Progress 4GL to Java, Progress to Oracle, Belgium

Customer

A major provider of solutions in the travel sector, having operations across the world, asked Ispirer to perform a complex migration. The client’s business focuses on enhancing the performance of operators by offering products for all stages of the travelling process.

Challenge

The client was considering decommissioning of the Progress applications as part of their IT strategy. They had been using Oracle as their main development platform and were considering eliminating other platforms so as to bring greater consistency for further application development and maintenance. The task comprised migration of the applications from Progress 4GL to Java and Progress DB schema and data to Oracle. The process involved two parts – application conversion and database migration. The total scope of Progress 4GL applications migration was approximately six million lines of code.

Solution

Ispirer is flexible in terms of engagement. We offer our client all the resources available to ensure that we reach a solution which is in line with the client’s approach. The application conversion engagement model, which Ispirer deploys for comprehensive projects, usually consists of several phases. The first phase involves assessment, estimation, and Proof-of-Concept (PoC). At the PoC stage, from where we decided to start with our work, our technicians had to demonstrate how a part of the client’s application could be converted into the target platform using the Ispirer tool. The tool was tailored to the client’s specific needs following a month-long intense discussion with their team. All the client’s requirements and rules were taken into consideration while customizing the tool, which enabled them to make the most of it.

Results and Advantages

At the PoC stage, the client was quite concerned about the quality, readability, and maintainability of the Java-migrated code. According to the client, one of the obvious technical advantages was that the methods and procedures corresponded with the existing Progress code. The PoC resulted in a compiled Java code and an affirmative conclusion that any further customizations and new conversion rules can be introduced in the Ispirer software, thus producing the desired effect. Our technicians concluded that Ispirer toolset would automatically migrate nearly 90% of the code during the project’s long run.

The successful move to the new platform will enable the client to be more efficient and profitable, and offer his customers the best possible service. Ispirer specialists proceeded along the same lines while working with the client on this project.