Re: Client / server experiences

> I recently had a discussion with a consultant who was approached > by an organization interested in > migrating applications developed in Cobol on HP-3000/MPE to > Client Server. These are back office operations of a > securities/banking company. The current application > development has already taken a time of over 2000 man-yrs(?). > > Though the management wants this transformation of > the application to C/Server, they are not sure of the > ultimate gains i.e. whether the overall costs of up-front > investment, re-engineering, attitude change etc will be > justified from the kind of returns available from this > application. Without considerably more information it would be difficult to make a true judgement on this issue. But based on the facts presented I would seriously question the point. If you work down the following questions/points that cross my mind you might reach the same conclusion. 1) What is the reason for the move? a) To move off old/proprietary equipment. Port the COBOL to a HP9000 running UNIX and Microfocus COBOL or equivalent. b) To allow more analysis of the data. Export the files to a Data Warehouse or EIS tool and analyse away. Disk is cheap. c) To provide more appropriate data entry. Rewrite the data entry and keep the rest. 2) What would the benefit of C/S be anyway? a) Remote access. Why do you need it? 1) Data entry. As per 2C and ftp transaction files 2) Enquiry/Analysis. As per 2B b) To meet company standards. Treat it as a legacy system and encapsulate it with defined interfaces. c) To reduce maintenance costs. Quick answer probably is - Forget it it'll never happen. 3) Possible good reasons for doing it. a) The current system is or will shortly no longer meet the business need. Cost of upgrades equivalent to replacement when system life span considerations are included. b) The cost of maintenance on current system is increasing sharply as the company looses the knowledgebase on which support is based. c) A complete redesign would allow the client to entirely change the way they do business with thier customers. With estimated increased sales that will cover the cost of the investment arising through the change in business policy and procedures. d) A complete redesign could cover new business opportunities that the client wishes to enter where the new business would cover the cost of the investment. Cheers - Jim My opinions are my own. They may vary with time but they remain MINE! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Jim Gordon Company: DHL Systems Inc, Burlingame, CA, USA ----------------------------------------------------------------------