We took a rigid, dated pipeline application and created a modern, scalable, feature-rich piece of software for our client’s users.
THE CLIENT
Our customer holds a unique position as the only international heat tracing company completely dedicated to its industry. For more than 60 years, they have concentrated their efforts exclusively on heat tracing, the external application of heat to pipes, tanks and instrumentation, and continue to be an industry leader in the specialized field of heat tracing technology.
THE PROBLEM
Over the last decade, our client developed and maintained a sophisticated, easy-to-use suite of specialized software tools in order to to provide design and performance information for customers. Users of the tool were able to input application-specific information and obtain detailed electrical and thermal performance data.
The tool that they built helped them become a market leader, but the current codebase had grown unmanageably large (approximately 800,000 lines), and was a hybrid between the C++ and Visual Basic (VB) languages. The software met very basic needs, but was too rigid to accommodate complex projects and did not make use of modern database architecture or industry recognized code standards. As the company grew, the software simply could not scale.
They needed someone who could grasp the complex algorithms in the existing application and develop new algorithms to support more complex features.
THE SOLUTION
Entrance treated this project as a re-write and used a .NET Framework that incorporated some of the old coding into a new custom application that is now completely C#. The issue of scalability has been solved, as the back end now includes a SQL database for storing information.
The updated version provides a more accurate and automated user experience. Best of all, this software modernization project allowed our client to keep up with their competitors. Coming innovations that enable user collaboration will allow the software to surpass their main competitor in technological capability.
Read more more about how Entrance approaches software modernization.