How much new development are they actually doing on the site? It sounds to
me like they have a rather large web application already built and
functional. If they're mainly just doing small enhancements, they're
absolutely right not to scrap it all and start fresh. In general it's not
worth massively overhauling a functional system unless it's needed to
support some new business requirements.
One of the biggest problems I've seen developers run in to is scrapping
their entire code base to rebuild an app from scratch in the newest
technologies. Typically when they do that they lose a lot of functionality
that they had built over time, while at the same time adding a whole new
set of bugs.
I need to implemet new change control procedures, so that we have a
migration path from development to production. They will not be able to
logon
to web servers & make a quick fix.
You should absolutely do this. They should never be making changes to the
production system on the fly. They should also be using strict code
check-in policies.
However, that's not an argument for them needing to change. You can
implement strict testing procedures no matter what languages they use to
build their apps.
If you are asking them to do a massive rewrite you need to have a
convincing business case. The rewrite will be expensive so how will your
busines recoup that cost? Will you save on the cost of new hardware enough
to justify the cost of new development? Finally, you need to convince
whoever makes money decisions that it's worth it. A rewrite will likely be
expensive, so you need to be able to prove to them that it makes financial
sense.
--
Andrew Faust
andrew[at]andrewfaust.com
http://www.andrewfaust.com
"BigSam" <Bi****@discussions.microsoft.comwrote in message
news:B4**********************************@microsof t.com...
>I hope I'm in the correct forum. Please advise if I need to move this
question.
I've a lead developer who insists on developing with classic ASP & VB6.
He &
his team have created an impressive set of web pages, relying to a great
extent on COM+ components. Normally I want to stay out of other people's
hair, especially regarding how they do their job, afterall I don't
appreciate
it when someone tries to tell me how to administer the LAN.
I've been trying to encourage them to migrate everything to DotNet. I've
argued better security capabilities, quicker development time, faster
response time, etc. They say security is my job - thinking it begins &
ends
at the firewall. Don't believe it could be quicker that their current
mode of
development. And argue that if faster response time is needed then I need
to
put the sites on faster servers.
Before I enter another iteration of this discussion, I'd like some
additional arguments. So far I've come up with the following:
New programmers won't want to work with their tools. They may not even
know
how to develop in their environment.
I need to implemet new change control procedures, so that we have a
migration path from development to production. They will not be able to
logon
to web servers & make a quick fix.
Can anyone help me expand my list of reasons to upgrade to DotNet?
Thanks