Method and program product for costing and planning the re-hosting of computer-based applications

Abstract

Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for estimating at least one requirement for migrating a computer-based application from a source platform to a target platform. The method comprises receiving identifications of respective migration tasks; correlating base costs to respective ones of said migration tasks; receiving identifications of migration attributes that affect migration cost; correlating cost factors to respective ones of said migration tasks, each of said cost factors indicating an amount by which a migration attribute affects the base cost of a migration task; and estimating a cost for each migration task, by applying the cost factors for each migration task to the base cost of the migration task. The method may comprise, separately or additionally, assigning base time requirements to respective ones of said migration tasks; assigning time factors to respective ones of said migration tasks, each time factor indicating an amount by which a migration attribute changes the base time requirement for a migration task; and estimating a time requirement for each identified migration task, by applying all time factors for the migration task to the base time requirement of the migration task. Also disclosed is a computer-readable program product, comprising computer-readable program code means for executing the steps of the invented method, in a manner readily known to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for estimating a cost for migrating a computer-based application from a source platform to a target platform, said method comprising the steps of: 
 receiving identifications of respective migration tasks;    correlating base costs to respective ones of said migration tasks;    receiving identifications of migration attributes that affect migration cost;    correlating cost factors to respective ones of said migration tasks, each of said cost factors indicating an amount by which a migration attribute affects the base cost of a migration task; and    estimating a cost for each migration task, by applying the cost factors for each migration task to the base cost of the migration task.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein migration tasks comprise one or more tasks chosen from a group consisting of system building, project management, ramp up, baseline testing, migration, system testing, delivery, acceptance testing, sign-off, exporting data, importing data, redirecting user terminals, replacing third party products, and deployment.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein migration attributes comprise one or more attributes chosen from a group consisting of hardware attributes, operating system attributes, application attributes, environment attributes, source code attributes, complexity attributes, and testing attributes.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein source code attributes comprise at least one code metric chosen from a group consisting of number of code lines, number of code modules, number of files, call types, number of calls, data volume, structural integrity, use of lexical functions, and operating system dependence.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising 
 estimating a total cost, by summing the estimated costs of all migration tasks; and    displaying or printing a migration assessment comprising the total cost.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the migration assessment further comprises the estimated cost for each migration task.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising 
 applying tolerances to one or more of the estimated costs and total cost; and    wherein one or more of the estimated costs and total cost comprises a cost range.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the base costs are received from a user.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the cost factors are received from a user.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving at least one assessment type, each assessment type comprising a degree of accuracy for one or more of the estimated costs and total cost.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of creating an assessment template, the assessment template comprising a format for the migration assessment.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 correlating base time requirements to respective ones of said migration tasks;    correlating time factors to respective ones of said migration tasks, each time factor indicating an amount by which a migration attribute changes the base time requirement for a migration task; and    estimating a time requirement for each migration task, by applying all time factors for the migration task to the base time requirement for the migration task.    
     
     
         13 . A computer-implemented method for estimating a time requirement for migrating a computer-based application from a source platform to a target platform, comprising: 
 receiving identifications for respective migration tasks;    correlating base time requirements to respective ones of said migration tasks;    receiving identifications of migration attributes that affect migration time;    correlating time factors to respective ones of said migration tasks, each time factor indicating an amount by which a migration attribute changes the base time requirement for a migration task; and    estimating a time requirement for each migration task, by applying all time factors for the migration task to the base time requirement of the migration task.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein migration tasks comprise one or more tasks chosen from a group consisting of system building, project management, ramp up, baseline testing, migration, system testing, delivery, acceptance testing, sign-off, exporting data, importing data, redirecting user terminals, replacing third party products, and deployment.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein migration attributes comprise one or more attributes chosen from a group consisting of hardware attributes, operating system attributes, application attributes, environment attributes, source code attributes, complexity attributes, and testing attributes.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein source code attributes comprise at least one code metric chosen from a group consisting of number of code lines, number of code modules, number of files, call types, number of calls, data volume, structural integrity, use of lexical functions, and operating system dependence.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising 
 estimating a total time requirement, by summing the time requirements for all migration tasks; and    printing or displaying a migration assessment comprising the total time requirement.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the migration assessment further comprises the estimated time requirement for each migration task.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising 
 applying tolerances to one or more of the estimated time requirements and total time requirement; and    wherein one or more of the estimated time requirements and total time requirement comprises a cost range.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein one or more of the base time requirements are received from a user.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein one or more of the time factors are received from a user.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the step of receiving at least one assessment type, each assessment type comprising a degree of accuracy for one or more of the estimated time requirements and total time requirement.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the step of creating an assessment template, the assessment template comprising a format for the migration assessment.  
     
