RapidDevelopmentPlatform

Transcom's Rapid Development Platform (Enterprise Edition) is a framework based system for developing enterprise level applications at lightning speed. The RDP system allows the rapid adoption of new technologies such as the revolutionary .NET platform from Microsoft by supplying field tested templates coded to best practice standards.

The Rapid Development Platform extracts a databases' schema and then using a set of best practice or user-defined templates generates 70-80% of the code needed in a typical data-driven application for the web or windows in the programming language of your choice. Transcom's Rapid Development Platform shifts developers focus from producing mundane repetitive code to focusing on producing the unique and often complex business logic and business processes required for an application.

The adoption of the Rapid Development Platforms framework based approach reduces the risks and costs associated with development, be you seeking to move to a new development environment, such as .NET, or whether you are seeking to develop simple data driven sites or enterprise level n-tier architecture solutions.

By adopting a frame work based approach the risk is minimized as the code generated is:

Product at a glance
Product type	Application
Target Industry Sectors	All sectors flagged Banking: Commerce: Communications: Education: Food and clothing: Health: Manufacturing: Mining and resources: Research: Transportation: Utilities:
Fault tolerance	General consumer
Innovation indicators	All indicators flagged Business Advantage Breaking new ground Earth shrinking Expanding horizons New Business New Technology Quality of living Social change
Contact for more information	Chris Coleman Chief Technology Officer
Performance indicators	All indicators flagged Quality system Customer support Standards and codes compliance Fully supported product Professionally executed design Real world design Beta tested User benefits New benchmark
Contact for more information	Chris Coleman Chief Technology Officer
Potential indicators	All indicators flagged Wide agency support Structured for growth Global design Identified potential markets Award recognition Successful track record international collaborators
Contact for more information	Chris Coleman Chief Technology Officer

The Rapid Development Platform represents a dramatic breakthrough in the way software is developed. The Rapid Development Platform allows developers to shift their focus away from the mundane repetitive code that forms part of any system and refocus their efforts. 70-80% of the code in a typical data driven system can be automatically generated. There are many code generators on the market, but few allow users to generate their own templates - fewer still in any text based language - and none - to the best of our knowledge - provide n-tier architecture code for .NET in C# and VB.Net out of the box.

By encapsulating in templates either industry best practice, or the coding styles and standards of your organization and best programmer, learning can be greatly accelerated. Junior programmers quickly learn the techniques and practices of the best programmers and you are secure in the knowledge that the majority of the code they produced will be to the same standard as your best programmer. Implementing new programming practices or development platforms, such as .NET can often require a significant commitment and investment by an organization to retraining prior to staff becoming productive. By using best practice templates programmers can be producing functional code from day one, literally learning the language as they build their first system - be that a simple data driven application for the web or as a windows application, or even a complex enterprise level solution in n-tier architecture.

Utilising RDP central knowledge repository of best practice and coding techniques is encapsulated in the templates providing an invaluable asset for organisations. This both protects against knowledge loss when developers leave and provides an essential tool for educating developers as they join an organisation. This will provide all of the benefits that were hoped for from an Object-Oriented approach to development coupled with detailed commented tools for capturing best practice, assumptions, dependencies, coding standards and techniques.

The RDP provides an ideal tool for capturing best practice and communicating that to students seeking to learn software development. This could range from simple development of a data driven web site to an understanding of enterprise software development in n-tier architecture. In particular, given that it is language agnostic, RDP is a fantastic mechanism for training students and practitioners in new languages. In particular, the RDP targets those seeking to move to .NET where it provides industry best practice templates for learning .NET and developing systems in C# and VB.NET. Work is also underway for templates in PHP, Java, Cold Fusion and Delphi.

Using the Rapid Development Platform framework based approach, relatively inexperienced programmers will be able to generate 70-80% of their code to the same standard as your best programmers, in a style that matches your organizations coding and commenting standards, and in a fraction of the time it would have taken to manually produce the code. Templates can be pre-tested so that overall testing time is greatly reduced. Development engagements can be conducted at a much lesser cost and short time frame.

This represents a profound shift in the traditional economics of software development. Not only is the costs of development profoundly altered but the associated risks associated with development are greatly reduced. Organizations are able to buy cheaper resources to do work that normally more costly resources would do. This frees up capital to be redeployed ensuring that IT spend is appropriately allocated in this tight economic environment. Prototypes of new technology innovations can be created rapidly and at a fraction of the traditional cost allowing organizations to quickly and cheaply assess opportunities.

The Rapid Development Platform is testimony itself to the power and performance of the development approach it encapsulates. On the 4th of October 2001 Transcom presented the alpha of the Rapid Development Platform to Microsoft, with an intended product - go live date for the 2nd February 2002. Microsoft stated that they would like us to join them on the Australian Insights Tour, however, the first leg was the 12th November 2001 and the product would need to be commercially ready by that time. Applying the methodologies inherent in the Rapid Development Platform we developed the first commercial version of the product RDP ASP, and literally burnt the first CDs on the night before the first leg of the show. The following week we launched the .NET version of the product and on the 3rd of December 2001 completed the first beta of the Enterprise Edition. The first commercial release of the RDP Enterprise Edition went live on 16th January 2002. Ongoing development of RDP is on a full time basis to cover more features and functionality. By using RDP to keep developing the product we are able to keep ahead of what is happening in the market.

DMR Consulting, a Fujitsu company, asked us to develop a data driven, web based prototype in .NET using C# for a new consultancy practice they were creating. Utilising the Rapid Development Platform - we captured the user requirements at 4:00pm on Monday afternoon and returned at 4:00pm Tuesday to present a sophisticated prototype in C# on a Microsoft SQL 2000 platform. What is more this system was developed using the first beta version of .NET in March 2001.

