Bring an ageing desktop application into the modern world
Plenty of businesses still depend on a Windows desktop application written years ago in C++, MFC, Visual Basic or WinForms. It works, but it's tied to old Windows, awkward to install and update, and difficult to change. I spent 15 years maintaining a production C++/MFC desktop application used by major players in the oil and gas industry, and I build modern web and .NET software, so I can modernise one without throwing away the business rules that already work.
Sound familiar?
- The application only runs on old Windows, and installing or updating it is a chore
- Staff need to use it from more than one place, or from outside the office
- It's written in C++, MFC, Visual Basic or WinForms, and few developers will touch it
- The original developer has gone and the build or toolchain is barely holding together
What you get
- Modernisation audit: what the application does, how it's built, and the options with costs
- A staged plan to the right modern target: a .NET desktop UI in WPF or Avalonia (Windows, or cross-platform), or a web application, keeping the business rules intact
- Incremental migration, so the application stays usable throughout
- Modern hosting, deployment and backups, so updates stop being a risk
- Documentation and handover
Ways to work together
Every engagement starts with a small, paid, fixed-price first step. That's where requirements are gathered and the scope and cost estimate for the rest of the work are written, so you know what you're committing to.
Modernisation audit
from £1,500
A written report on what you have, the options to modernise it, and a costed, staged plan.
Migration
Estimated in the audit
Delivered in stages, with the application staying usable throughout.
Ongoing care
from £195 / month
Hosting, updates and support once it's modernised, on a monthly care plan.
Common questions
Which desktop technologies can you modernise?
Windows desktop applications written in C++ and MFC, Visual Basic (VB6 and VB.NET), WinForms and WPF, along with the databases behind them, such as Microsoft Access or SQL Server. The audit sets out what can move as it is and what needs changing.
Do we have to rewrite the whole thing?
Rarely, and not all at once. A desktop application that has run your business for years holds business rules that already work. It's usually safer and cheaper to move it in stages, keeping those rules, than to start from a blank page.
What can an old desktop application be modernised to?
It depends on how it's used. Often it moves to a modern .NET desktop interface built with WPF or Avalonia, which keeps the desktop feel while shedding the old, unsupported toolkit; Avalonia also runs on macOS and Linux, not only Windows. Where staff need access from anywhere with no install, it can instead become a web application. The audit recommends the target that fits how you actually work.
How much does desktop modernisation cost?
The modernisation audit starts from £1,500 and produces a costed plan, so you know the cost of the work before committing. The migration itself is estimated in the audit and delivered in stages.
Have you actually worked on this kind of software?
Yes. For 15 years I maintained a production C++/MFC desktop application used by major players in the oil and gas industry, and my own product Lineplate uses a C++ geometry kernel compiled to WebAssembly so it runs in the browser, so moving C++ work to the web is something I do in practice.
Related work
Lineplate
A browser app that turns 3D CAD assemblies into finished technical documentation: hidden-line drawings, exploded views, ballooned parts lists and multi-page assembly manuals, kept up to date when the design changes.
Read the case study Retail · 15+ yearsGallery management and e-commerce for a Scottish art gallery
Online sales, cataloguing and gallery administration for a Glasgow gallery of original Scottish art: around 28,000 artworks from about 500 artists, re-platformed twice.
Read the case studyHave a project in mind?
Tell me what you're trying to achieve, and I'll reply as soon as I can to say whether it's a fit and what the fixed-price first step costs.