SQL Database Migration for a Payroll Application

Project Solution

A revamped payroll application with an enhanced workflow experience.

Overview

The Client specializes in easy-to-use payroll solutions and engaged INNERLUXES to restructure its existing application to enhance the overall workflow experience. The Client employs certified payroll professionals, licensed insurance brokers, household employment tax experts, and CPAs. The restructuring had a few objectives: INNERLUXES modernized the previous system and replaced the previous Evolution API (retaining the same process in the new application), replaced the previous Firebird database with a SQL database, and identified available utilities to merge the utility processes into the new application.

The Process

INNERLUXES developed a web application used as a web portal so different users could access their employee tax and payroll data. Roles were differentiated between client employees, partners, clients, and general employees, and the application lets users update or create payroll-related data, access their tax documents, and upload multiple required data for their companies. The Client's employee working as an admin can manage all data at the top level.

Through the SQL database migration, INNERLUXES integrated the web portal for partners, clients, and employees. It migrated stored procedures from Firebird to SQL, replacing keywords supported by Firebird but not SQL; identified triggers whose functionality SQL Server supports as default functions and removed those triggers from the SQL script; identified inline queries within the DEMS application and created corresponding stored procedures; and built ETL so the data of all tables could be migrated from Firebird to SQL Server tables — all while keeping the same user interface to maintain the existing application's cohesive look and feel.

The migration transferred the application onto a SQL server — a collection of tables storing structured data (dates, names, dollar amounts, numbers) — offering robust features, high performance, scalability, and integration with Microsoft products, suitable for enterprise-level applications with demanding requirements.

The Impact

• A restructured, modernized payroll application with an enhanced workflow experience.
• The Evolution API replaced and a SQL database introduced in place of Firebird, with utility processes merged into the new application.
• A web portal with the DEMS application efficiently migrated from Firebird to SQL, ensuring a safe data transfer.
• High-performance features and scalability from SQL Server, well-suited to the Client's growing employee base.

Technologies and Tools

Visual Studio 2017, .NET Framework 4.6, jQuery, JavaScript, SQL Server, Firebird (migration source), Evolution API, ETL.