Case Study
Solano County Integrated Property Systems
Project Overview
Core provided the lead on the migration of the Solano County Integrated Property System (SCIPS), a PowerHouse/HP e3000 legacy system to a new modern .NET based SCIPS running against the Informix database accessed by unix servers. SCIPS is a key county system that services the departments like Assessor/Recorder, Tax Collector/County Clerk and the property tax department of the Auditor/Controller. It is also the key property data resource among diverse local agencies. The idea behind that was to achieve continuity business during the running of business yet facilitating the system to grow, aggregate, and transform as per contemporary IT guidelines.
The Challenge
SCIPS was initially constructed upon PowerHouse, the data stored in IMAGE and flat files on an HP3000. This was an obsolete environment in which it became even harder to sustain, intercept and expand the system. There were also few data structures of relational types which constrained the reporting, and the monolithic architecture needed the expert knowledge and caused significant updates to be not only expensive but also slow. Bringing the Informix into the business of the county included an element of complexity because the technology was not familiar to most systems and personnel. Since SCIPS played a significant role in the property assessment, tax bills and responses to requests of the citizens, the migration could not afford to cause any loss of business operations or discrepancies in the data.
Our Approach
Core began by building a custom Data Access Layer in C# .NET tailored to Informix. This allowed the development team to encapsulate all queries, data transformations, and business rules while maintaining compatibility with UNIX-hosted services. The entire system was re-architected using an n-tier design based on the Renaissance Architect framework, which separated presentation, business logic, and data access into modular components—improving maintainability and scalability over time.
To enable seamless communication between the new .NET components and the UNIX environment, Core developed an SSH Bridge that handled authentication and command execution. This made it possible to fetch real-time data from Informix without needing to maintain a direct connection to the HP3000. At the user interface level, the team replaced legacy PowerHouse screens with ASP.NET web forms enhanced with Ajax to provide a more responsive experience. Users could now perform property lookups, calculate taxes, and view parcel records through a modern browser interface.
Batch processes—such as nightly data imports and report generation—were re-engineered as Windows services running under IIS. This eliminated the need for manual file transfers or command-line scripts, ensuring the system remained up to date with minimal human intervention. To further standardize the platform, Core introduced an XML-based data dictionary that captured metadata such as field names, data types, and validation logic. This dictionary was referenced across all layers of the system to maintain consistency and simplify updates. XSLT and XPath were used to transform this XML metadata into form definitions, validation rules, and documentation, accelerating the pace of development and ensuring that all screens and reports aligned with a centralized model.
The migration followed a phased strategy. Initial testing took place on non-production datasets, followed by parallel runs where the legacy and modern systems operated side by side. This allowed teams to compare outputs, verify data accuracy, and troubleshoot issues without disrupting live operations. Functional areas were cut over one by one, starting with less complex modules like parcel search, and gradually incorporating tax billing and other core services. Load and integration testing confirmed that the new environment could handle concurrent users and public access demands without performance degradation.
Results
The migration transformed SCIPS into a scalable, browser-based application that no longer required terminal emulators or PowerHouse expertise. County staff and public users gained faster access to property records and tax statuses, improving both service quality and internal productivity. With the new .NET-based architecture in place, the system became easier to maintain, patch, and enhance—allowing new features to be introduced without deep legacy dependencies.
The custom Data Access Layer and SSH Bridge ensured secure, real-time communication with Informix on UNIX, while the XML data dictionary unified metadata definitions across the platform. Reporting became more accurate and consistent, and automated validation reduced data entry errors. Most importantly, the entire migration was completed without compromising daily operations, preserving the integrity of tax workflows and public services.
Why It Matters
This project illustrates how a legacy modernization effort can succeed without disrupting essential services when it’s built on a phased rollout strategy and supported by reusable frameworks. For government agencies managing large volumes of property or financial data, the ability to retire outdated platforms like HP3000 while enabling modern reporting, scalability, and public access is a vital step forward. The SCIPS migration demonstrates that technical debt can be eliminated, user experience improved, and future enhancements made feasible—all without sacrificing operational stability.