BUILDING SMART SOLUTIONS THAT CREATE BUSINESS IMPACT
Motif has been the standard for ages, but it’s now 30 years old and there aren’t many experts left INTRODUCTION
If you’re among the business owners that don't invest much in software and hard- ware innovation, because their current setup "still works", we should let you know that’s a risky choice. Technology ages so quickly that it becomes outdated in a matter of years. It will gradually become harder for you to keep supporting and scaling software that was written using legacy technologies, as engineers who were once experts in the field are now close to retirement. Not having avail- able workforce to maintain your existing systems and set you up for the future, is a recipe for disaster. And if your company's information technology assets are un- available for a day that could result in huge loss - both in profit and market share.
Besides aging technology, there are other factors to be considered. Surely your company relies on some kind of third party applications and tools that are also compatible with others. What happens if the vendors cease to offer this compati- bility or go out of business, consequently stopping updates and support for the
2 application? Situations like that make it worth for you to consider initiating a migration project: migration from one system to another, migration of software systems to new hardware, migration from one setup to another setup, etc.
Migration is not a simple decision to make - your engineering team might prefer one technology over the other; or the newly chosen technology might offer you something that the one currently in use doesn't.
SWITCH THE TECHNOLOGY BUT KEEP THE FEEL
When speaking about innovation in software, people usually envision ground- breaking projects, like migrating all of your business applications to the Cloud, or rewriting a whole system in a new programming language. Not all projects are like that. Sometimes all that's needed is to freshen up a part of the system.
Let's take user interface, for example. Motif is around 30 years old. It was a Recently we had an interesting request standard and preferred tool for a from one of our biggest clients, a lead- long time, but now it’s outdated and ing company in the machine manufac- there aren't many people that have turing industry, to migrate their old the knowledge to work with it. At the embedded GUI toolkit to a newer and same time, the Motif framework has more popular technology. Years ago, its own faults that make it hard for companies like our client used to rely developers to fix bugs and develop on a standard GUI framework, called new features. There is also one very Motif. It was created in the 80s and trivial issue that stems from its age - remained a closed system until 2012, HD screens are not supported. when it was released for free use under a public license.
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?
Companies that relied on Motif have either already migrated to new technology or need to do so in the near future. Most often, the new tool of choice is Qt - a cross-platform framework for user interface development. Luckily, there are ver-
3 sions of Qt that support cohabitation with Motif. This makes migration from Motif to Qt painless, as it allows you to use both tools simultaneously while migrating components and slowly replacing the legacy framework with Qt. Qt also allows you to keep the same look and feel of the GUI, like it was in Motif - which means no big learning curve for the people who use your software daily. Finding the necessary human resource to develop and support your Qt-powered interface isn’t a big challenge with the current labor market state, as Qt is based on a classic programming language (C++) and is a popular framework. There are enough people at this point, who are either proficient with Qt, or are willing to add it to their skillset.
Last but not least, it’s important to choose tools and add-ons that are supported and regularly updated by a dedicated team, or at least by an active community. Qt wins in that regard, as it’s backed up by a compa- ny, solely dedicated to its develop- ment - The Qt Company. Previously, it was a project of Trolltech, Nokia and Digia. Qt also boasts a tight and engaged community, so it’s easy to get answers to your questions or dis- cuss your challenges with peers.
WHERE DO WE FIT INTO THE PICTURE?
Strypes has been a trusted migration partner for mid- and large-sized clients for years. We have learnt that no two projects are the same, even when they involve similar technologies or have a similar scale. To us, each client is a new adventure and a new engineering challenge. Our experience helps us work with the un- known and engineer our way around obstacles when we discover them.
4 A successful migration starts with a thorough kick-off phase where we explore your software business logic and discover what needs to be done. This is our audit that will allow us to propose a custom solution, an expected timeframe and a dedicated team that has the necessary experience and skill set for a successful project delivery.
We are a nearshoring company, but our model differs from traditional nearshor- ing. Throughout our 400+ successful projects we established a partnership model that keeps our autonomous project leadership role, while also bringing us closer to the client. It’s called nearsurance - a result of merging “nearshoring” with “quality assurance”. The essence is that we always dedicate an outsourcing man- ager who works hand in hand with our client on-site, for at least 6 months. This person sets up and maintains an efficient workflow between both companies, gains trust and helps address issues quickly.
The nearsurance model is a close-knit collaboration. We involve the client instead of stripping them from their ability to have control. Learn more about nearsur- ance here.
Dadi Hrolfsson Software architect
Dadi has been with Strypes since 2008
5 We can help your organization too. Get in touch to discuss your future migration projects!
www.strypes.eu
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