The Client

The client is a long established industry leader in delivering end-to-end carrier grade telecommunications network infrastructure and solutions. The company has decades of experience in delivering robust, fault tolerant, software architectures and the know-how to scale to millions of users and manage thousands of network elements. The client has deep and broad experience spanning the key areas in telecommunications – optical transmission, wireless, voice, multimedia, and packet networking and associated services.

The client’s service provider customers include some of the world’s largest public network carriers, including wire-line, wireless, and cable operators. Enterprise customers include small, medium, and large businesses and institutions, and span multiple sectors, including financial services, health care, education, retail, and government. The client serves 9 out of 10 North American Fortune 500 companies, and worldwide, their installed base of products represents more than 50 million enterprise users.

The client’s leading portfolio of solutions spanning packet, optical, wireless and voice technologies are at the very foundation of the world’s economy, powering global commerce and delivering innovative network capabilities to connect rural and underdeveloped regions. The client is using GUI was developed using legacy Oracle forms and seeking Oracle Forms Migration solutions.

About Access Care

The client’s Access Care Operating Support Systems (OSS) provides unified end-to-end management and diagnostics capability for next generation Voice over IP and traditional TDM networks. It manages customer reported troubles, alarm-generated reports and routine maintenance activity. Its modular design also enables a mobile, multi skilled work force. Access Care interfaces with multi-vendor network elements and element management systems throughout the network.

Key Features of the Product

Access Care Fault Diagnostics

Provides access to the test infrastructure and diagnostics capability of network elements and element management systems. Strategic partnerships with vendors of test hardware provide a wide range of test capability.

Access Care Work Force Management (WFM)

WFM is designed for management of diverse mobile work forces with varying skills-sets covering multiple shifts over large regions. It matches customer appointments to skilled technicians within specified regions.

Access Care Voice

This product is primarily designed for management of customer reports , surveillance reports and miscellaneous maintenance work in POTS single and multi-line environments.

Access Care High Speed Data (HSD)

This product extends POTS capability to the next level, by providing single ended loop qualification, bandwidth prediction, provisioning support and after-market support for established services.

Access Care Special Services Management System (SSMS)

SSMS is designed to manage special services. It handles extremely short MTTR intervals, where services are passing critical data with stringent requirements for 99.999 reliability..

Existing Application

The existing AccessCare application GUI was developed using legacy Oracle forms. These applications are invoked as Oracle forms executable files from the user’s desktop for their day-to-day operations. This is client server based architecture, Oracle forms 6i (thick client) executable uses the Oracle 8i database for data Services. Application business rules are either stored in the database stored procedures or in the library files distributed with the client-server applications. Additionally, since the applications are not deployed and maintained centrally, up-gradation to the latest release was a lengthy and cumbersome procedure, as application running in all of the client machines needs to be upgraded simultaneously.

This client server application has been in business for the past 6 years and maintaining these applications in terms of implementing new requirements was adding up the already existing challenges for the client.

Proposed Solution

Kumaran tools and Migration services were employed by the client to transform and modernize the Oracle forms legacy application to a more sophisticated modern web based, multi-tier, thin client based J2EE application.

Transformed Application

Transformed Application Details

Database Details

Client Detail

Client Application Browser : Standard Web browser with JRE 1.4.2 installed

Features of Legacy Modernization by Kumaran

• Kumaran developed very rare solution in application migration era with full-fledged Oracle Forms features migrated using j2EE technology into java AccessCare.
• Kumaran provided with exact one-one migration of AccessCare application with equivalent functionalities and features.
• The existing functionality of the client server was preserved and future maintenance on the transformed code were made less complex.
• All GUI, navigation and validation features supported by Oracle forms are implemented exactly same as the client server application to avoid user training.
• Intelligent validation and Query tuning to improve performance of the transformed application.

Benefits

Technology Benefits

• The client’s existing AccessCare application was migrated from two-tier architecture to N tier architecture.
• Kumaran helped the client’s AccessCare Team move to J2EE technology through the course of this migration project.

Business Benefits

• Kumaran provided with exact one-one migration of AccessCare application with equivalent functionalities and features.
• Java AccessCare has added up another technology offering for the client. This helps the client to acquire new customers interested in j2EE technology.
• With a well-established j2EE framework, the client now owns the complete java source code for Accesscare, thus successfully breaking their dependence on specific technology vendors, which were otherwise forcing them to invest major portion of their money even for small upgrades.

Cost Benefits

• Retaining the existing AccessCare behavior helped the client smoothly migrate its current users to new java product with no “User Training”.
• Java AccessCare supports Multiple Application Servers. Currently it supports both Oracle 10G and Jboss 4x.
• This feature has made the product affordable even for customers who cannot afford to pay big prices for buying and maintaining Application Servers.
• Java AccessCare runs in any JVM enabled Internet browsers. This product requires “no” extra installations for the end user.

