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Needs: The US Army has a tremendously demanding recruiting and retention mission. To modernize their approach to this critical function, they sought an extremely robust, automated system capable of supporting a worldwide user community of approximately 3,000. These remote worldwide network users relied on a central database in Washington, DC, but this high-end mainframe platform was incapable of supporting the entire world user demand and the number of simultaneous users had to be arbitrarily limited. SA undertook a series of challenging migration projects, going from mainframe to three-tiered, client/server environments. The goal was to create a phased approach to an open, scaleable system without disrupting operations and reusing/modifying legacy system software wherever it was cost-effective. This new open, client/server environment had to support an unlimited number of simultaneous users and include state-of-the-art interfaces to reduce input errors, speed transaction times and
reduce training time for new users.
Solution: SA has used open technologies and integrated multiple components to modernize the two major software subsystems of the KEYSTONE mainframe system that focused on recruiting and retention functions. SA took two very distinct approaches to the migration of these two complex systems, primarily due to their different ages. The recruitment subsystem required "ground up" reengineering beginning with function definition, object oriented analysis, and system design. The retention subsystem, having been redesigned only four years ago using object-oriented techniques, benefited from an approach that reused some of the existing ADA software modified by SA for platform-specific and database changes. A primary goal of this solution was to minimize any interruption of operations in these mission-critical systems.
Results: SA's custom approach preserving, modifying, and reusing legacy system components where feasible saved the client both time and money. The retention subsystem has been successfully implemented worldwide with feedback that is overwhelmingly positive. The last critical milestone in the revamping of the 20-year-plus legacy KEYSTONE system was the release of the completely reengineered recruitment subsystem, which has included user involvement throughout and has received positive response concerning its ease of use and transparency at every stage of the development process. A software release to comply with Year 2000 concerns was also executed by SA on time, under budget, and without disruption to KEYSTONE users. Through continual upgrades, SA has ensured that the Army's worldwide Keystone system remains state-of-the-art.
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