Build.One Transforms Business Application Development with Progress® OpenEdge®
Industries:
Technology & SoftwareChallenge
A key focus for Build.One is Progress® OpenEdge® legacy app modernization. Build.One strives to guide its customers through the entire application modernization lifecycle, beginning with design, including complex UI, through business logic, data integration, deployment and ongoing application management.
Solution
Run an OpenEdge ABL backend natively, allowing access of backend logic from the UI to speed development; utilize Progress DataDirect to integrate multiple database sources in one application; engage Progress Corticon to integrate existing rules and identify the best way to reuse existing logic.
Result
Enable rapid development of modern web applications utilizing a customer's existing Progress technology stack; empower customers to create modern interfaces without the need to learn new web technologies; build up-to-date applications fast by re-using Corticon rules, existing ABL logic and the power of DataDirect connectivity.
Full Story
Challenge
Build.One enables companies and teams to build any application—complex or simple—tailored to specific needs. The heart of this transformation is Build.One's end-to-end business application development platform. A key focus is legacy application modernization to guide customers through the entire application modernization lifecycle.
"Our customers are both ISVs and direct end users," said Mike Liewehr, Founder and CEO, Build.One. "Whether it's legacy modernization, developing modern web applications, or enhancing existing applications, we strive to enable designers, citizen developers, business analysts, professional pro-code developers and anyone else in their ideal environment."
Solution
Build.One embraces Progress® OpenEdge®, Progress® Corticon® and Progress® DataDirect® to help its OpenEdge customers modernize legacy applications and develop modern web applications. They have a two-pronged approach to facilitate OpenEdge modernization. The first is to enable customers to build modern web-based applications based on their existing Progress technology stack, creating modern interfaces fast without the need to learn web technologies. And second, they empower their customers to innovate without the pain of updates.
To provide these capabilities, Build.One relies on the latest releases of OpenEdge, Corticon business rules and DataDirect to readily integrate multiple database sources into the solution. The Build.One platform includes tools for screen design, building complex UX and designs from inside the browser, through business logic and ensuring smooth business workflows, data integration, deployment and ongoing application management.
"The Progress products interact well together," Liewehr said. "For example, you can create a screen in Build.One graphically and then write what we call pro-code, the OpenEdge ABL which we integrate with Corticon to define rules. For applications that integrate multiple data sources in one application or even one screen, we use DataDirect. So, it's really the combination of DataDirect, Corticon and the OpenEdge database and ABL all working together."
Liewehr said the combination of the three products provides a clear competitive advantage.
"ABL is a very productive language," he said. "We build on that, adding things like Node.js and Corticon business rules, and what we have is a great combination utilizing the strengths of OpenEdge and Progress in general."
Result
The results of this winning combination are best illustrated through a recent digital transformation project Build.One delivered for a Swiss government healthcare IT provider. The provider needed to transform a densely integrated ERP/CRM system into a modern web application. A key requirement in the transformation was to maintain the business logic used by more than 1,300 end users of the application.
In transforming the application into a modern web application, Build.One was able to re-use the existing business logic, processes and codebase while enabling both on-premises and cloud operation with full security features. The application is now highly collaborative and agile, allowing the provider to stay up to date with changing regulatory and business requirements. The new application, collectively built by developers, product owners and users, is not only future proof, but provides a customized end user experience.
"This is a great example of the ability to build a modern web-based application based on a company's existing Progress technology stack," Liewehr said. "They were able to create modern interfaces fast, without the need to learn web technologies, as well as keep the existing OpenEdge infrastructure and re-use defined Corticon rules."