Anubex Launches Client/Server Modernization Offering

Anubex, leader in automated Enterprise IT Modernization, is pleased to announce a new line of transformation tools, the company's first to target Client/Server applications. Anubex has a reputation of excellence in modernizing some of the largest and most complex applications throughout Europe and beyond. For the past 16 years the Belgian company has worked almost exclusively on mainframe and minicomputer applications. Now it has used its wealth of experience in this domain to create a brand new transformation technology specifically tailored to applications designed according to the Client/Server model. In 2008 the Belgian government granted Anubex an Innovation Award of nearly $0.2 million In recognition of the scientific merit of the development.

We made the decision to move into Client/Server modernization after a careful analysis of the current offerings and needs in the market," says Louis Heymans, Managing Director at Anubex. "We see a significant market opportunity for automated modernization solutions targeting larger Client/Server applications. Certainly, there are solutions available today that work well for smaller applications. But the complexities of transforming larger applications with millions of lines of code demand appropriate tooling to guarantee technical consistency in iterative project methodologies." For its analysis, Anubex worked together with two international systems integrators and also collaborated closely with Microsoft.

Even though the newly announced line builds on Anubex` experience from many successful mainframe modernization projects, the differences between mainframe and Client/Server development technologies offer an opportunity to innovate. "There are obvious technical differences between mainframe applications and graphical applications made with a technology like VB6," according to Ben Wilson, Migration Director at Anubex. "But the differences run much further because Client/Server developers have a mindset that looks very differently at code re-use. Client/Server saw a whole market evolve for re-usable software components that barely existed for mainframes."

To address the many kinds of components Client/Server developers could use and the many ways those components can be replaced through modernization, Anubex built customizability and extensibility into the very core of their solution. Within the new line, all transformation rules have default behavior that can be overridden by the developers themselves or by specialized system integrators while the project is in progress.

Anubex makes this possible through a plug-in mechanism. "If you have an application developed with Client/Server technology in which developers made extensive use of a particular component, for example a Datagrid, you may have certain requirements as to how the component will be treated. For instance you could continue using that component post-modernization or you could replace it with one from a competing vendor," says Kris Ceuppens, Director of Client/Server Modernization at Anubex. "The flexibility offered by this development represents a breakthrough for software re-engineering.Enterprise users of technologies like VB6, Delphi, PowerBuilder and others will reap substantial benefits as they make the transition to .NET and Java technologies."

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