Code migrations

The Gnar Company can. Running old and new side by side is how we run a code migration. Your team keeps using the old software while new parts take over one at a time. Each switch is tested first, and it can be undone until the old part is switched off. For the AARP Foundation, the old tax tools kept running while we built their replacements.

One part at a time. A monolith is one big application where everything is built together. The Gnar Company reuses code that still works where it can. Then we clean up or rebuild each part, with automated tests along the way. A part goes live only after it is tested. Until the new part has passed its tests, the old one stays in place, so you can switch back.

Refactoring means cleaning up code you keep, without changing what it does. Rebuilding means replacing a part with new code. Replatforming means moving a whole system onto new servers and tools, and deciding what to move, update or retire. Gnar’s code migrations cover the first two, one part at a time. Our replatforming service covers the third. The free code audit shows which one you need.

The service has three parts: a free code audit, a fixed-price plan, and the work itself. Legacy software means old software your business still runs on. The Gnar Company reads your code and ranks the risks. Then we clean up the parts worth keeping and rebuild the ones that cost more to fix than to replace. We move them over one at a time. Senior engineers, all in the U.S., write the code. The code stays yours, with written notes so your team can take it over.

It depends on the code, and the free code audit tells you. A framework is the set of building blocks your software is written on. Out of support means its maker no longer sends fixes for it. Gnar builds with React and Ruby on Rails, two widely used tools for building web software. We rebuilt the AARP Foundation’s 14 tools on them.

Builds are typically $150,000 to $300,000 or more, at a price fixed before work starts. The Gnar Company starts with a free code audit. Next comes paid planning, called Gnar Discovery and Design. Its fixed price is $15,000 for two weeks, $20,000 for four or $30,000 for six. It ends with a plan and a fixed price for the build, whether or not you build with us. If the work costs more than the fixed price, we pay the difference.

If it breaks before the old part is switched off, you switch back. With Gnar, the old part stays in place until the new one has passed its tests, so your team can use it while we fix the new one. Every build also carries a guaranteed outcome, meaning the software works as specified or we fix it. It also carries a twelve-month bug-free warranty.

Where possible, your data stays where it is. With Gnar, your old database can stay the one place your records live. The new code reads and writes that same data. That way, switching a part back does not mean moving records back. When data has to move, we move it. We moved 500K+ rows of data off the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care’s old background check system.

Access to your code. If you want, The Gnar Company first signs an NDA, which is a privacy agreement. Where nobody wrote down how the code works, we work it out from the code itself. You get back a ranked list: the risks, the easy fixes and your realistic options. It can also come back saying your code is fine.