Global Hospitality Company
The Challenge
Transform a PowerBuilder-based worldwide reservation system into a globally accessible, J2EE web application
Our client owns, manages and franchises more than 500 hotels and resorts worldwide. The company’s worldwide reservation system is used by more than 2000 customer service agents to book hundreds of thousands of reservations per day as well as handling guest history and reporting.
Our client’s legacy application was a 15-year-old system was written in PowerBuilder, accessing a central Informix database via a Tuxedo transaction broker.
The aging legacy application was becoming difficult and costly to maintain. PowerBuilder development talent is increasingly rare and expensive to find. The resources required to distribute and install PowerBuilder client software at numerous properties was also burdensome. The English-language application could not be localized, resulting in longer learning curves and higher risk of operator error among international users.
The client engaged with Vivify Technologies to transform their PowerBuilder system into a modern, J2EE web application.
The Vivify Solution
Vivify’s MDT Framework used to build a modern, web-based solution
Our client chose Vivify because of our success helping numerous companies transform growth limiting client/server applications to the web. What set Vivify apart from other companies offering to modernize the system were Vivify’s (1) fixed time, fixed cost solution, (2) MDT Framework and (3) J2EE target application architecture.
The Solution:
Reduced project time, risk and cost
Enabled a rich, “desktop in a browser” user interface capable of recreating the PowerBuilder UI –right down to keyboard shortcuts—to minimize user retraining, and maximize user satisfaction
Made the Java and open source ecosystem available to the project team, thus lowering software-licensing costs.
Vivify CodeDoc
Our client ran their PowerBuilder code through Vivify CodeDoc, which provided a clear picture of their legacy application structure and helped the team better organize and prioritize key elements of the project:
250,000 lines of code
38 application files (.PBLs)
921 data windows
73 user objects
233 global function
281 external service calls
Vivify CodeGen
Using our model-driven PowerBuilder to Java transformation software, we were able recreate the application as a web-based, J2EE system running on WebLogic-Tuxedo app servers, and an Informix database.
The approach also made it easier to enhance the application architecture to support localization. The team externalized the application text into resource files, which could be translated to create localized versions that better serve international users, and their guests.
The Results
Decreased maintenance costs and better service
Using our model-driven PowerBuilder to Java transformation software, we were able recreate the application as a web-based, J2EE system running on WebLogic-Tuxedo app servers, and an Informix database.
The modernization effort resulted in lower software maintenance costs and greater flexibility for the client’s software group. As a result, they have been able to:
Eliminate PowerBuilder and PowerBuilder-related software (e.g., PowerBuilder change management and distribution) costs
Eliminate hardware that formerly existed on every property to facilitate PowerBuilder client code distribution and updates
Update the web-based reservation system more frequently in response to user enhancement requests.
Find Java development team talent easier and less expensively than PowerBuilder developers
Leverage the Java open source software ecosystem to lower software license costs
Improve the user experience by enabling application localization