>>>Thanks Craig.
>>
>>Alex,
>>
>>You will need to learn a new language, new tooling, and different architectural patterns from VFP. This is a very high risk project you are undertaking. You should contract or hire people who know the new stuff.
>
>You are right. We are considering alternatives. We may hire a technical director for the project who is very very capable with the chosen tool or tools, to design the application infrastructure, classes, etc for us according to our specs. Meanwhile we act as the client and learn to use the tool well.
>
>Right now we are listening to opinions about which tools to use. I can say that the initial contenders are .NET and Ruby on Rails.
>
>Alex

Alex,

I would seriously ask you to look at SAAS platforms like
* Windev
* Servoy
* Lianja

I can't see why the two "you still have to do everything yourself" tools would help you much. You still have to build up things like user management, security, ORM, transaction processing, audit trail, and deal with tremendously difficult tasks like cross platform, cross browser compatibilities. It can make the difference between spending 5 years or 5 months.

I certainly would not make that mistake. I'd choose a tool that would take away those concerns and let me concentrate on the business side of things and not get stuck in non-trivial stuff that comes out of the box in another tool.

Walter,