I have been working with Progress Software products for a long time. I think I got my first training in 1986 from Mario de Jager / Progress NL, these days the CEO of Progaia, a partner company in the Netherlands.

That was a long time ago and it was a good time. Making software was relatively simply, you started somewhere and you ended somewhere and the program did what you want it to do, at least in my case.

But the years has changed, the world has changed and probably the software industry changed even much faster. When I started, I was used to blue screens, simple, always 80 columns, 24 / 25 lines in a screen and a user could do a few things. Go to the next field, go back, cancel or commit. I wrote hundreds of programs these ways, maybe thousands. And a lot of them are still working and are still working fine.

But the world changed. Suddenly people did not want to go to the next field but skip some fields. They invented a mouse for it, you could jump to any field you want. And you could switch between programs, suddenly working on one machine was not good anymore, everybody had their own desktop computer with all problems which comes with it. But those programs were still the same.

And now you have internet, scanners, mail, smartphones, tablets and even your refrigerator you can change from distance by the internet. My Volvo is beeping when I am too close to somebody in front, somebody behind me, I don’t switch my light, when I change lanes, has adaptive cruise control and will have an emergency break when somebody is crossing in front of me (never tried that one). People are only looking forward, only looking at new features, faster internet and so on.

But I was recently (September 2012) on a user day of Progress in the Netherlands and over 30% of the users were still working with the screens we made before 1995, isn’t it amazing? When you look at it first then you think yes, how is this possible.

But let’s take a better look. Why did we build those systems back in the 70’s, 80 or in my case end 80’s early 90’s? The answer is simple, there was nothing else, there was no internet and we has chosen for the best tool available which was, in our opinion, Progress Software with their language and database. And I have to say after 25 years, they have never let me down with their products.

But let’s assume you started in 1993 with 3 programmers building an ERP system for the company. And let’s assume that it took you 15 years (read 2008) to get it perfect. And let’s assume that you 1,5 persons where in maintenance, not in new development. Then it still means you as company has invested 1.5 * 15 man-years in your own ERP application. That means at least 22.5 to 25 man years of investment. That is interesting. So there is 25 man-years of cost in your ERP application but 45 years (all developers) of knowledge in that package.

We find this situation a lot of times with a lot of Progress customers. And now young people come in or their IT staff is getting on a very mature age. So what are their options? As long as the IT staff is there they can continue but they have the new staff they have to convince that the ‘old’ system is still ok. And I personally think they are right.

But at some point more and more new people come in and they cannot do things they could do with a previous employer so the complaining starts. So what to do.

1. Buy SAP/Navision/??

Those new ERP systems are great, but it takes a long time you have them running, the flexibility has to be removed from the organization and it will cost at least triple as they tell you in the beginning.

– And what to do with your current IT department? Teach them a new language, use them as consultant or simply kick them out. In all situations you lose a huge amount of experience for the company as a good it staff has to understand a lot of processes, also on detailed level to be able to check the system.

– Very expensive

– Extremely dangerous (are you really sure your company can survive this……) Google a bit

– For Navision, do you really realize the path windows8 is taking?  Please do research. Metro applications are Microsoft applications with only (50%) present market share and going down.

– Big bang scenario (are you prepared, you get only one chance, if it fails, good luck)

+ When implemented after 1 or 2 years you are save but you pay for it.

2. Rewrite in a new language?

My advice: forget it. You cannot do that with your current staff. If you want to keep their knowledge they have to step up and be mentors for and offshore department. Then it has a serious chance. Keep in mind that all the running problems will come still on their desk.

And your choice will 99% sure not be progress, you will go to a free database with open software development tools / environment.

– You need external consultants

– New technology

-What to do with your current staff

– And again a big bang scenario

3. Rewrite it in a new progress version.

I am an early progress adapter so I will tell you to do so. But it depends on how your IT department is arranged today. Are they are already using Open Edge Studio, App servers and so on, it might be a good option. If they don’t and use other tools, forget it, you will regret it.

– will take a lot of time, be aware of the changes in the IT landscape (less Microsoft, more browsers)

– will take a long time

+can use your progress expertise

+use your business expertise

4. Migrate to the XE files.

Yes of course I am not completely objective. What I said about the first 3 options I really believe but I also believe you should take a look to stay with progress, get the best out of your staff and migrate in a slow or quick path to the newest technique in the world.

– Yes, also we are asking money

– Retrain your current staff but still within progress on the way they are working now

+ Migration in your time frame

+ Make use of your IT expertise

+ No conversion needed

+ No big bang scenario

+ By far your cheapest option

Conclusion

There is an alternative which is very good. I think you at least should take a look at it. Within 2 months we can have your progress character based application in a partly HMTL5 application, completely SAAS ready.

If you come this far in this post, you at least know that you have an alternative you can test online: htttp://demo.javra.com