A regional adult daycare facility was running its resident accounting on an aging MS Access application. Techlancer replaced it with a modern web application — delivering three key wins:
- Improved UI/UX
- Increased user access
- Simpler deployment
Client – A regional adult daycare facility
Problem
Our client is responsible for managing the finances of their residents. Resident accounting works differently than traditional business accounting, so off-the-shelf tools were never a fit — the client needed custom software to handle it.
That software was a legacy MS Access application that had fallen badly out of date. The client struggled with user access limitations and ran into problems deploying the application to computers running newer operating systems.
Solution
Techlancer developed and deployed a modern web application to replace the legacy MS Access resident accounting system.
Results / Outcomes
- Improved UI/UX – the updated web design provides a more intuitive user experience and easier navigation.
- Increased user access – the web application is accessible from any network-connected workstation, as well as tablets and mobile devices, and allows for future offsite accessibility.
- Simpler deployment – the application no longer has to be installed on individual workstations. Once a user is added to the system, all they need to start working is the appropriate URL.
Capabilities Demonstrated
- MS Access Conversion
- Microsoft SQL Development
- Web App Development
- .NET Development
- User Interface Design
- User Training
- Legacy Software Modernization
- Data Accessibility
Overview
The new application provides:
- A modern, intuitive UI
- Easy deployment to new workstations (via web browser)
- Improved future supportability
Legacy Application Code Review
Our team, well versed in MS Access, performed an in-depth review of the legacy system’s functionality. We identified code that could be refactored and reused versus code that would need to be rewritten, scoped how functionality inherent in MS Access would be replaced on a web platform, and laid out a plan for redevelopment.
Development
Our goal was a modern web application that preserved every necessary function of the legacy system while improving on it wherever possible.
With access to the legacy source code and database structure, the team migrated the database schema from the legacy MS Access format to a more powerful MS SQL schema. That same legacy code access let us redevelop the application efficiently and address every edge case along the way.
Testing
Internally, our team ran comprehensive QA (Quality Assurance) in test environments, executing the full scope of daily and monthly processes on both the legacy and new applications to confirm matching, correct outcomes.
We then guided the client through a UAT (User Acceptance Test) process, running the legacy and new applications in parallel for a month. As issues surfaced, our team resolved them promptly and kept the client informed of every update.
Launch and Support
Once our development team and the client were confident the new application was performing as required, the legacy application was uninstalled. Through our ticketing and remote support systems, our team continues to provide support whenever issues arise.
Technologies
- VB.Net
- MS SQL
- MVC (Model-View-Controller)
- IIS