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Infogate Online is a leader in software solutions for IPTV,
video on demand, games on demand and education applications over broadband
networks. Infogate's OnDema software platform enables telcos and Internet
services operators to offer on demand entertainment content services such as
video on demand, TV channels, pay-per-view and games on demand, to both IPTV
and PC subscribers with carrier-grade quality.
Business Opportunity
Infogate developed OnDema in C# using the .NET Framework,
supporting Windows® servers only. To drive new business,
Infogate needed a solution that would quickly enable them to offer their OnDema
solution on the UNIX® platform, a
systems requirement for many large telcos and operators.
Decision Process
To deliver OnDema on UNIX, Infogate opted for Java EE™, an
enterprise-class solution that runs on all UNIX flavors. To achieve the same
functionality on both .NET and Java EE, the Infogate development team could
take on the ambitious project of rewriting the application in Java. However,
this option required hiring Java experts and would take at least eighteen
months to complete, excluding the company from significant new business
opportunities. Infogate chose to concentrate on the .NET version of OnDema and
look for a solution to port their existing C# code to Java EE.
Solution
After a short evaluation period, Infogate chose Mainsoft. Mainsoft is a single code-base solution for developing Web applications on
both .NET and Java EE. It is seamlessly integrated into the Visual Studio
2005® IDE, allowing .NET
developers to easily develop and maintain both versions over time. Mainsoft
Professional Services offered a complete turnkey solution for porting
Infogate's application to Java EE in 90 days.
Implementation
For more than a decade, Mainsoft has helped the world's largest ISVs develop
mission-critical applications with Visual Studio development software and
deploy them natively on multiple platforms. Mainsoft has developed a proven
methodology to complete complex porting projects on a fixed-time, fixed cost
basis. Mainsoft and Infogate partnered closely to ensure a smooth execution of
the project.
The OnDema platform is a multi-tier distributed Web application that manages
the distribution of rich content such as TV channels, video on demand,
pay-per-view and games on demand directly to end-users. The application uses
ASP.NET and ADO.NET functionality and contains about 500,000 lines of C# code.
Infogate opted for Tomcat 5 running on Sun Solaris 8 as the target platform.
Using Mainsoft, the original Visual Studio 2005 projects were first
recompiled into Java bytecode, and the resulting Java class files were packaged
into JAR files. Less than one percent of the C# code had to be modified to
overcome inherent differences between .NET and Java EE code and to integrate
with third-party components required by the application.
The second phase consisted of running the application on Tomcat
and executing a complete test cycle to verify the correctness of the Java EE
version. The original .NET version of OnDema was used as a reference. In case
of discrepancies between the two versions, Mainsoft integrated Java
EE debugger was used to track and analyze problems occurring in the Java EE
version.
Conclusion
In just three months, Infogate was able to successfully port their
OnDema platform to Java EE and target new business opportunities in the
UNIX market. By choosing Mainsoft, Infogate has significantly cut
their development costs for supporting UNIX and has enabled its development
team to continue using their Microsoft®-based development
environment for developing and maintaining their OnDema platform on both the
.NET and Java EE platforms.
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