What Technology Is Right for You?
ISC has experience in a wide range of applications from latest trends in distributed systems using JINI, Web Services, and .NET to mainframe applications based on FORTRAN and PL/1. ISC has deep knowledge on Unix, Linux, Microsoft, and mainframe environments, their applications and databases. This diversified experience makes us technology neutral and skilled at identifying the best technology for the customer's needs and getting the most value for the customer's legacy, current and future investments.

There is no silver bullet for all IT problems. So, how does ISC determine what is the best technology for the customer's needs?

Customers always struggle with the choice between commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) and custom-developed software. For small to medium size projects, an eighty-percent COTS solution is often the right choice. The marginal increase in functionality to be gained by custom-development may not justify the costs, provided the COTS solution does not adversely affect the performance of the enterprise overall. However, more complex enterprise-wide projects require a close look. The amount of effort necessary to integrate a myriad of COTS solutions can be substantial, and there is no assurance that next generations of COTS software will communicate the same way. Also COTS performance in large-scale projects might be degraded, requiring substantially more maintenance and computing resources.

Customers also fear early obsolescence. Technology is always advancing with the promise of new breakthroughs just around the corner. But, buying new technology early poses significant risks. Will it prove to be a mirage or dead end on the technology path? Is the technology the best choice for the particular situation? Does the technology really improve system performance or user satisfaction?

Too many times a rush to implement the newest and greatest has led to disappointment and much worse consequences. Investments in new technology should be justified by near-term functional enhancements that deliver high near-term returns for the investment or by the need to correct a failure of the current implementation. The best course is to develop, always with an eye to future, systems that deliver high value functionality now and are flexible enough to evolve to incorporate new technology when its value for a particular application is clear.

Today, more and more customers are asking whether open source might be the way to go. The proliferation and maturation of open source solutions has enhanced their credibility. Customers' interest is spurred by their desire to control the high and recurring licensing fees associated with proprietary solutions. Open source solutions can often be implemented with low-to-no costs and, in the hands of skilled developers, they offer assured flexibility for accommodating changes in the customer's needs over time or incorporating future technological advances. However, like COTS, which usually are designed to work in a broad range of situations, open source solutions may not be optimal for any particular situation. Experience is key in evaluating whether developing a custom application based on open source would be worthwhile in the terms of the returns over time.

ISC can provide you answers to those questions, and working in partnership we will help you select the best solution for addressing your immediate needs consistent with your longer term strategic goals.