The programming language: Microsoft's .Net. Cascade then started to investigate a development platform replacement initiative from J2EE to .Net.

"Choice of platform is a fundamental decision," said Ric Shreves, Asia-based IT consultant. He noted key issues to consider include the internal process, the infrastructure, the licensing as well as the existing talents.

"When a shop makes a shift from J2EE to .Net, it entails some retooling of the infrastructure, but this is all quite manageable," he said. "Moving up the chain in importance is not only the licensing [and cost] implications, but also changes in the internal processes related to managing the development team and the builds."

The new platform might create lost cycles as the entire department moves to a new platform and struggles with frustrations attendant to changing basic toolsets, added Shreves.

Hong agreed with some of the challenges. Nevertheless, the frustrations involved were worth it for Cascade because of the other pull factors of .Net.