Version drift, mixed databases, undocumented local modifications and six different month ends. Here is how we approach an estate that grew across borders.
Request a free application review +44 (0)1293 562730Estates that grew across borders tend to have grown unevenly. One country is two versions ahead. Another has a local modification nobody documented. A third is on a different database entirely because of an acquisition in 2011.
The instinct is to standardise everything at once. In our experience that is how these programmes fail: the change is too large to test properly, every country wants a different cutover window, and the local team that actually depends on the application loses months of development.
The alternative is to phase it deliberately, with each phase delivering something the business can use, and with the source out of your hands for as short a time as possible. That is precisely what we proposed to COWI, and the reason we proposed it.
We will review the estate and tell you which parts are straightforward, which are genuinely difficult, and which are not worth touching yet. It costs nothing and it is the only honest way to size work of this shape.
Different countries on different PowerBuilder releases, each with its own upgrade path back to a common supported version.
Oracle here, SQL Server there, SQL Anywhere somewhere else. Consolidation is possible; the retrieval and driver behaviour is what bites.
Branches made for one country and never merged back. Working out what is genuinely local and what was a fix for everybody is early work.
Screen language, date and number formats, currency handling and collation. We have built for this.
People who need the application from outside a head office network, which is usually where the cloud question starts.
Several countries with different month ends, holidays and quiet periods. Sequencing this properly is half the plan.
Appeon PowerBuilder is the only version still receiving bug fixes and new features. The releases marked LTS are the long-term support versions.
PB2017 PB2017r2 PB2017r3 (LTS) PB2019r3 (LTS) PB2022R3 (LTS) PB2025
Frozen by the vendor, still running businesses. We troubleshoot, work around and stabilise these; what nobody can do is issue a patch to PowerBuilder itself.
6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0 10.5 11.0 11.5 12.0 12.5 12.6 EAServer 5 & 6
Something not listed? Ask us. Between them our team has seen most of what was ever shipped.
Every multi-country programme we have run has been structured the same way: clearly defined phases, each with a deliverable the business can point at, and each priced as a fixed cost against agreed scope so you can stop between them if priorities move.
It is less dramatic than a big-bang programme and considerably more likely to finish. It also means the estimating risk sits with us rather than with you, which is the right way round.
We are one hour behind CET and two behind EET, so our working day overlaps yours almost entirely. Anything beyond that is written into the support agreement rather than quietly assumed.
Yes, and the answer is almost always to phase it. For COWI we proposed a multi-phase approach with defined deliverables specifically so that the client could keep developing and operating while the work went on, rather than freezing everything for the duration.
It is common and it is workable. We have extensive experience with Oracle, SQL Server, SQL Anywhere and mixed estates, including consolidating them and dealing with the driver and retrieval differences that appear when you do.
Our working day is one hour behind Central European Time and two behind Eastern European Time, so it overlaps almost completely with yours. Support arrangements outside that are agreed explicitly as part of the support agreement rather than assumed.
We work in English. What we can do is make your application work in whatever languages your users need, which is a different and more useful thing.
Tell us the PowerBuilder version you are on, the database behind it, which countries it runs in and what is prompting the question. We will give you an honest read on your options, including whether the answer is to do nothing for now. The initial review of your application is free of charge.
Telephone: +44 (0)1293 562730
