At Mobil Oil one of my many responsibilities is to manage the data migration from our current custom Ingres databases to a off-the-shelf Oracle/Finder database. We use Rochade for all our metadata and mappings. 

We have been using RoAccess for about a year.  Because it has been so useful, we have offered to be a reference for it.  If you are considering purchasing RoAccess, I believe you would very pleased with it and the staff behind it. 

It works and it is easy to use.  We will not need to purchase any  additional concurrent Rochade licenses from Viasoft because RoAccess multiplies the effective number of licenses for concurrent users.  RoAccess has already paid for itself because of reduced license cost and its minimal training and support requirements.  The best part is anyone with Netscape or MS Internet Explorer on their desktop already knows how to use RoAccess! 

The RoAccess technical support staff has been valuable and helpful to us; they are two of the few people who are allowed access from the Internet through our corporate firewall. 

We have created an automated Data Migration Facility to move data from the current database to the new company standard.  Because of the amount of data, and the number of different overseas affiliates who had databases to be migrated, we needed to automate the process.  RoAccess allows our personnel on our Intranet easy access.  It also allows our partnering firms to access the Rochade Repository via the Internet because of  the security RoAccess provides. 

The table/attribute mappings for the source and target databases were initially loaded from scanners and custom loaders into our Rochade Repository.  We then added Job Steps, Transformation and Transformation Types to specify the mappings from the source to the target database. These contain the transformation required when moving the data and the order of processing. 

This Data Migration Facility was written using the RoAccess Applications Development Kit.  So we are using RoAccess to: 

1) build customized applications, 
2) access the data via screens with different groups having different permissions, and 
3) provide path reports to easily show a complete processing list of how attributes are mapped.

We are storing documents along with other Rochade data.  For instance, when we have a particular relational table in the target database that has lookup codes, we can store the document of the codes and their meanings right in the Table Item Type.  This way, we have the data, documentation, graphics and spreadsheets on-line and in one place in the Rochade Repository. 

We found RoAccess to be easy to use and learn.   One of the best features is that it is so fast to use.  One can drill down into the database following hyperlinks so effortlessly, that we can now view our data in its context and understand visually how our data relates to other data.  For routine database applications such as data entry ,display and reporting, most people who access our Rochade Repository rarely, if ever use Autopilot.  Some have never even seen Autopilot. They need very little training on RoAccess because it is intuitive. Autopilot, on the other hand, required too much training and support, and is not very easy to use.  The ability to store application files, like MS Word documents, in "blobs" and then automatically download them and start Word is great. 

The support for RoAccess has been outstanding.   Many times we were consulted before new features were added to determine what features we felt were necessary.  So when the new features were added, we got what we needed.  When there were problems, they usually were resolved by the next day.  This surely beats waiting 6 to nine months to get a release from other software vendors.  We have rarely had problems, though.

We have worked with the RoAccess developers to incorporate certain features that we needed into the standard RoAccess releases.  This way, each time a new RoAccess release comes out, we don't have to add our changes again.   In one case, I created a "Quick Start" set of screens for users who were too lazy to read the on-line documentation and help screens, so they could get started immediately.  I added a button to the RoAccess initial screen.   The RoAccess folks thought it was a good idea, and now it is a standard part of RoAccess. 
 

Sincerely, 

Shellie Luallin 
Application Specialist 
Technical Computing Center of Expertise 
Mobil