We have an integrated system (at least is that what we call it), which consists in a front-to-back-office huge C++/VB/MSSQL software that handle every single aspect of the organization.
Several of our existing customers have been asking if its possible to port it to the web in a sexy web 2.0 fashion, of course it also has great value for us since we would have a nicer, fresh, modern product that would allow us to adopt a SaaS model which we believe is great commercially and would surely open many new doors, so we are not trying to convince the customer that this is not a good idea.
But,is the web a place for such app?
If it is should we go for Webtop (mimic desktop) UI or should we go for standard Web 2.0 37Signals like UI?
Which way in your experience would be better for the presentation of such app, and what tools/languages/technologies would you recommend(if any) in your experience that we would benefit from when designing the chosen model.
Keep in mind that the current desktop software is huge, more than 200 SQL tables, 250 forms and something around 400 different reports.
Any insight, tip or advice will be greatly appreciated.
I thank you all in advance for your time, and apologize for the many-part question squeezed on one very long post.
I would suggest that you attempt as best you can to provide a typical web 2.0 light approach to your web design.
To start with, I would create a web-based interface to do the most simple, but most commonly used workflow in your application. Have the production version share the database of your current system so it can be a drop-in replacement, used for convenience on a day to day basis.
Remember, power users will open several browser windows so to simulate an application is redundant. A set of wizards that lead you through workflows (add a client say) and status pages (view client details) would be a great starting point. Emulate as much as possible web 2.0 poster children (i.e Twitter) and use their designs as a free starting point.
Don’t try to do it all at once, just add a nice web front end to your existing system and gradually get support / usage within the organisation.
If you decide to use Django (i.e develop website in python) it will probably support your database out of the box. Configure your settings to connect to the database (follow the tutorial) then run the “inspectdb” manager command to create a python file describing the 200 tables you have. You can then very easily run SQL queries on the DB without writing any SQL by using the Django model system, all in a python command line.