Unique Approach
Our Process
Industry-Leading Language Comprehension

Unique Approach

Trinity’s modernization services are based on key insights gained from our years of experience:

1. Some degree of automation is necessary: Attempting to understand and replace millions of lines of source code manually is a proven recipe for trouble. The number of complex dependencies and sheer volume of repetitive work can be overwhelming. Our industry is rife with such projects that ended up years late and millions of dollars over budget.
2. 100% Automation is not the answer: Some tools attempt fully automated program-by-program code conversion, which means new applications tend to retain the organization of the old. The result is often suspect code quality and increased long-term maintenance costs.
3. Every modernization project is unique: Existing applications involve complex mixes of programming languages, coding styles, and interfaces for sharing data. Clients have unique goals for the new applications, whether that means porting the existing look and feel or pushing the bounds of new technologies. Effective modernization requires an adaptable approach.

Trinity resolves these issues by automating those aspects of code comprehension and translation that make the most sense, while retaining the human touch for those design, re-factoring, and optimization activities that add value and quality to the result. We produce native code that can be maintained effectively by the client, with no proprietary code libraries to tie the client to any specific vendor. In other words, there is never any “vendor lock.”

Our tools are used by the tool developers, which means unique code characteristics do not become problems for our clients. When we encounter new challenges the tools are reoriented and refined, and processing continues.

Click here to see how our process compares to other modernization approaches.

The Automation Enabled Modernization™
At the core of our success is the Automation Enabled Modernization (AEM™), a repeatable nine-step approach that leverages a powerful combination of people, process, and technology. The AEM is comprised of the following nine engineering tasks:

The AEM tasks are separated into three phases for convenient, low-risk contracting.

Characterization (Task 1) is a low-cost scoping exercise to enable Trinity and our clients to develop a complete understanding of the processing challenges inherent in the application source code. A Characterization report details the technologies involved in an application, as well as its size, complexity, and the degree to which it is documented. Click here for a description of Task 1.

Knowledge Mining (Tasks 2 to 6) extracts detailed documentation from the source code, including a complete inventory of all components within the source code (programs, screens, database tables, variables, etc.), several types of cross reference data to document related artifacts, as well as detailed models such as program flowcharts. Click here to begin reviewing the tasks that make up the Knowledge Mining phase.

Application Transformation (Tasks 7 to 9) migrates functionality from legacy platforms to newer, more agile technologies. Trinity is able to customize the details of the transformation approach to the unique needs of each client and project, whether that means re-orienting tools to handle less common technologies, or adapting source code for a complete paradigm shift (e.g. procedural to SOA / object-oriented). Click here to begin reviewing the tasks that make up the Transformation phase.

Characterization
Knowledge Mining Source Code Parsing Flowcharting Business Rule Harvesting Creating iSAT
	Application Transformation Technical Requirements Analysis Transformation Planning Transformation Data Layer Migration Presentation Layer Conversion Code Generation & Refinement Unit & Integration Testing Implementation Support

Since 1995 we have applied our unique approach to client projects—and have become the worldwide leader in language comprehension. To date we have processed more than one hundred different programming languages and databases, as shown by our Language Experience Matrix .

Our exclusive approach combines the use of automation and the right level of manual processing, giving you a fast, flexible, low-risk legacy migration alternative that you just can’t get from a box.