Application Benefits

• Java AccessCare is Platform Independent. This product can be deployed and run from any OS platforms currently available in the market.
• Kumaran provided a Rich GUI interface and improved User Friendliness for Java AccessCare thus making the end product more attractive.
• Java AccessCare GUI is Multi-Lingual enabled. This helps users around the world to work with this product in their own language.
• Java AccessCare is accessible through the Internet and thus accessible worldwide.
• Java AccessCare has very good flexibility to support graphical features (e.g. Task Director – Gantt chart measures AC users productivity). Whereas Oracle Forms Toolset no longer supports graphing/graphics and its limited in flexibility.

Scalability and High Availability

• Kumaran provided the client with a highly scalable and Maintainable solution using j2EE technology.
• High Availability and Serviceability of java AccessCare was ensured.
• Benchmarked Performance and Memory utilization for the whole product between source and migrated code. Java AccessCare results in better performance than Oracle forms version especially in terms of user operation. Ideally the response times are much faster when web/app server and database server are closer (Same Network).
• Benchmarked framework to support 1200 simultaneous users using Oracle 10G Application Server.

Maintainability

• Kumaran developed Complete Utilities and Intelligent Business components, which ensured Code re-usability and thus helped maintenance an easy job for the client’s team.
• Kumaran designed the j2EE framework (as shown below), which made even oracle designers to easily understand and work with java AccessCare.

Reduced Development Time

• Speedy Development using matured design delivered with high quality resulted in well-evolved components and utilities.

Successful in Satisfying End Users Need

• Kumaran have helped the client to satisfy their Customer’s need through the J2EE migrated application. One of the client’s customers wanted to migrate the Oracle Forms application to J2EE.
• Kumaran took up the challenge for the client. With the end user not accessible directly, Kumaran team located in India coordinated with the client to understand the end users needs. Kumaran as the backbone of the client successfully migrated the base application, added up new features / requirements and finally launched the application in production. Kumaran’s expertise with the technology offering and consultation thus helped the client meet their customers’ need.

Maintenance of jAC

After the successful completion and acceptance of java Accesscare system, the client wanted to maintain the same. Kumaran Systems another major challenge is to provide maintenance support for the jAC system, which includes the below given tasks

• Development of screens and reports for new requirements
• Incorporating functional changes in jAC for any change in the business rules
• Fixing issues raised by the end users

Kumaran implemented the JAC system in November 2005 and after UAT and mock run, jAC system went for live in June 2006. Kumaran started providing maintenance support for the jAC system from December 2005 to till date.

Maintenance Support

• As part of maintenance support, Kumaran does new developments and changes in the jAC system, which keeps coming because of the business needs.
• Any user-raised issues will be logged into Maintenance – Log by the client.
• Kumaran periodically (every day) checks the logged issues and solves these issues.
• All deliverables are shipped to the client after doing the unit and integrated testing.
• Maintenance support is done from offshore.
• Kumaran team addresses non-functional issues as a part of the support e.g. Identify Performance bottlenecks and carry out improvements, improved logging mechanisms etc.

Continuous Support Provided by Kumaran

Kumaran offers and provides excellent Customer Support to the client. Some of the key highlights as listed below

• Best turn around time – Kumaran team is dedicated to provide the best turn around time for the work assigned, which keeps the customer satisfied.
• Dedicated team – Kumaran deploy its best technical resources for the job. This team will dedicatedly work to look into all support related activities.
• Direct Contacts – The client is provided with direct contact numbers of resources working for them at offshore. This helps the client team to be in touch all the time for any kind of assistance or support.
• Well-defined SLA – The client and Kumaran has a well-defined SLA in place that keeps up the clarity of work. Production patch up gradation support – Kumaran team demonstrate complete ownership and support to the client to the extent of ensuring each patch getting successfully upgraded in the Production System.
• Support during weekends – Kumaran team provides support to the client even during weekends, on a need basis. This helps the client plan its activities and meet its schedule on time.
• Weekly status updates – As a process, Kumaran provide excellent insight on the up to date work status along with resources workload. This gives a better control to both parties over the activities.
• Well-defined escalation structures – As a process, Kumaran provides a well-defined escalation structure. This helps the client to reach the right person at the right time.
• Flexible work timings – Kumaran offshore team is highly flexible and committed to provide support to the customer. The project team at offshore has adjusted its work timings to suit the customer’s time zone. This helps both the customer and the offshore team to work as a single team and thus improve the overall productivity.

Conclusion

The client is a key account for Kumaran. On successful re-engineering of the Access Care application Kumaran has been continuously working with the Client by catering to their IT requirements. Kumaran provides the Oracle Forms Migration solutions to the client organization wants today and also provides a roadmap for them as their company grows and their needs expand. This reaffirms Kumaran’s inherent strength in excellent technical capability and customer orientation. Being a relationship partner of the client, Kumaran has acted as an integral part of the client and has contributed its part by providing quality deliverables, cost-effective solutions and value-adding suggestions. Customer Satisfaction being our motto, this relationship has become an ongoing success.