Is this Case?

CASE stands for "Computer-Aided Software Engineering" and was very much in vogue in the early 1990's. It set great expectations but never delivered as anticipated. Over time, some of the products were renamed and became programmer productivity tools.

There was nothing wrong with the concept - just the final delivery was still manual programming. The tools in those days were also program language-specific, such as Cobol or RPG, whereas the markets moved on to embrace the open standards movement. These spawned increasingly portable programming languages (i.e. they worked on more than one supplier's system), for example Java^TM, Visual Basic and C++. Java^TM has emerged as the leading language (by far) for Internet-enabled systems, although Microsoft's C# (part of the .Net initiative) is becoming more established.

The answer is that Appligenics has moved on from CASE and taken it to its natural conclusion - complete automation of the target programs, delivered on any platform.
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My business is really complicated - can Appligenics handle complex business processes and rules?

Appligenics has been used in many industry sectors for many types of applications. It can handle the complexity of pensions calculations and inland revenue taxation rules; calculations for hire fees against a set of complicated conditional rules; supply chain and logistics; ERP; integration with manufacturing control systems; and the usual array of eCommerce applications.

In answer to this question, Appligenics can handle most business situations. For those circumstances that go a step too far - linear programming could be an example - it is a very simple exercise to build a "external function" separately and then integrate it with the Appligenics-generated system. These circumstances are very rare, but in the event that it is necessary, you can be confident that you can still use Appligenics to build the other 99% of the system.
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What languages do you generate?

In our case we generate Java^TM (to J2EE standard) and we will deliver C# (within Microsoft's .NET environment) this year.

For the foreseeable future, it is most unlikely that there will be any other major new programming languages. Java^TM and C# between them are likely to take care of both enterprise and desktop computing for at least the next ten years.

An important point to note is that in Appligenics the business analyst (our user) does not have to know anything about the technical output. He or she is NOT a programmer.
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Is it a 4GL?

Definitely not! It is focused on people who talk to business users (business analysts, project leaders, systems analysts). 4GL's are focused on making programmers more productive, whereas our aim is to eliminate manual coding.
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Could anyone use the product?

If you have a logical mind, and some experience or understanding of database structures then you could use it.

Some of our most successful users have been people who worked in Finance, and if you think about that it makes sense - they tend to be logical, persistent, and understand the business.

Typically, most organizations have people who straddle the line between "the business" and "IT" and tend to be called Business Analysts or Systems Analysts. In today's development model, they are the link between IT and the outside world, and often write the high-level design specifications for new systems.
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Will programmers become redundant?

It is not the programmer who will become redundant - it is the work practice that will go away. Programmers (invariably highly qualified, well educated people) should not be doing mundane repetitive tasks; those should be generated from a specification, and every programmer will tell you that.

Programmers are in short supply - Java^TM programming skills are the most sought-after in the IT industry - and should be tasked with other activities that test the capability of companies. For example, in communications, automation, and machine interfaces, how much more could we do if we had spare resources on the edge of technology?

We envisage that programmers will focus on either maintaining the legacy (as they do today), or, more productively, they will work on the really challenging issues, devising new solutions to complex business problems.
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Most of our projects use already existing internal databases. Can you access those?

Yes. You can map almost any data structure into Appligenics, including obscure proprietary databases. Once defined, it is possible to secure and authenticate access to data.

New files may be held on the same database or another database. The choice is yours.
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What about truly huge projects?

We have customers who have created corporate Supply Chain applications, Financial systems, Pensions administration and calculation, Call Center applications, Vehicle Rental . . . We have been challenged but not found wanting yet.

We have worked with Systems Integrators on projects where they originally quoted thousands of man-days and we subsequently quoted 90% less. The scale issue becomes moot because Appligenics automates so much of the process.

What remains unchanged is you still require business and problem-solving expertise to devise your solutions in the first place. The business user and the business analyst still have to explore and that is where the effort lies. Appligenics is a powerful tool in the hands of these people.
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Is it expensive?

Appligenics licensing is flexible. We can license by the traditional model of annual payments or by monthly payment at your preference. Monthly payments often work well for our customers' return on investment analyses.

The two key base products are licensed by user (e.g. ten users need ten licenses).

There are optional products too, for language translation and application starter-kits, but most customers do not use those at first.

The bottom line is that only you can decide if the return on investment works for your organization. Most medium to large businesses will find that the benefits accrued from Appligenics licenses far outweigh the costs.
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What about training?

We have customized training facilities at our local offices. The Certified Analyst Course takes one week, in which you cover everything - methods of questioning, taking workshops with users, using the products, and actually creating an application.

At the end of the course, the Certified Analyst is equipped to design their first live application.
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Do you help afterwards?

We are passionate about our technology, and we want our customers to make the most of it. Our Mentoring Program lends a helping hand to post certification students for their first six months.

A personally assigned mentor becomes a consultative colleague who understands both the Analyst's expertise and the applications they want to build. The Certified Analyst will meet regularly with the Mentor, and has direct access by telephone and e-mail to ask questions and explore ideas.
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