Reason #10: Rapid Return on Investment (RROI) with Magic vs. Converting to C# 3GL

20 Reasons to Migrate Magic eDeveloper, uniPaaS and Magic xpa to .NET by Upgrading Rather than Converting

Building new software systems for businesses is a critical process and one that must complete in the least possible amount of time. Return on Investment is on the mind of every entrepreneur who has to sign off on a development budget to get new business systems in place that will deliver unique competitive advantage. So in today’s business climate, the emphasis is on rapid return on investment (RROI). The break-even point needs to be achieved at the earliest possible moment. Every cost has to be analyzed against the expected returns to arrive at estimated break even dates. So here’s reason # 10: Rapid ROI. The RROI you achieve with Magic is not possible if you convert Magic eDeveloper, uniPaaS or Magic xpa to C#.NET.  We’ve been talking about it for a long time at Magic. You can achieve ROI in your application development process faster and with greater assurance when using Magic than you can with C#, ASP or Java.  

Application development tends to occur in phases. For our purposes, let’s consider these four phases: Design, Build, Test and Deploy. When the pressure is on to create new business applications on demanding schedules, you need to have all four of these phases occurring almost simultaneously, but traditional computer programming tools do not allow this. All four of these phases require an investment of time, but if you can execute some of the phases in parallel, then you can get to the final destination faster. So with Magic testing isn’t something that happens at the end of a software process, it is an iterative process that occurs throughout the project. For this reason, it may be more useful to think of Design, Build, Test, Maintain not as phases, but rather as layers of the Magic development task. The design layer tends to be front-loaded in the project, but some design occurs while maintaining the program. The test layer tends to be back-loaded towards the end of a project, but using sound iterative design principles, testing definitely occurs throughout the life of the project. Time is money is perhaps a cliché but critical when discussing the ROI of business software development projects for new business systems. (Maintenance is another interesting topic that I will also address separately).

Application Development ROI calculations must put the emphasis on the investment that goes into dollars paid to the developers on the project; i.e. how many developers will it take and for how long? The sooner the project comes to a successful end, the faster the ROI for the project, and the sooner the new business can deploy their new systems and reap the benefits.

The time saved - hence the ROI - using Magic is significant: typically from 4 to 6 times faster than that of other development technologies.

The table at left is based on extensive market research and compares each of the four phases (layers) of the application development lifecycle for 3GLs (Third Generation Languages), 4GLs (Fourth Generation Languages) and Magic. If x, y, z, and w represent the time spent on an average 3GL application for each of the application development phases, research shows that generally 4GLs cut the time in half. With Magic even better time- savings are achieved. The productivity gains shown below are conservative calculations by Magic Software based on interviews with Magic programmers.

In order to achieve rapid ROI, each phase of the lifecycle must not only be completed quickly, but must also have the highest reliability to ensure the fastest payback for the investment being made. 

Magic’s progressive development paradigm allows prototype applications to be quickly and easily created. In fact, the Magic paradigm has often been used to convince venture capitalists and other investors that achievement of a new start-up business’ goals for new business systems is in fact achievable. Without Magic, some businesses might not even “get off the ground.” In addition, the ability to support applications over time despite changing business models, platforms, and standards is inherent in the Magic xpa Application Platform and earlier versions of Magic’s development and deployment technology.

Rapid ROI remains a key critical measure for every business from startups to established industry titans and is often the difference between success and failure. For additional information on how an upgrade to Magic xpa is superior to Magic to .NET conversion please convert here.