Re: 'green screen' not sellable

The standard consulting answer of "it depends".

First of all I'm not clear, does this client sell billing software to
clients in a particular industry, or is this home grown software. In the
case of the latter, you have a little more leeway. You have to sell one
migration path

Rewriting it as a web app in something that has very good IBM i support
like PHP, java, or soon to be python, means the least pain selling it to
external customers. Except for replacing physical green screens with
windows desktops, "deployment" is easy. Just tell all the employees to
point their browser to the apps URL, and away they go.

A desktop app on C# (WinForms or WPF) means an app has to be installed on
all the users desktops, and it won't work on Macs. However, they won't
have to buy a windows server to run a .net app.

A web based .NET app is also a viable solution. .NET doesn't run on the IBM
i yet, but will run on linux via Mono. That means that in addition to a
dedicated linux web server, a linux LPAR can be used. I would just suggest
that you develop a C# app that you intend to deploy on linux on linux test
servers from the beginning. Mono (The .NET CLR for linux) is complete
enough to host an enterprise app, but not all the API calls are
implemented. You might grow dependent on some API call and have to do some
refactoring if you deploy on windows and then "throw it over the wall" to
linux later.

I think ultimately, a big decision in the language used would be your
adeptness at the language or ability to adapt to it. It doesn't matter how
great a language is if the one writing it doesn't know how to use it.

Justin


On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 11:36 AM, Jon Paris <jon.paris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Has he looked at tools like Profound UI, Asna Wings, look, etc.?

If he is confident that the core business function of what he has are
solid then that might make more sense than a complete rewrite.


Jon Paris

www.partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com

On Jun 8, 2015, at 10:36 AM, Hoteltravelfundotcom <
hoteltravelfun@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I was talking Friday with an owner of a company that has billing software
for a particular industry.
Where there are frequent, government and insurance changes they have to
apply.

Their software is based on RPG. He said they want to rewrite in C#

because

they cannot sell to new customers.
OK fair enough but do you think C# based is the way to go? Secondly he

said

that they will keep the data on the IBM I.

Actually I have been working with mobile apps lately connecting a desktop
system using Delphi and I was thinking this might be a better way for

them

to get their product to the public relatively sooner. Taking a

complicated

old database from ibm I and trying to fit in C# I think it hard but what
are their choices?
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