fecher modernization project consolidates 20+ application packages into one new solution

Tempest Development Group takes local government software to a single new platform

Washington, District of Columbia (prnob) October 19, 2016 - fecher announces the successful completion of an application modernization project for Tempest Development Group. Headquartered in a Vancouver suburb, the company has become a leading provider of eGovernment solutions in Western Canada. During the 18-month project cycle, fecher transferred the 20 plus municipal administration application packages to a standardized, consistent .NET architecture. The roll out has started as scheduled in July 2016. By the end of 2017, all fifty plus clients will gradually be transitioned to the new software.

Tempest's applications cover a wide spectrum of local government business operations, whether at the city, community or district level. They handle dog licenses as well as business licenses, property taxes, building permits, traffic tickets and fines. The Tempest Development Group's Senior Product Manager Mike Jensen explains: "While we had an integrated system at the database level, every application was an independent executable. The applications often contained duplicated code as over time there had become many versions of code for performing very similar core product functionality." In addition, the 15-person development team had become more and more constrained by the 4GL nature of the Gupta Tools. "The rapid development capabilities that Gupta provided were no longer our top priority. We now needed more control and the time delay in waiting for new technology features to become available in the development tools was becoming more of a concern," Mike Jensen adds.

After some extensive prototyping conducted at the end of 2013, the go-ahead to convert a total of 1.6 million SAL items to the new platform was given in April 2014. It wasn't only the large number of code lines that made this project unusual. An even greater challenge fecher had to master was that development continued throughout the entire project.

Mike Jensen is very pleased with the porting project. "Our application's value is now safely in C# code and we can build on that," he says, summarizing the achievement. In the future, he sees the application as a web-solution, although this will have to meet increased security requirements for the public sector. He plans on developing this strategy over the coming months and sees and the application modernizers from Germany as a strong viable solution that would provide a web-enabled software in a timely fashion: "Throughout the project, the fecher porting team proved to us many times that fecher can ably master our special challenges."

About fecher

For 25 years fecher supports its customers in their application modernisation efforts in order to create new functionalities or meet imminent technological changes. With their wide-spread experience, the fecher team finds the optimum way for taking existing applications and procedures to a future-proof new technology platform. Key to success are intelligent process models, specialised tools and vastly automated processes. A comprehensive transfer of know-how ensures a lasting project success at the customer.

The company's headquarters are located in Rödermark near Frankfurt. In addition, fecher has branch offices and development teams in Germany, Switzerland, Romania, and the Unites States.

For questions and further information please contact:

fecher LLC
Gunter Hofmann
1010 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20007, USA
Phone +1 (202) 629-0294 Ext: 703
Fax +1 (202) 629-0294
Guenter.Hofmann@fecher.net
www.fecher.net

in-house Agentur eK
Michael Ihringer
Kastanienallee 24
64289 Darmstadt, Germany
Phone +49 (6151) 30830-0
Fax +49 (6151) 30830-11
ihringer@in-house.de
www.in-house.de

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