Open Source Software

Our client asked us to complete their migration process of moving their code base of web portals away from the ATG framework. After careful consideration, we opted to create a solution based on Spring and Hibernate/JPA.

Java, Oracle

18 months

Challenge

Our client struggled for two years to complete their transition project. They couldn’t come up with a solution until Vicert proposed to develop an open source platform. We opted to take this route to bypass the effort and time constraints imposed by the discontinuation of support for the technology components and those related to maintenance and synchronization of all ongoing projects.

Vicert’s engineers familiarized themselves with the client’s technology and projects but also worked with the client in the past to implement new technologies and enhance the old ones. The client trusted us completely when we proposed and developed open source software.

Solution

Vicert meticulously planned the entire transmission and defined the development approach and objectives. We mitigated risks by identifying potential future problems and how to address them should they arise. We also designed solution patterns.

We divided the project into three parts:

• First, we upgraded all the critical structural elements, re-wrote the Data Layer to no longer require the ATG framework, and used Spring and Hibernate/JPA instead.

• Second, to set up proper open source architecture, we replaced the remaining ATG elements with appropriate alternatives (Spring MVC, Spring IoC, Spring Security, Quartz Scheduler, etc.). We performed the code cleanup and separation of layers before reorganizing the portals, so they are each an independent unit for development and deployment. We packaged the common elements into a separate Java project.

• Lastly, due to a high volume of documents that we needed to modify, we developed our open source framework with special focus on:

  • Automating the code changes.

  • Thorough testing with innovative approaches to ensure the existing and new code bases produce the same results.

Benefits

• By moving to our solution, our client saved $100k annually due to removing proprietary costs on which the client’s previous architecture rested.

• We upgraded all the key technological components of our client, resulting in a $50k reduction in annual costs due to removing legacy system support and using IBM HTTP Server instead of SunOne, which is bringing efficiencies of the newer web server technology.

• Our open source software also laid the foundation for the client’s future projects, made the code more readable and easier to maintain, and used a single source of truth, improving the efficiency of the whole SDLC.