The client was looking for an offshore partner with an excellent track record and good credentials, who could maintain the core framework used for implementing the FCAPS model (the flagship product of the client), including the proprietary distributed computing model.

Cybage has a very impressive track record of maintaining software systems, yet this assignment was one of the most challenging projects that Cybage had undertaken till date. The main challenges involved were:

1. To be able to understand the existing system that had already undergone about 7 years of development.
2. To setup an environment equivalent to the one at the client's site to facilitate proper testing, and thus, to ensure the delivery of a quality system.
3. The proprietary distributed computing model of the client, though comparable to the current industry trends, was different. This required that all the engineers assigned to this project should have a very good understanding of the client's model.

Since the code-base of the existing system was 7 years into development, Cybage understood that training and hands-on assignments were the only quick methods for our engineers to gain substantial insight into the architecture, design and thought-process behind the framework. To impart this training, a special team from the client’s end conducted a 3-month full-fledged training course on the usage and the maintenance of the framework.

The entire training process was captured on Video, with a view to avoid duplication of efforts to impart the training to new members in the event of either increase in the team size or additions to compensate for attrition.

The strong adherence to the processes followed at the client’s end ensured that the documentation of the design and architecture were intact. Cybage’s vast experience in setting up ODCs for different clients helped us identify and resolve the problems that arise due to the time zone differences between India and the US. The client-side peers and the Cybage engineers had a minimal overlap of 3-4 hours everyday. This was further substantiated by having ad hoc telephone calls.

The easy reproduction of problems, application of fixes and testing dictated that we have a full-fledged network setup within the Cybage network. Since the project involved generating and collecting network-based data, the IS department had to make sure that this project was in a different network, but easily accessible for the engineers to connect to common resources within Cybage.

Since the engineers at the client side and the engineers at Cybage would work on the same code-base, a multi-site ClearCase setup was done. This codebase was synchronized every 4 hours.

• N-tier architecture
• Java applets/servlets
• Proprietary WebServer
• Distributed architecture
• Oracle