     
         24 . A computer-readable program product for estimating a cost for migrating a computer-based application from a source platform to a target platform, comprising: 
 computer-readable program code means for receiving identifications of respective migration tasks;    computer-readable program code means for correlating base costs to respective ones of said migration tasks;    computer-readable program code means for receiving identifications of migration attributes;    computer-readable program code means for correlating cost factors to respective ones of said migration tasks, each cost factor indicating an amount by which a migration attribute changes the base cost of a migration task; and    computer-readable program code means for estimating a cost for each migration task, by applying all cost factors for the migration task to the base cost of the migration task.    
     
     
         25 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 24 , wherein migration tasks comprise one or more tasks chosen from a group consisting of system building, project management, ramp up, baseline testing, migration, system testing, delivery, acceptance testing, sign-off, exporting data, importing data, redirecting user terminals, replacing third party products, and deployment.  
     
     
         26 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 24 , wherein migration attributes comprise one or more attributes chosen from a group consisting of hardware attributes, operating system attributes, application attributes, environment attributes, source code attributes, complexity attributes, and testing attributes.  
     
     
         27 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 26 , wherein source code attributes comprise at least one code metric chosen from a group consisting of number of code lines, number of code modules, number of files, call types, number of calls, data volume, structural integrity, use of lexical functions, and operating system dependence.  
     
     
         28 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 24 , further comprising 
 computer-readable program code means for estimating a total cost, by summing the estimated costs of all migration tasks; and    computer-readable program code means for printing or displaying a migration assessment comprising the total cost.    
     
     
         29 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 28 , wherein the migration assessment further comprises the estimated cost for each migration task.  
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 28 , further comprising 
 computer-readable program code means for applying tolerances to one or more of the estimated costs and total cost; and    wherein one or more of the estimated costs and total cost comprises a cost range.    
     
     
         31 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 24 , further comprising computer-readable program code means for receiving one or more of the base costs from a user.  
     
     
         32 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 24 , further comprising computer-readable program code means for receiving one or more of the cost factors from a user.  
     
     
         33 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 24 , further comprising computer-readable program code means for receiving at least one assessment type, each assessment type comprising a degree of accuracy for one or more of the final costs and total cost.  
     
     
         34 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 24 , further comprising computer-readable program code means for creating an assessment template, the assessment template comprising a format for the assessment.  
     
     
         35 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 24 , further comprising: 
 computer-readable program code means for correlating base time requirements to respective ones of said migration tasks;    computer-readable program code means for correlating time factors to respective ones of said migration tasks, each time factor indicating an amount by which a migration attribute changes the base time requirement for a migration task; and    computer-readable program code means for estimating a time requirement for each migration task, by applying all time factors for the migration task to the base time requirement for the migration task.    
     
     
         36 . A computer-readable program product for estimating a time requirement for migrating a computer-based application from a source platform to a target platform, comprising: 
 computer-readable program code means for receiving identifications of respective migration tasks;    computer-readable program code means for correlating base time requirements to respective ones of said migration tasks;    computer-readable program code means for receiving identifications of respective migration attributes;    computer-readable program code means for correlating time factors to respective ones of said migration tasks, each time factor indicating an amount by which a migration attribute changes the base time requirement for a migration task; and    computer-readable program code means for estimating a time requirement for each migration task, by applying all time factors for the migration task to the base time requirement of the migration task.    
     
     
         37 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 36 , wherein migration tasks comprise one or more tasks chosen from a group consisting of system building, project management, ramp up, baseline testing, migration, system testing, delivery, acceptance testing, sign-off, exporting data, importing data, redirecting user terminals, replacing third party products, and deployment.  
     
     
         38 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 36 , wherein migration attributes comprise one or more attributes chosen from a group consisting of hardware attributes, operating system attributes, application attributes, environment attributes, source code attributes, complexity attributes, and testing attributes.  
     
     
         39 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 38 , wherein source code attributes comprise at least one code metric chosen from a group consisting of number of code lines, number of code modules, number of files, call types, number of calls, data volume, structural integrity, use of lexical functions, and operating system dependence.  
     
     
         40 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 36 , further comprising 
 computer-readable program code means for estimating a total time requirement, by summing the estimated time requirements for all migration tasks; and    computer-readable program code means for printing or displaying a migration assessment comprising the total time requirement.    
     
     
         41 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 40 , wherein the migration assessment further comprises the estimated time requirement for each migration task.  
     
     
         42 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 40 , further comprising 
 computer-readable program code means for applying tolerances to one or more of the estimated time requirements and total time requirement; and    wherein one or more of the estimated time requirements and total time requirement comprises a time range.    
     
     
         43 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 36 , further comprising computer-readable program code means for receiving one or more of the base time requirements from a user.  
     
     
         44 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 36 , further comprising computer-readable program code means for receiving one or more of the time factors from a user.  
     
     
         45 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 36 , further comprising computer-readable program code means for receiving at least one assessment type, each assessment type comprising a degree of accuracy for one or more of the final time requirements and total time requirement.  
     
     
         46 . The computer-readable program product of  claim 36 , further comprising computer-readable program code means for creating an assessment template, the assessment template comprising a format for the assessment.