Theses are challenging times for business. I work for software development company that has developed mainly desktop software (Embarcadero C++ Builder) for years (for sales domain). We have had endeavours in the web development, but these were mainly other projects, not the main business line. These days we are having discussions how to proceed. Management proposes idea to find some tools that can automatically convert our code base of (Embarcadero C++ desktop software) into full featured web sales solutions, aka webshop+web based backoffice solution.
Well, I have always been open to the new ideas and challenges, I am committed to work hard and smart, but this is beyond my comprehension. I have proposed integration between existing webshops (open source and closed source) and our system and gradual development of web interface for our desktop system. But management asks for the immediate development of complete web shop solution without any integration of our current existing system. Current code base can only be used for the more or less automatic generation of complete web solution, without any desktop remains.
This seems to be incomprehensible to me, because:
I can't imagine automatic conversion from Embarcadero C++ to PHP/JavaScript (I am exploring options, in no case I am not asking options here), besides, how it will give web frontoffice operations if they have not been here.
If we are developing new web sales solutions, then we should have clear picture, what features we can deliver that are not already in the existing web sales solutions or that can not be implemented as the plugins to existing web sales solutions.
My thinking is that integration approach is the only rational option. What makes me uneasy is - how irrational is the approach proposed by management. But I am ready to cool down and change myself and try to see some rationality in it. I don't know what attitude should I take? I don't know whether the management is complete nonsense or maybe the idea from the management is so smart that I can not comprehend it yet?
I am really, really open to new ideas. I acknowledge that Apple is Apple now because there were people who were not afraid of the most impossible ideas. So, I am having some deadlock and rethinking the whole things that I have known so far.