MigraTec, a provider of platform migration expertise and technology, has made available a software utility that enables organizations to quickly conduct an initial assessment for migrating C/C++ Windows applications to Intel’s Itanium platform. Dubbed DART, for Downloadable Assessment Reporting Tool, the DART 1.0 for Windows utility supports any application that was developed using Microsoft’s Visual Studio.

This is the first in a series of DARTs coming from Dallas-based MigraTec. DARTs are small, quickly retrievable utilities for software developers who are considering migrating legacy C/C++ applications to a different operating system or hardware platform. They can use DARTs to get a sampling of the scope and complexity of the proposed migration project. This first DART demonstrates how MigraTec’s MigrationSuite technology facilitates the rapid, accurate analysis and migration of 32-bit Windows-based applications to Intel’s 64-bit Itanium platform. Future DARTs will perform 64-bit and cross-platform migration assessment and reporting for applications running on Linux and AIX 5L platforms, among others.

“When companies consider migrating to Intel’s forthcoming Itanium 64-bit platform, they want to know up front about the scope and nature of this all-important project,” said Curtis Overstreet, chief executive officer of MigraTec. “MigraTec’s DARTs will help them get a snapshot overview of what porting their application will entail.”

Users download the utility (less than 100KB) and run it on the application they want to migrate. The DART will provide the following specific information on the application to be migrated:
* The number of lines of code involved
* The number of files involved
* A sampling of the issues found for a particular migration path.

With this information, organizations can contact MigraTec to obtain a basic estimate of the costs and effort for the migration project under consideration. Organizations can then make more informed decisions when planning for software migration projects.