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Speedbump Software New life for legacy applications ... Email: admin@speedbumpsoftware.com |
Frequently Asked QuestionsLegacy applicationsWe support the following technologies, among others:
If you have the source code, it's very likely that we can fix bugs in your application. If you don't have the source code, we may be able to offer workarounds or develop new code that replaces the problem code in your legacy application. Possibly. We don't necessarily need the original source code in order to fix bugs or to add features. For example, we may be able to write new code to add the features you need to your application. In some cases, we can reverse-engineer an application and generate equivalent source code that can be modified or extended. If the changes you need are not extensive, we may be able to patch the application directly (not the preferred solution, but sometimes the only option). Yes. We offer a variety of support options from 24x7 on-call with guaranteed response time and pager access to occasional, per-incident support. We're also willing to create a customized support plan that fits your needs. Please contact us for additional information. At the very least, we can help you determine why your performance has degraded and suggest remedies. We can also help you to tune your system and application for best performance. It's also possible that relatively simple changes to the application can improve performance dramatically (we see lots of database applications that benefit from additional indexing and query optimization, for example). Sometimes upgrading hardware is the most cost-effective solution -- and if you go this route, you will understand which hardware needs to be upgraded and why, and what you can reasonably expect from your new hardware -- before you spend your money. Maybe. The website doesn't list every language and technology that we support -- but since we've been involved with computers and application development for over 20 years, there's at least a reasonable chance that we really do understand digital sanskrit, for example. Even if we have no direct experience with your application, its technology may be very similar to something we already know and support. ServicesWe won't know for sure until we know more about what you have in mind. Please contact us with your requirements. The likely answer, however, is "yes". Yes. We can develop both system-level documentation (so your techs can maintain and modify the application) and user-level documentation (so the folks who use the application can find out the likely cause(s) for a particular error message, for example). Yes, we can -- and we understand the difference between documentation and training materials. It's one thing to document how an application works; it's another thing entirely to educate people about how you use the application to support your business. Your business is unique. You have your own way of doing things and you've developed solutions that work for you. The training materials we develop teach people how to use the application in ways that support your business. Possibly -- but we won't know for certain until we know more about the hardware you are using and the problems you are having. We've dealt with everything from customized dumb terminals to credit card readers, so we may already be familiar with your hardware. If it speaks RS-232, TCP/IP, or even a home-grown protocol, chances are that we know how to talk back to it. Please let us know the specifics, and we'll go from there. Yes. Some of our clients use us to perform data conversion (cleaning, validation) as an ongoing service. Others use us as a one-time data import facility. We're happy to accept either type of assignment. We've also written utilities for our clients that validate and convert their data. Generally, yes. We've extracted data from industry-standard databases (MS Access, Oracle, Sybase, etc.) as well as those that used to be industry-standard (C-ISAM, C-Tree, Dbase, etc.). We can also convert, clean, massage or reformat the data as well. Please contact us with your specific requirements. Yes. We can standardize your data to meet your preferred format. We may also be able to teach your application how to standardize the data during data entry. Quite likely -- but this definitely isn't our favorite type of project. You've taken on the role of general contractor, and when the sub-contractors disagree, you'll have to mediate the dispute (probably not what you intended; in all likelihood, you'd rather turn things over to a single entity who will handle everything). If the firm you've chosen can't generate what they need, then we're more than happy to provide it, assuming that the requirements can be stated explicitly. We won't waste your time or money by attempting to deliver something that isn't well-defined. Sure. Just let us know what you have in mind, and we'll be happy to discuss your requirements. AdministriviaPlease send email if you have questions or would like to discuss your specific requirements. MiscellaneousNo, it certainly isn't. We're in this business because we want to make a difference, to help people use software to do more, better, faster than they could before. Not exactly Nobel Prize work, but perhaps a small contribution from our corner of the world. Simply stated, the "better tuba" fallacy is the idea that "if I only had a better tuba, I'd be a better musician". The truth is that a better tuba may make your mistakes louder and clearer, but it won't make you a better musician. This sort of non-reasoning is often used to justify everything from purchasing new hardware ("I'd be at least twice as productive if I had a 21-inch monitor") to wholescale replacement of an application ("Well, after all, it is older technology and if we re-wrote it in .NET we could ..."). There could be any number of reasons why your new application isn't really an improvement over the old application. Without more information, we can't pinpoint specific causes. However, we also can't help wondering if the "NT" in Windows NT stands for "New Tuba". We just made them up -- like most websites. One advantage of doing it this way is that we are more likely to be able to answer the question (:)). |