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Top 7 Pillars to Accelerated Software Development

Truly effective software development doesn’t happen by chance. It’s the result of planning and careful adherence to a sound methodology. Surround has the highest expectation for the software that we develop. With highly skilled and advanced developers and all that is possible in software today, it, as you can imagine, was a substantial challenge to fully define these expectations.

Through the process we identified hundreds of attributes that needed to be a part of our blueprints. But, ultimately, as we do with everything, we identified patterns in those attributes and created very clear and easy to follow principals categorized into what we now call the 7 Pillars to Accelerated Software Development.

1. Productive User Experience

A great application helps users succeed in the easiest and fastest way possible. Impact the productivity of application users and you impact corporate profitability, every day. Applications built with Accelerator have modern and consistent Windows desktop and multi-device web browser and mobile productive user experiences that are easy to learn, highly efficient to use, increases user accuracy and enables productive multi-tasking.
2. Methodology and Standards

Established standards and structured methodologies are the guidelines to developing software responsibly and effectively with short- and long-term considerations for both the user and other developers that play significantly to the return on investment and ongoing total cost of ownership.

Accelerator’s configurable factory style development guides and accelerates the developer, without limiting or restricting them. It provides standardized and optimized architecture, frameworks, controls, template generated code, a proven step-by-step methodology and simplifies maintainability and enhancements all through an incremental and repeatable process.

3. Software Design & Architecture

Creating a well-defined agile software design and architecture will enable developers to spend more time on innovative business functionality and less time on the underlying technology. It will enable the business to adapt quickly to changing technology shifts with lasting software and low total cost of ownership.

With Accelerator’s code generation wizards you create and change all the layers of an application: Rich desktop Windows and web interfaces, mobile interfaces, business processes, business logic, web services, data access, reporting and batch processes. You get robust architectures that support your core business and applications that scale to millions of users.

4. Developer Efficiency

Making developers as efficient and effective as possible is essential. It allows software to be developed faster and at lower cost, makes more applications viable, and delivers greater impact on the overall business. Accelerator is the pinnacle of developer productivity allowing IT to shift the time typically spent on hand-tooled plumbing of code and maintenance to new business specific innovative software development.

With Accelerator you can create prototypes in minutes, generate applications in hours and full production ready systems in a matter of days. Accelerator eliminates non-business specific development with pre-built architecture and wizard generated functionality including 100% of your Create, Read, Update, & Delete (CRUD). It centralizes reusable loosely coupled business functionality, slashes testing and troubleshooting time, simplifies changes, and eases developer learning curve while delivering commercial quality software.

5. Application Interoperability

Competitive pressures, partner demands, strategic initiatives, mergers and acquisitions, and more add levels of complexity and technologies to an already growing array of disparate systems. Today’s software must be open and agile enough to pull them all together.

Accelerator has this agility built-in so that it can connect and adapt to changing needs. And not just API calls either. Integration at many levels. From the simplest of Web Service calls, to incorporating other software applications into a single composite user interface, to plugging all or parts of your systems into other applications. You can integrate across applications, like MS Office, by plugging them into your composite desktop or your system into theirs. You can provide seamless application to application communication interfaces as well as configure, monitor and manage secure access to your system and data

6. Reusable Modular Software Snap-ins

Work smart and develop reusable software modules that can be shared across applications, divisions, and companies. Don’t reinvent the wheel over and over.

Another of our mantras is “Reuse, Reuse, Reuse”. That should apply from the smallest control to entire applications. That’s where Accelerator’s modular architecture plays such an important role allowing developers to easily snap in other software.

Surround even offers a growing portfolio of pre-built software that is ready to use. Security and Options provide control and administration of your system, remarks and properties/codes provide extensions to your data, document management provides ability to attach and retrieve information related documents, skins and themes enable modules to tie in consistently across multiple systems, and the modular framework enables plug and play integration in an App-based world.

7. Leverage Existing Software Assets

Reengineering existing software can be incredibly difficult and wasteful. Don’t rebuild it unless it is cost effective or business demands that you must. However, you can breathe new life into the aging assets and repurpose the technology into newer applications.

Accelerator can masterfully integrate existing IBM i, System z, Windows and web applications into new more advanced composite software, repurposing the full functionality. You can orchestrate & reface green screens into encapsulated modern snap-in business functionality and utilize core business functions by calling existing programs directly. You get application integration that combines every system you have into one seamless user experience.

Accelerated Software Development is within reach!

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