Writeimage CEP Education Management Software Enhanced Using Next-Generation Developer Tools

Windows Vista Customer Solution Case Study

Service Provider Enhances Education Software with Next-Generation Developer Tools

Overview “Productivity has increased significantly. This is Country or Region: United Kingdom partly because developers now focus on core Industry: Education functionality, while designers focus on the Customer Profile application’s look and feel.” Based in the United Kingdom, Tribal Group provides consulting and Neil O’Connor, Technology Officer, Tribal Group professional support services. It helps private- and public-sector clients improve service delivery to their customers. The Tribal Group Education Business System (EBS) product

Business Situation helps further education and sixth form colleges, and those Tribal wanted to enhance its flagship working in adult and community learning, manage their day-to- Education Business System product to provide more functionality to its day operations. The software, historically delivered as a client- customers. server application, supports almost every aspect of the

Solution education management process. To increase functionality for The company redeveloped key modules, users, Tribal is redeveloping EBS using tools provided with the including an existing timetabling application, using Windows Vista™, Windows Vista™ desktop operating system. These tools have which incorporates the Microsoft® .NET allowed the United Kingdom-based company to build new Framework 3.0 development environment. functionality quickly and cost-effectively, while significantly improving graphical elements of the user interface. In addition, Benefits  Increased efficiency. the new technology supports separation of development and  Support for smart-client and Web- design tasks, dramatically increasing efficiency. based delivery.  Increased developer productivity.  Enhanced graphical user interface.  Improved usability. “Because of the new Situation and Microsoft Active Server Pages Tribal Group delivers a wide range of technologies. vector-based screen technology and consultancy services to rendering available private- and public-sector customers. The Neil O’Connor, Technology Officer at Tribal, company develops and deploys software and says: “People wanted access to information with Windows Vista, consultancy services for schools, further through Web-based interfaces, so we used shapes and graphics education colleges, private training providers, Microsoft technologies to create Web-based and higher education institutions as a key versions of some EBS modules. This allowed scale up and down element of its offerings in the education college staff to log on and see selected smoothly.” market. It has been successfully delivering information, such as student attendance solutions in education and learning for more records, course enrolment details, or student Neil O’Connor, Technology Officer, Tribal than 20 years. contact details, held centrally in an Oracle Group database. One of the key products in the Tribal portfolio, Education Business System (EBS), helps “We created other Web-based modules, learning providers that cater for the post-16 allowing tutors to mark registers, confirm market work efficiently and effectively. EBS exam entries, and conduct timetabling and supports every aspect of college life—from resource planning processes for classes and enrolling students on programmes of learning exams online. At the same time, we extended to creating data submissions required by functionality for administrative personnel, government agencies. It can be delivered as a supporting enhanced curriculum planning and comprehensive service, which includes modelling activities based on the training, support, and consultancy. Or, requirements for complex government funding alternatively, it can be offered as a managed structures.” service with Tribal employees working on college premises. In 2004, to further develop the capabilities of EBS, Tribal began rewriting all modules of the EBS was created 12 years ago, originally solution using the Microsoft .NET Framework. using Oracle Forms client-server technology. This process is now well underway, and the Traditional grey-screen interfaces were used latest modules are being built on Microsoft to enter information through an application .NET Framework 3.0, which is fully integrated that resided on the user’s desktop. The with the Windows Vista™ desktop operating product, which was advanced for its time, system.” soon became the market leader. In addition to the Web-based modules, Tribal In 1999, Tribal decided to rewrite certain is now taking advantage of the powerful elements of the solution, broadening the features of Windows Presentation Foundation offering and integrating new tools to help (WPF) in .NET Framework 3.0 to create administrative employees gather information smart-client solutions within the EBS product on student course enrolment and other key suite. data. To carry out this development work, the company used Microsoft® Visual Basic® 6.0 The move to .NET Framework 3.0 and WPF will allow new functionality to be developed “Using the new quickly and effectively, provide a highly prebuilt versions of many functions that intuitive graphical interface, increase ease of developers need. technologies, we are use, and enrich the user experience. quickly developing a O’Connor says: “Previously, our developers Solution would have spent a great deal of time range of exciting new With the new phase of development using customising pre-shipped or third-party functionality. .NET Framework 3.0 and WPF on Windows controls, or even writing their own controls Vista, Tribal will be able to deliver EBS from scratch if these turned out to be Developers like it, the modules in Web-based or smart-client unsuitable. With WPF, however, our product manager likes formats, depending on the requirements of the developers are now finding that they are able college or individual user. to customise the controls using ‘templates.’ it, and customers like This allows developers to retain or extend the it.” O’Connor says: “We have developed an in- basic operation of the control, while giving it a house toolkit called the Unified Application completely new look. This is a simple but very Neil O’Connor, Technology Officer, Tribal Framework (UAF), which helps us to powerful feature that has greatly reduced the Group standardise development work across Tribal. time required to transform new functional This overlays developer tools available with requirements from idea to reality.” .NET and Windows Vista with additional code libraries and tools that are especially useful in Tribal is also using additional Microsoft tools the context of our business. We have already that streamline the development process, invested significantly in the development of including the Expression suite, which the UAF, and we are reaping the benefits in comprises: terms of accelerated development times and a richer user experience.”  Expression Design, a program for managing images and importing and By using .NET and Windows Vista to rewrite exporting data using extensible application EBS modules, Tribal has reduced markup language (XAML), a user interface dependence on proprietary technologies. mark-up language that allows graphic O’Connor says: “We are no longer tied into designers to develop advanced screen any particular database or user interface. For designs and graphics and integrate them historical reasons, we are still using an Oracle into development projects. database, but the need for this is diminishing  Expression Web, a Web design and as more and more screens are migrated to application tool that helps users develop the next version of EBS. Soon, we will be able sophisticated Web sites. It replaces and to offer colleges the option of deploying significantly enhances Microsoft Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 at the back end, functionality previously available with and this may be a more cost-effective option Microsoft FrontPage®. for many of them.”  Expression Blend, which allows designers to build complete user interfaces, drawing Developers find the solution more efficient, on graphical elements created in and they can achieve more complex results Expression Design and incorporating with less coding effort. Windows Vista ships animation and other graphical effects. This with a standard set of WPF controls, providing technology fully supports XAML, which allows designers to create user interface decisions that were outside their remit or designs that can be used directly within expertise. Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005, allowing developers to add business logic hooks to O’Connor says: “In the Active Server Pages back-end systems quickly and easily. days, you would see a fragment of HTML code alongside a fragment of VBScript code Tribal has recently rewritten its timetable to handle the data on a screen. Pages like this management module using the latest became messy quickly—they were hard to Microsoft technologies introduced with debug and required the use of a restrictive Windows Vista. The original version—created scripting language. This scenario also using classic Active Server Pages—allowed required developers to take control of some administrators to visualise a timetable in a aspects of design, which is often not what Web browser and add scheduling information they do best. —to set up staff, course, and exam timetables, for example. “XAML allows us to codify design elements using XML. Because it is fully supported by By rewriting the module using WPF, Tribal both Expression Design and Expression has expanded the timetabling functionality. Blend, which are used by our dedicated Users can now view several employee and designers, and Visual Studio 2005, which is a resource timetables simultaneously and zoom key tool for our developers, designers and into particular timetables by passing the developers are able to work together much cursor over them. As a result, it is easier to more effectively than before. This approach check for timetable clashes and faster to eliminates the problems—such as allocate employees, rooms, and other inconsistency of branding—that can arise resources. when a large number of people contribute to the design of different pages. It also removes Benefits the often challenging task of back-fitting Using Windows Vista and the .NET designs with existing code.” Framework 3.0, Tribal has created value- added functionality for education Enhanced Configuration and professionals. This work has been carried out Customisation quickly and cost-effectively using the UAF The UAF uses features of .NET, along with development framework. additional code libraries, to offer a configuration and customisation layer in EBS. Enhanced Development and Design This provides a tool that allows Tribal, or its Processes customers, to configure any field on any Development of Web-based applications screen. O’Connor says: “If customers decide using HTML required a mixture of functional they want to change, for example, the layout and graphics code to be intermingled. This of a screen, or which data fields appear on the made pages difficult to maintain and amend. screen in which order, they can use the In addition, developers were often required to comprehensive customisation features of EBS carry out design tasks or make design to tailor it to their needs. Alternatively, they may wish to define who can see what data, so they can identify a subset of users and give suggests that our users consider the them access to a page, part of a page, or application to be more intuitive and easier to even an individual field—or, indeed, bar use. As a result, we expect training time and access to certain users. In this way, costs to be reduced, fewer support calls to be customers can make sensitive information, raised, and, ultimately, for the customers to such as student contact details, available to see better productivity from their timetable those who need it, and protect it from other management staff.” people who are not authorised to see it. ” Improved Timetabling Functionality Next-Generation Graphics Features The EBS timetabling application allows users Using Windows Vista and the WPF, Tribal has to view and work with several different enhanced the graphical elements of EBS. timetables on one screen. O’Connor says: O’Connor says: “Windows Vista takes “Because of the graphics capabilities of advantage of the fact that most modern Windows Vista, there is no performance computers have a significant processing unit degradation when power users open multiple in their graphics cards. Previously, memory- timetables