Many companies have legacy Oracle Forms systems. They rely on them for all their internal processes and operations. As Oracle Forms is already 20 years old technology, most companies, like big banks want to migrate to new technologies. This is because Forms systems no longer fulfil the user expectations and have problems in:
- no mobile support
- the problem with access by end users in the internet
- does not comply with modern UX and UI
- has huge security flaws
- will be unsupported in the near future
When deciding to renovate your existing Forms Applications, the possible options are to migrate to Oracle ADF, Microsoft, .Net, Oracle Apex or Java Open Source technologies.
In this banking project, after close investigation, Oracle ADF was selected as a natural descendant of Oracle technologies. It has built in support with Oracle Database and works on the already available Oracle Weblogic servers and infrastructure. It is also famous for its rapid application development approach.
However, if the project consists of migration of 500 forms (this is considered a medium project), the whole project cannot be really “rapid” and fast to be delivered. Here comes the expertise of experienced team in migrations, that can bring good migrational process.
The best approach we have used by far includes operational steps, breaking the work in modules and also allowing users to interact with the newly created system from the very beginning. This is possible by creating a mechanism to run both forms and Oracle ADF screens in one application.
The new ADF system is better than the Forms in terms of:
- Mobile support
- Accessible by end users via the internet
- Web 2.0 experience with modern look-and-feel
- Allows integration with SOA, BPM and 3rd party systems
- Identity management according to latest security standards
- Enterprise standards compliant – exception and error handling, logging, etc
- Open architecture to easily add SMS, Fax, Barcode modules
- Internationalization
The newly migrated system brings positive impact across all departments. Moreover, the new system could target new business needs and make the enterprise visible for the entire world.
