Nine unique advantages of PCM:
1. You can continue with the maintenance of the legacy application, while outsourcing the conversion.
2. Continuity of the user interface. The user interface generated by PCM is far more modern, but fields and screens keep the same structure so users can quickly find the function they need.
3. The new system is of better quality than the old legacy system. The new system is far more compact, contains fewer lines of code, and the code is more structured and uniform. If you use PCM for all your applications you will have one common set of best coding practices.
4. Jump start your programmers. They quickly become fluent in C# and .Net because they see the system they know well, but now it is written in .Net. Each piece of code generated is written by a senior programmer with at least 5 years of experience in .Net.
5. Completeness. PCM cannot forget code lines in the old system. Customers get an audit trail that defines for each line of code what has been done with it.
6. Testable. You can check the old system site by site against the new system. Moreover, because of the extensive use of code generators, errors in the new system are easily found because the same error will occur in many places in the system.
7. Outsourced. Your own programmers do not have to do the conversion themselves. They do not need to learn tools nor do you have to train them in tools, nor do you have to hire expensive consultants.
8. Fixed price. Lizatec will always convert your system for a fixed agreed sum.
9. Better quality than writing new applications from scratch.
The two disadvantages of PCM
PCM also has its disadvantages:
1. We cannot improve the database and convert the software at the same time. The reason is that we need to be able to test the old and new applications side by side. If the old legacy application has a different database from your new ICT system testing is far more difficult. So, if for some reason you need to change the database or its structure you must do so in the legacy system, or you must do it after migration to .Net.
2. A system must be of a minimum size to justify conversion. Typically we expect an application or a suite of applications consisting of at least 400.000 lines and at least 200 – 400 screens for it to be viable to use PCM.