simultaneously. Timetables can be or processor-intensive graphics slowed most resized and moved around smoothly and computers down at the expense of other cleanly using highly intuitive tools, and users processes, but by maximising the use of the can see a ‘smart preview’ of timetables using capabilities of the graphics card, Windows thumbnail images. Vista virtually eliminates this issue. In doing so, it opens up a range of new opportunities “In the past, something so graphics-heavy for developing very attractive, feature-rich would have slowed everything down, and user interfaces for business applications. shapes would have juddered when moved. Now, shapes scale up and down smoothly. “For example, we have been able to deploy This provides additional benefits for visually sophisticated animation and 3D shapes that impaired users, who can zoom into detail- use the graphics processing unit to run intensive areas of the screen using intuitive smoothly and attractively on the screen, while commands.” the central processing unit is free to work on key business processing tasks. Because of Gadgets Streamline Working these new capabilities, we have significantly Practices enhanced the user experience in the new With an increasing number of tasks at hand— release of EBS. In addition to using the latest from checking the weather to viewing graphics capabilities to introduce new features calendars—users need to open and close to the product—such as smart previews of windows constantly. To help people save time timetables—we have also used them to and work more productively, Windows Vista improve the overall usability and visual appeal offers a dedicated Windows® Sidebar, which of the application. provides access to Gadgets—a wide variety of customisable, engaging, easy-to-use mini- “The significance of an aesthetically pleasing applications that offer information at a glance user interface should not be underestimated— and provide easy access to frequently used initial feedback on our new timetabling module tools. O’Connor says: “Users will be able to drop an Increased Developer Productivity EBS Gadget onto the Windows Sidebar to The use of Windows Vista has helped Tribal enable them to view key information or speed up the EBS development life cycle. complete routine administrative tasks. This O’Connor says: “Productivity has increased will allow them to access their timetable for significantly. This is partly because the day, retrieve the exams they need to developers now focus on core functionality, mark, or view tasks allocated to them by other while designers focus on the application’s look system users. This helps education and feel. professionals work more effectively and will be an additional selling point for the new “It is also because we have access to our version of EBS.” extensive UAF code libraries, underpinned by Support for Smart-Client, Web-Based the .NET Framework 3.0, which means we no Delivery longer have to write granular functionality from As more and more EBS modules are scratch. Using the new technologies, we have redeveloped using Windows Vista, Tribal will quickly developed exciting new functionality. offer both Web-based and smart-client Developers like it, the product managers like deployment options, depending on user it, and customers like it.” requirements. Plans to Introduce New Workflow O’Connor says: “Non-Web-based applications Features are typically difficult to distribute because they Tribal is building new workflow features into need to be installed and upgraded manually. EBS using Windows Workflow Foundation On the other hand, Web-based applications in .NET 3.0, which consists of a programming can be deployed to groups of users in real model, an engine, and tools for quickly time and can be kept up to date easily. Until building workflow-enabled applications in now, the issue has been that non-Web-based Windows environments. Windows Workflow applications are typically much richer and Foundation includes support for both system easier to use than Web-based alternatives. workflow and human workflow across a variety of scenarios. It also speeds up the “This has all changed with the new tools we development life cycle by providing a have available. For example, the new XAML consistent and familiar development Browser Application (XBAP) technology experience with other .NET Framework 3.0 allows us to offer customers the best of both technologies, such as Windows worlds. It supports the delivery of smart-client Communication Foundation and WPF. applications using a Web browser, while providing the full richness of software installed O’Connor says: “Using Windows Workflow locally. Foundation, we will introduce a well-defined set of processes for handling information to “We are also planning to use the ClickOnce ensure the effectiveness of college Deployment feature of .NET 3.0 to seamlessly operations. These will help colleges manage a roll out new versions of our smart-client range of processes more effectively—from modules to users throughout the college.” For More Information processing parents’ queries to submitting data Windows Vista For further information about Microsoft to central government.” Windows Vista can help your organisation use products and services, please visit information technology to gain a competitive www.microsoft.com/uk or call 0870 60 10 advantage in today’s new world of work. Your 100*. people will be able to find and use information more effectively. You will be able to support For hearing impaired customers with a your mobile work force with better access to Minicom, contact: 0870 50 30 400*. shared data and collaboration tools. And your IT staff will have better tools and technologies *Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday to to enhance corporate IT security, data Friday. Please note Numbers prefixed protection, and more efficient deployment and 0870 will be charged at national call management. rates. For details of national call rate charges, please contact your telecoms For more information about Windows Vista, provider. go to: www.microsoft.com/windowsvista For more information about Tribal Group plc products and services, call 0114 281 6100 or visit the Web site at: www.tribalgroup.co.uk

Software and Services  Windows Vista

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Document published February 2007