We successfully bid for a development engagement with the University of Queensland Student Union to create their Online Employment system for students. Utilising the Rapid Development Platform the first prototype of the system was completed over a weekend and the entire system was completed in less than 2 developer weeks with one developer. This site now has thousands of users and the Student Union has been approached to on-sell the site. The site was developed utilising Active Server Pages and a Microsoft SQL 2000. http://www.uqu.uq.edu.au/student_services/employment/

We successfully bid for a development engagement at the Brisbane Institute of TAFE - another leading development firm had quoted 2 ½ months to complete the engagement. Utilising the Rapid Development Platform and one full time developer, we successfully completed the project in a mater of days.

Relate Systems, a Sydney based innovative Software Development group, are early adopters of the Rapid Development Platform, and are utilising it to build a .NET based Call Center for a major retail site. They have brought forward their migration to .NET by approximately six months as a direct result of the Rapid Development Platform. Prior to the availability of this product they had decided to delay migration due to the time and cost associated. By utilizing the Rapid Development Platform they are well advanced in their migration to .NET with no inconvenience to their business, at minimal cost and they now believe they have a competitive advantage.

Queensland Health are innovators in the use of .NET and have established a best practice development environment and team. They have also adopted the Rapid Development Platform as one of their core tools for developing leading edge solutions in .NET. The core .NET team includes an often changing group of developers. The Rapid Development Platform will allow them to encapsulate and enforce their coding standards and techniques in the form of templates and then capture innovations from individual developers who may only have a short term contracts with the department.

Video Online have adopted the RDP as a core development tool and are now building an online Trade Exchange in .NET utilising the C# language. They are using the RDP to create rapid prototypes and then as an ongoing methodology for the development of the system. As with Relate - the Rapid Development Platform has allowed them to accelerate their move to .NET by many months.

Utilizing the alpha version of the Rapid Development Platform this major system is a three tier COM+ based system with a web front end. It utilizes VB6 COM+ data and business services layers connecting to a MS SQL server database via stored procedures. It captures product feedback and provides a workflow based tracking of actions associated with the feedback.

Transcom's new web site - www.rdptools.com was produced on the .NET Platform in C# over a three week period with two developers - both of whom had never before used the .NET Platform or developed systems in C#. This highlights the educational power of the Rapid Development Platform and how quickly development teams can bring themselves up to speed developing real life systems in new technologies. The site goes live on 16 February 2002.

The RDP has been developed using industry best practice coding standards and indeed enforces best practice coding standards for developers using the system. We would like to thank Microsoft who have been actively working with us in the development of the system and have guided its evolution to ensure that it continues to meet industry best practice and aligns with the overall development of .NET. They have also invited us to join the Visual Studio Integration Program so that we can further enhance our offering through integration with the revolutionary Visual Studio .NET.

One of our key areas of focus will be on developing additional templates for each of the new languages being offered on the .NET platform. We are also completing the development of PHP templates and are working on Delphi, Cold Fusion and Java templates.

The Rapid Development Platform represents a dramatic breakthrough in the way software is developed. It has the potential to transform the economic model which underpins traditional development and to accelerate the learning curve and knowledge transfer in the software industry. The Rapid Development Platform also has the potential to raise the bar on the quality of coding used in developing systems by enforcing best practice and coding standards.

Transcom is currently selling the Rapid Development Platform from their own web site utilizing a best practice e-commerce engine that they have developed in .NET. Transcom are also distributing the RDP Enterprise Edition of their software through ComponentSource who are also targeting global sales with a primary focus in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Transcom is actively pursuing the establishment of reseller channels for the RDP across the globe. A Heads of Agreement for a significant reseller in Malaysia and Singapore has been signed. Resellers are also operating in Australia and Taiwan and we are in the process of establishing a reseller network in Europe with the United States of America soon to follow.

Transcom are working with a range of organizations across the globe. They are working with a Taiwanese company on a port to Chinese - including all of the help and support files for the system, this is in essence completed and due for release to coincide with the Chinese release of Visual Studio.NET. They are working with a Malaysian company to develop web based sales support tools.

Discussions are also underway with Malaysia in relation to the Rapid Development Platform being used as a tool to support organisations developing applications for use in MSC, the Multimedia Corridor.

The Rapid Development Platform Enterprise Edition will target all of the above developers. This defines the key markets being pursued by Transcom and highlights to potential growth of the product. To quantify this - a 1% market share would represent between US$25 and US$40 million.

The Rapid Development Platform represents the first step in a revolution in the way software is developed. It has the potential to accelerate the learning process involved in software development and in particular in adopting new programming languages and tools such as Microsoft's .NET Platform. Australia could leverage the product in its educational institutions and software development firms to create a generation of world's best practice programmers.

With the major release of myServices by Microsoft at the end of 2002 and the launch of Visual Studio .NET in February the Rapid Development Platform provides an enormous opportunity for Australia to lead the next wave of evolution of the world's information systems.

Rapid Development Platform

Artificial Intelligence that Powers the Web Enabled World

Transcom Software Inc.
Level 42 Emirates Office Tower
Dubai United Arab Emirates
PO BOX 31303

+ 971 4 3197706

Darren Arnold
Sales and Marketing Operations
Mobile + 971 50 5530732
darren.arnold@transcomsoft.com

www.transcomsoft.com
www.rdptools.com

Intelligent Knowledge Management & Virtual Community
Solutions for the New Economy