ArtinSoft, Gizmox Team to Migrate VB6 Apps to the Web

ArtinSoft, a provider of automated software transformation technology, and Gizmox, a developer of the Visual WebGui rich Internet, cloud application development platform, have announced a new strategic alliance to provide migration services for moving Visual Basic 6.0 applications to DHTML, Silverlight 3, and the Windows Azure platform.

This alliance introduces a new alternative for enterprises looking for a way out of legacy VB 6.0 applications, providing both long-term savings by moving to a rapid application development framework provided by Visual WebGui, and a quick upgrade path by performing the migration with ArtinSoft's migration tools and services, the companies said.

This new offering enables customers to move Visual Basic 6.0 or Microsoft Windows Forms applications to a Web-based environment, saving deployment, remote access licenses, and infrastructure costs, as well as adding flexibility by allowing the choice between DHTML, Silverlight, or cloud-based user interfaces at the switch of a button.

Indeed, customers will be able to keep the rich user interface normally associated with desktop applications, and have the advantage of providing a streamlined deployment experience and enhancing the productivity of their development resources.

"Microsoft is pleased to support the new partnership between ArtinSoft and Gizmox," said Steve Sklepowich, director for Silverlight at Microsoft, in a statement. "This partnership will equip developers and businesses with the tools they need to cost-effectively move their Visual Basic 6.0 and Windows Forms applications to Silverlight 3, enabling a new class of rich Internet applications on the Web."

ArtinSoft's flagship automated tool, the Visual Basic Upgrade Companion, will be used to transform the VB 6.0 legacy code into .NET code that will run on the Visual WebGui platform. Once in .NET, the application can be easily ported to the Web using the Gizmox Visual WebGui platform.

"We are excited to enter into a partnership with ArtinSoft that finally brings customers running legacy Visual Basic applications an e-2-e solution that wasn't available before," said Navot Peled, CEO and founder of Gizmox.

"This is a great opportunity for enterprise customers to move their application away from the desktop and make them available without deployment limitations," said Roberto Leiton, ArtinSoft's CEO. "It is something the market has been requesting for a while, and the combination of the Visual WebGui platform with our migration expertise is the best value proposition for our customers."