Not Just a Software Tool

by | Jan 24, 2011 | general

Some people look at our technology and focus immediately on the tools. While we think the tools are great, successfully building software has a lot more to do with your process or methodology than it does with your tools. You can do automated redevelopment (what we do) or wholesale line by line translation, or rewriting by hand: but if you don’t have a process for getting the job done, the odds are that the outcome will be a failure. Our software development methodology, QuickStep(tm) has a number of features specifically for modernization, but it also handles new development (just like our tools). We also have a software application called ResQTrack that supports the methodology and even helps to enforce certain aspects of it. QuickStep is repeatable, and is tailored to each project; it supports multiple teams working together, and they can be located anywhere in the world. Using ResQTrack, we not only enforce the process, but we monitor it and measure the results. ResQTrack allows us to assign and monitor tasks, collect labor and cost data, maintain and allocate requirements to tasks and tests, maintain and share a secure project library, keep a record of technical communications, and publish process documentation and design information. We would have to install 5 or 6 external software packages to do the same thing, and they would not be integrated. This way, we have good support for the software engineering process, and can give a customer up to the minute visibility into the project. Let us know if you’d like to give it a...

Welcome

by | Jan 18, 2011 | general

Blogging… in some cases, blogs seem pretty self-indulgent. Narcissistic, even. Do you spend time reading blogs? I usually don’t, unless the blog tells me something interesting. So that’s going to be our guideline here. My forum name, Big Iron, pays tribute to my background as a mainframe programmer. In the old days, we had titles of programmer, systems analyst, and project manager. We didn’t call ourselves “developers”, far less “software engineers”. I wrote my first program in IBM Autocoder on a 1401. Using coding sheets and a pencil. Seriously. And it even worked! Over the years, there was a lot of FORTRAN, COBOL, PL/I, SAS and SPSS and RPG. Then came the transition to client-server computing, mostly on Sun and Data General, and then the PC platforms. And now, I help people rebuild those old systems using new technology, for a new lease on life. I may say things here that are controversial. Sometimes, I may take a position to promote discussion and argument. Hopefully, whatever you read here will be thought-provoking, and will contain something of value that you can use in your regular work. Welcome to our...