Freight Company Modernization Project Rolls On

This large shipping company (LSC) provides domestic freight and import/export services in six U.S. states. They became our client based on the successful solutions and services we provided to their sister company throughout a continuing long-term relationship.

Our Client

Challenge

This is the third installment in the ongoing story of taking this client from legacy, desktop computers to a modern cloud environment.

In our first success story with this client, “A Simple First Solution Clears the Road for this Freight Company,” we described how our client ran a 15-year-old visual basic (VB) application against local databases that were literally sitting on desktop computers in various shipping offices. Our first simple step was to move all of those databases to Azure Cloud, giving the client a number of immediate, important benefits.

In “Freight Company Makes Return Trip for Modernization,” we described how Prolifics performed a low-cost, fixed-price analysis over six weeks of daily meetings with the client. Prolifics produced an extensive report that documented every single one of the business functions in the old application, and provided a fixed-price modernization plan that would move the client to an Azure Cloud-based, web-based application.

In this article, we’ll discuss our progress with the client, and the how and why of the technology we’re implementing to get the client to the cloud.

Action and Technology

• While the databases are now in the cloud, there were still six of them, so we are moving to consolidate them into a single database with Azure.
• We are using .NET Core – Microsoft’s new version of .NET Framework. This is a free, open-source, general-purpose development platform that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems. .NET Core will have longer support compared with the client’s current – but very old – Visual Basic 6 (VB6). Madhukar Chatlapally is a Prolifics Senior Technical Lead working with our client. “VB6 is similar to .NET Core. However, we’re developing based on functionality, so we’re not implementing through the old code. But, if we’re having a difficulty, we may dig into the old code to get the logic behind it.”
• We are choosing React for building a better user interface (UI) experience. React is one of the most popular free and open-source, front-end JavaScript libraries. We are using it with TypeScript, a superset of the JavaScript. With React, TypeScript allows the developer to write HTML code directly, for a better developer experience. We’re also using KendoReact, a commercial UI library built for developing business applications. Chatlapally said, “With React, we have more advantages like default grid structures, a component-based architecture, and a DOM model (document object model). With DOM, let’s say you’re doing one change in a small area portion of a page. It will change, but it will impact that HTML portion only. It won’t reload your entire page. This type of speed is an advantage with React.”
• As of this writing, Prolifics is in sprint 4 of 8, with a sprint lasting one month. Coming up is some major functionality – order logs and reports.

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About Prolifics

Prolifics is a digital engineering and consulting firm helping clients navigate and accelerate their digital transformation journeys. We deliver relevant outcomes using our systematic approach to rapid, enterprise-grade continuous innovation. We treat our digital deliverables like a customized product – using agile practices to deliver immediate and ongoing increases in value.

We provide consulting, engineering and managed services for all our practice areas – Data & AI, Integration & Applications, Business Automation, DevXOps, Test Automation, and Cybersecurity – at any point our clients need them. Email solutions@prolifics.com or visit us at prolifics.com to learn more.