The Euro as an IT Challenge

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter introduces EuroSmart and how it can be applied to the Euro Challenge. The chapter also outlines how EuroSmart can be used to assess strategies and analyze the changes necessary for euro processing as well as verify euro-enabled applications.

1.1 Architecture

To understand the architecture of the products within the whole MERANT Revolve Transformation Product Suite, please see the chapter Understanding the Revolve Transformation Product Suite in your Revolve Enterprise Edition Getting Started. This explains which features are contained within which product, and how this affects your use of the different products and options, if at all.

1.2 EuroSmart

EuroSmart provides a complete environment and range of tools for analyzing applications and identifying areas in them that might need modification in order to process euro-based transactions.

EuroSmart has a collection of features and analysis tools for project inventory, application analysis, identifying monetary points of interest and adding them to the project worksheet. These features and tools include:

• Intelligent analysis tools for locating potential monetary items

• Set manipulation facilities for refining the groups of monetary items you obtain

• Analysis tool composition for creating your own tools where the procedure for identifying a particular type of item is complex

• Country-specific configurable analysis tools that encapsulate MERANT local knowledge and provide reliable analysis defaults

• Worksheet facilities for monitoring progress and project administration

• Assessment reports for auditing purposes

• Programming language extensions

• The Revolve database, which enables you to carry out many advanced functions that are not possible from a simple text representation

See the chapter Welcome in your Getting Started for more details about EuroSmart's facilities.

1.3 Applying EuroSmart to the Euro Challenge

The euro challenge is essentially a case of competent IT systems keeping pace with the introduction of European Monetary Union (EMU) and the euro currency unit. The remedy is either to replace each out-of-date system with a new one or, more usually, to modify the source code of each system so that it retains its function when processing euro currency in financial transactions.

When you modify existing source code to process the euro currency unit correctly, you renew the code. This book uses the term renewal to encompass all the work that is required to locate, apply and test all the source code changes when you update an IT system.

EuroSmart has a comprehensive set of facilities that make it ideally suited to the task of identifying areas in your applications where renewal is required. However, it has wider scope than this and can help in the:

• Initial strategic assessment of financial information systems.

• Conversion of financial information systems.

• Validation of a converted financial information system.

The Euro as an IT Challenge