Aranei is a business process information management system. It is specifically designed to facilitate an existing business process by serving information, instead of forcing a client to redesign a process to serve a system. Aranei is built on open-source components and open web standards, so your data is always under your control both now and in the future.
Why Aranei?
Many Small and Medium Sized businesses in the medical (IVF/ART) and pharma (GxP) domains have started with a small number of partners/employees yet have soon grown into a multi-department operation.
During such growth sprints, IT systems are often introduced as part of an equipment procurement package.
Also the use of spreadsheets, in-house developed local databases (MS Access) or traditional client-server applications are very common in these circumstances.
This way of working can quickly reach a turning point where blocking or conflicting parallel actions by users start to increase the margin of error in operating the system. Client-server apps have a limited lifespan in terms of supplier support which is caused by the buildup of technical debt (outdated dependencies, network protocols being updated, etc.). Monolithic client-server applications especially offer very little functionality to other applications to tie into their business logic and perform direct data operations or other forms of integrations. After a while workarounds and errors start to pile up (i.e. sorting on wrong columns, references no longer existing, changes in directory structure break links between sheets/exports, etc.).
Every (ICT) system will at some point come to the end of its lifecycle. Whether or not forced by ongoing technological developments that no longer merit mitigating technical debt or simply because of its functionality no longer being considered fit for purpose for the requirements of the end users.
The challenge of maintaining meaningful (semantic) access to data and functionality of legacy systems is increasingly becoming a burden for any organization, not only on ICT departments, but also on QA departments and end-users.
Risks to cybersecurity incidents/attacks on outdated systems; increasing cost of maintenance because of lower availability of technical staff and tools to further develop an aged system, are just a couple of many reasons why it is unfeasible to keep applications/servers operational beyond their lifespan, even if technically possible.
Your data always under your control both now and in the future!
SOLUTION: ARANEI
Aranei is a web-based relational-database-driven system which has been in development and use for the past decade. Its precise goal is replacing the spreadsheet or legacy client-server applications but achieving this replacement without altering the process or the information structure. This improves the overall reliability and accountability of the data migration and operational use of the system.
Migrations are costly and complex. Keeping the same schema/structure between source system and archiving solution, or using the notion of a controlled copy, is a much less cumbersome approach, as a one-on-one data verification can be performed. This ensures full access to the data in its original context, using the existing metadata about the data model to define the UI elements like data tables, dashboards, reports, etc.
Client organizations can still use the information within the app in the structure and processes they are accustomed to.
BUSINESS VALUE PROMISES
- Speed of implementation through a standardized process, from project start to initial import within 4 weeks
- Predictable costs through modular components
- Data and application functionality under the client’s own control
What are current problems faced by many organizations?
| Problems | How will Aranei solve these problems? |
| The use or support of legacy systems that do not have an upgrade/maintenance path anymore (end of life/support) but cannot be decommissioned because of their critical role within the (client) organization. | By cloning the existing data/information model structure and the existing functionality into a state-of-the-art application platform. |
| Legacy applications are often impossible or very difficult to use on tablets or mobile devices. Spreadsheets, client-server apps were never optimized for such use cases. Additionally, locally installed apps are not easy to access off-premise without adding additional layers of security measures like VPN logins. | Aranei instantly offers a responsive web User Interface (UI) which immediately enables both mobile device usage as well as remote access to the information within the system. As Aranei is web-based and can be hosted in the cloud, external access is easily provided. However additional security measures (VPN access, TLS client certificates, etc.) can still be applied if the client requires so. |
| The use of systems that can, by themselves, not exchange information with other systems in a standardized and open methodology. | Importing and exporting data is possible from and to a broad range of technologies including other databases, spreadsheets, web-services, REST APIs, etc. |
| Not being able to collect data in a centralized place for easy comparative analysis. | Aranei combines and correlates information from diverse sources into a single application platform. |