Case Studies

Federal Judicial Affairs

Project Overview

Migrating HP-UX, PowerHouse 4GL, C-ISAM to SQL Server and and Microsoft Web Architecture.

CORE delivered a turnkey migration for the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada (FJA), replacing four legacy systems—CRS, JACS, JLT, and FINPER—that ran on a PowerHouse/HP‐UX platform with indexed and sequential file storage. The new solution was built on Microsoft .NET 2008 and SQL Server 2005, providing a modern, web-based interface backed by a relational database.

Judge's hammer and books on top of a wooden table

The Challenge

FJA relied on four mission-critical applications that had grown costly to maintain and inflexible to extend. Key pain points included:

  • Aging Technology Stack: All four systems ran on PowerHouse under HP-UX, accessing data through a proprietary, file-based system. This setup made reporting, integration, and feature development difficult.
  • Scattered Data: Indexed and sequential file structures prevented efficient queries across systems and limited the agency’s ability to produce consolidated reports.
  • High Maintenance Burden: Patches and new features required specialized skills for legacy code, driving up support costs.
  • User Experience Limitations: Interfaces remained character-based or very basic GUIs, making user workflows slow and error-prone.

Need for a Complete Turnkey Solution: FJA wanted a single vendor to handle everything—from requirements gathering and design to development, testing, training, and deployment—so that they could decommission the legacy environment quickly and without overlap.

Our Approach

Phase 1: Initiation & Requirements Workshop

  • Within the first 30 days, a detailed “User Interface Workshop” brought together business analysts and key stakeholders to map out all functional requirements, data flows, and reporting needs across the four systems.
  • A 30-day initiation checklist was completed to confirm scope, outline high-level milestones, and finalize success criteria.

Phase 2: Planning & Architecture

  • A comprehensive project plan was drafted to cover every aspect—from database design and data migration strategies to development milestones, quality-assurance checkpoints, and cutover tasks.
  • A new, web-enabled architecture was defined: .NET 2008 for front-end modules, SQL Server 2005 for data storage, and a set of Transact-SQL procedures to handle all data-update logic.
  • Conceptual, logical, and physical data models were created to replace the legacy file structures, ensuring that data integrity rules and metadata standards were preserved.

Phase 3: Data Migration & Core Development

  • Legacy data in indexed and sequential files was analyzed, extracted, and loaded into SQL Server 2005. Custom ETL scripts converted and cleansed millions of records, preserving relationships between tables.
  • Business logic originally embedded in PowerHouse screens and batch jobs was translated into .NET components. Transact-SQL procedures were built to replicate data-update operations.
  • Core system modules were developed using the Renaissance Architect framework for .NET: a set of reusable components that accelerated user-interface development, enforced coding standards, and simplified future maintenance.
  • Unit testing and data validation routines ran in parallel, verifying that every record in the new database matched its legacy counterpart and that every business rule produced identical results.

Phase 4: Quality Assurance & User Acceptance

  • Rigorous QA cycles covered unit, functional, and system-integration testing. Test scripts ensured that workflows—such as case creation (CRS), judicial assignments (JACS), legal tracking (JLT), and financial reporting (FINPER)—worked end to end.
  • Documentation for every deliverable (detailed design specs, technical architecture diagrams, installation guides, and user manuals) was maintained in a central repository.
  • UAT sessions with senior executives and operational staff validated that the new web interfaces met performance targets and user-experience expectations. Feedback was incorporated through short feedback loops to refine UI layouts and address edge-case scenarios.

Phase 5: Training & Deployment

  • Customized training materials—including student workbooks, hands-on labs, and PowerPoint decks—were created for FJA’s IT staff. Two separate workshop tracks covered online form design and batch process development using the Renaissance Architect framework.
  • Communication plans kept end users informed about upcoming training sessions, helping to minimize resistance to change and reduce post-go-live support tickets.
  • Network-configuration recommendations and load-balancing tests ensured that the new environment would scale under peak usage.
  • Pre-rollout operational support included mock cutover runs and a parallel live environment for final validation. After the May 2010 go-live, production support teams handled help-desk inquiries and monitored system performance until the October 2010 project closeout.

Results

  • Unified, Web-Based Platform
    All four legacy systems were replaced with a single, web-enabled .NET solution backed by SQL Server, eliminating the need for specialized PowerHouse/HP-UX expertise.
  • Data Integrity & Performance Gains
    Migrated data passed rigorous validation checks, and reporting performance improved—complex queries that once took minutes now ran in seconds.
  • On-Budget, On-Schedule Delivery
    The system went live in May 2010 (Phase 3), and the full turnkey solution was officially handed over by October 2010, with no major cost overruns.
  • Smooth Transition
    Comprehensive training and a controlled cutover minimized disruption. End users adapted quickly to the new interfaces, and IT staff felt confident managing and extending the system.

Why It Matters

Rewriting multiple legacy systems at once can introduce massive risk—lost data, prolonged downtime, and frustrated stakeholders. By dividing the effort into clear phases—initiation, planning, data migration, core development, QA/UAT, and training—this project:

  1. Reduced Uncertainty: Early workshops and technical validation minimized scope creep and prevented late surprises.
  2. Preserved User Productivity: Parallel testing and incremental cutovers meant that day-to-day operations never stalled.
  3. Delivered Future-Proof Technology: A modern, maintainable .NET/SQL Server platform allows for rapid feature additions, easier integrations, and lower ongoing support costs.

For organizations facing a similar web of legacy applications, this case study demonstrates how a turnkey migration—combined with a reusable framework like Renaissance Architect—can transform outdated, file-based systems into a scalable, user-friendly environment without derailing core operations.

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