broad category that encompasses software that can be purchased and used with minimal or no configuration. There are virtually unlimited types of COTS software. Some examples include resource planning applications, customer relationship management tools, and quality system databases for CAPA, complaint handling, auditing, and document control. It also comprises laboratory information systems, accounting software, and software embedded in medical devices. There are many benefits to using COTS software. Foremost, it is the vendor that expends the resources to design, develop, test, and support the software. Often, the software vendor also has extensive expertise in the target market for the software and thus is able to incorporate functionality into the software to support best-practice methodologies. For certain types of COTS software, the vendor will also provide hosted software, which eliminates the need for the buyer to purchase and maintain servers and supporting hardware. Altogether, this can allow a company to implement tailored software more quickly and cost-effectively. But there are potential downsides to using COTS software as well. One of the fundamental limitations of implementing COTS software is that a company typically does not have direct control over the...
by webadmin | Aug 2, 2013 | general
IBM has overhauled how the 50-year-old programming language COBOL runs on its System z mainframes to give COBOL apps a web-friendly facelift. Despite COBOL’s age IBM estimates that more than 200 billion lines of COBOL code are still being used across industries such as banking, insurance and retail. IBM is attempting to streamline development of COBOL apps for its System z mainframes with the latest release of IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS, its COBOL compiler for z/OS. COBOL apps using the compiler should see improved performance, with IBM claiming that in testing some applications’ performance increased by 10 to 20 percent. The compiler should also allow COBOL software to more easily swap information with websites and apps thanks to changes in the parsing of XML, the mark-up language commonly used to share information over the web. The new compiler allows parsing workloads to be offloaded to speciality engines. Interoperability with Java 7 should also make it easier to integrate COBOL software with new web apps. Improvements to UTF-8 Unicode handling will make language support easier and increased compiler limts will allow larger data items and groups of data to be handled, as well as improving application exploitation of system resources. Support for unbounded tables and groups has also been added to improve usability in defining variable length tables and groups. A new level of z/OS System Management Facilities tracking should also reduce the administrative burden for users who implement sub-capacity tracking.IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS v5.1 compiler works with the latest versions of IBM Customer Information Control System (CICS), Information Management System (IMS) and DB2 software. It is expected...
by webadmin | Aug 1, 2013 | general
As the technologies modernize, the need of conversion of the legacy applications is more than ever since the support for legacy systems is very limited. Besides, there is always a question related to the security of legacy application and the cost of maintaining such application. These days, businesses are starting to realize how much they suffer by not taking advantages exhibited by the latest technologies; hence, legacy application web conversion has become inevitable for businesses worldwide. Some of the benefits of legacy application modernization are: • Improve performance and consistency • Web-based solution that can be accessed 24×7 from anywhere, at any time • Incapacitate security and vulnerable issues • Reduce maintenance costs • Leverage modern technologies without starting from scratch • Streamlines flow of data by making it available through faster web channels We at Curly Bit, being an IT consulting company serving clients around the globe, understand the client’s requirement of legacy application modernization. This is the reason why we always strive for excellence to deliver the client with exceptional solution for legacy application modernization. With an immense experience in various Microsoft and Open Source technologies, our team of experienced and skilled developers can provide exceptional solution with legacy application conversions as well as legacy application...
by webadmin | Jul 30, 2013 | general
Maintainable code: everybody wants it, very few modernization customers get it. But rigorously defining what is maintainable code is somewhat difficult. However, there are some good guidelines to go by: 1. Maintainable code for web business systems does NOT have the same structure as your legacy mainframe programs. In Natural and COBOL and MAPPER, for example, it is possible to mix the business logic in with the presentation or view (the screens and reports). That’s not how we write programs for the web, and forcing the Java or .NET developers to forget most of the best practices they learned in school and follow the unstructured ramblings of a 30-year-old programming hegira is NOT what we mean by maintainable. Maintainable code is properly structured down to the class level — it’s not just a matter of throwing a bunch of spaghetti into the “spaghetti layer” and calling the result maintainable. 2. Maintainable code has meaningful comments — not just duplicating what was in the legacy system, because that is only useful if you also duplicated the structure of the legacy application. Otherwise, the comments would be in the wrong place, wouldn’t they? The comments should tell the programmer about the Java or .NET programming choices that were made and why they were made. 3. Maintainable code uses modern frameworks like Struts 2 and Hibernate and the facilities of Visual Studio 2010. It may not use the absolute latest versions, but it should not use versions that are obsolete or are on the verge of becoming so. Vendors who have translators that were...
by webadmin | Jul 25, 2013 | general
In the world of business legacy system integration is the new black. The basic processes information systems structure of many enterprises is managed via legacy software, a mixed blessing as most managers would put it. Based on technology that has long since passed the modern stage, legacy software can be quite a challenge to deal with. Unlike other technology that can probably be upgraded without much fuss an organizations legacy system is that one integral pillar in its IT infrastructure that can not be moved lest the whole structure fall apart. This is a source of dilemma for many a manager. Aside from catering to their consumer’s immediate basic needs, businesses also need to keep in mind their future desires. As IT evolves so do the technological needs of the masses a fact that organizations can not ignore. Thus comes in the managers dilemma, how to reconcile the information needs of the customer with the technological capabilities of the business. You are basically running an organization whose processes are run by software that might be older than your first child yet you need to furnish your tech-savvy customers with data compatible with their modern systems. Legacy system integration is one way to ensure that you can keep your integral system in tact while incorporating the use of modern applications. The discovery of the benefits of legacy system integration has led to a significant rise in organizational spending in this sector. Though legacy system integration could possibly cost the organization millions of dollars, in the current environment of flat-lining IT...
by webadmin | Jul 23, 2013 | general
System integration, also simply known as SI, is the process of putting in a new system, which can still relate and communicate with the previous system or systems, be it, or they, simple or exceedingly complicated. System integration is an arduous process, which needs a lot of setting up and development, and an implementation and optimization phase. The one objective of System integration is to solve the problems that are experienced, which cannot be solved by the existing systems. Examples of the different types of System integration are management system integration, business system integration and even software system integration. When attempting to apply software system integration, the work the current system does is first established, that is, the problems that the current system solves. When the shortcomings of the system in relation to the problem solving area are discovered, the designers of the new system must then justify how the system they wish to introduce will aid and whether it is financially viable. The new system must create profits for the organisation or at least stem losses. Management system integration brings to light new methods to reach objectives and makes use of untapped potential the previous system could not originally make use of. For example, providing wireless services to the staff that is on the field, allow for timely feedback, for example if a survey in a remote area. In this way the decision makers can make quick verdicts to the direction they should follow. This form system integration is both effective and efficient. To...
Recent Comments