PowerHouse and what to do.

[Ken Langendock]

Hello all, I figure I might as well chime in here and
add my $1.00 worth.

I started in Powehouse back in 1986, I love the
product and I do think there is nothing better on the
market for fast development. I have always said you
can code 10 times faster in powerhouse, but you can
also screw up 10 times faster if you don't know what
your doing. I had the luxury of starting out with
Alcan back then and they showed me what NOT to do in
Powerhouse. They tried to make it look like cobol.

What I don't like about the product is it's support
from a Cognos standpoint. I'm not talking about the
tech support, I'm talking about the Company's support.
They let it die. They milked it for every penny they
could (and still are) and stopped working on it. Guys
like Bob Deskin are the brains behind this wonderful
product and without him it wouldn't be as good as it
is now. I would love to here Bob's opinion on which
product we should look at next and why, but being a
Cognos employee, I'm not sure it COULD be as unbiased
as possible (Bob do not respond to this comment here).

The reason I'm in the process of learning another
language is because I am sick of run time licences.
None of the other 'popular' languages charge for
runtime. I understand they are in the business of
making mony but please....Crystal doesn't charge for
Runtime (at least as far as I know)

Anyways enough whining.

For those of you who are faced with the migration
issues. Here is my plan based on converting numerous
clients. It is a slow methodical approach. But it
works.

1) Convert your app to Powerhouse NT or Powerhouse for
UNIX. This may seem like a waste of time (and money)
but you still retain your peoples valueable skills,
knowledge and trust. I built a system to run on HPix,
VAXvms, UNIX and now NT without having to change any
code (after the initial install), all the code that
touches the operating system is contained in once
area. This will get you off your current platform and
onto a more inexpensive/acceptible platform (in upper
managements eyes).

2) Convert your data to SQL Server or Oracle (on UNIX
if you have a lot of data). This gets you into more
up-to-date database technologies. This starts your
staff on the path of learning new valuable stuff and
completes your migration from your existing platform.

3) Pick a new Language to start migrating too. I am
curently learning Java (because it is free) and HTML.
Every user on the planet will know how to use a web
browser sooner or later. I'm not promoting
PowerhouseWeb here. I still have a problem with Cognos
trying to charge me for setting up a service bureau. I
want to build an app that can be used by many
companies, but Cognos wants a piece of my pie here and
I'm not happy with that.

For those of you in remote areas, my suggestion is to
stop worrying about hiring staff locally. I am a
contractor and have clients all over the place. You
can be supported remotely with only one or two
internal people. I do most of my development on a PII
laptop. It has everything I need and can run most
peoples apps on it. Today you don't need to be in
house to be productive.

Ok now here is my sales pitch.

IF you need help migrating from one platform to
another, I can help you. for the most part you can
send me the source code from your app via email or CD
and I can estimate how long to convert it. I'm not
doing it for free but I will give you a detailed
breakdown of the costs.
My suggestion would be to let me convert the app and
your team work on converting the database.

I appologise to anyone that may be offended with this
plug, but I see too many Powerhouse clients in the
same predicament and nobody helping them make the
decission on how to do it. 

Upper management is NOT happy with the suggestion to
scrap everything that they have spent so much money on
in favour of an entirely new TOY. If you migrate
methodically, you will get the support you need.

Ken Langendock
ken@langendock.com