Public Funding for Querix Limited

The aim of the Database Transformation (DBT) Project is to create and demonstrate an ‘Application Migration’ tool to enable the total remapping between any Relational Data Base Management System (RDBMS). This will make it possible for a database administrator to make any database-dependent application usable on any database technology without changing the application itself. Most significantly, this transformation is achievable irrespective of whether or not the application was designed to use an alternative database technology. Organisations today are under significant pressure to implement effective cost-control strategies without sacrificing growth, productivity, functionality or flexibility. Enterprises that currently support multiple data platforms face issues of inconsistency and higher short-term and long-term licensing and service costs due to supporting multiple RDBMSs. The key aims and objectives are therefore to remove the dependency between an application and its RDBMS thereby preventing technology and vendor lock-in within an organisation’s IT applications. The solution will provide a first to market opportunity with a unique ‘Application Migration Tool’ resulting in the following key innovations: a) DBT middleware that links an unchanged application to its new target RDBMS to ensure all of the required functionality is delivered by the new RDBMS; b) Transformation Management Tool that enables a database administrator to migrate an application from one RDBMS to another; and c) SQL query implementation optimisations that can be introduced as part of the application migration in order to significantly improve performance under heavy loading conditions. As a conclusion, prototype demonstrators will be evaluated to confirm the approach and to ensure that it is capable of handling very large and multiple RDBMS installations. The initial demonstration application will focus on Oracle Financials with a migration to Microsoft SQL Server.