We believe that a successful migration towards Object-Oriented software development is an ordered combination of different factors.

To underline the fact that their ordering is important, we represented them in an "ordered" figure. Click on each topic to see what we propose, and do not hesitate to contact us for any further remark/question (info@floconsult.be).

Migration steps

Audit

This is the first step when migrating: auditing people, projects, and/or the organisation
People technical audit:
- answering to a written technical questionnaire (multiple choices but also open questions)
- followed by a technical discussion ("debriefing")
- FloConsult has questionnaire parts ready about:
  - Fundamentals/Software engineering
  - OO Modeling (UML) and design
  - Java Fundamentals
  - Distributed Java (RMI)
  - Swing
  - J2EE
  - Java DB (JDBC)
  - XML
  - C++ fundamentals
  - C++ advanced (templates, STL,...)
  - CORBA
- output: report on the resource (written or oral), about typically:
  - previous experiences summary
  - acquired competencies
  - what the person waits from his/her job
  - which future roles (s)he can play
  - possibly what training (s)he should attend
Project/Organisation technical audit:
- based on high-level presentation(s) and then on the projects documents
- possibly followed by interviews/meetings
- output: report about typically:
  - strong/weak points
  - software architecture evaluation
  - project and team organisation
  - risks list

Migration Plan

From a synthesis of the actual situation (see Audit)
Definition of a set of recommendations to migrate to OO, taking into account:
- priorities
- risks
- constraints
- links to technologies (tools, architecture,...)
- links to developments (requirements management, risks management,...)
A migration plan specifying steps (e.g. step 1 being a pilot project), with for each step:
- a definition of the objectives, e.g.
  - set-up of a baseline architecture
  - use-cases used for the specifications
  - incremental and time-boxed development to be used
- a definition of the risks
- a definition of the constraints
- possibly a definition of the staffing

Training

What ?
- OO Fundamentals
- Agile development with UML
- Technologies: Java, C++, ...
Our approach:
- Based on practice
- Process oriented
See our training page

Mentoring

This is a key activity for success
Typical for migration activities
Experts sharing their knowledge with 2-3 people
See for example our consulting page

Tools

Why?
- Selection, Installation, Integration, Training,... -> takes time and has cost
We have a set of pre-defined set of tools for development support
Progressively better coverage and availability of open-source tools

Assessment

Following one migration step
Performing evaluations to identify strengths and weaknesses of:
- New development paradigm (OO)
- New technology
- Organization
Allows for rapid reaction
Improves visibility and control