A Consultant Who Can Advise, Lead and Still Do the Technical Work
Some Clarion projects need more than another programmer. Management may need an independent technical assessment, a modernization plan, clearer priorities, help coordinating a development effort, or someone who can translate business requirements into a practical system design.
With more than 30 years of Clarion experience, Sheen Consulting provides systems analysis, architecture and design, project planning, technical leadership, implementation guidance and hands-on development when required.
The goal is not to recommend technology for technology's sake. The goal is to understand the business, identify the real technical risks and opportunities, and choose a path that provides measurable value while protecting proven systems and business logic where appropriate.
DISCUSS YOUR SYSTEM OR PROJECT
How We Help Management
Turn technical complexity into clear options, priorities and an actionable plan.
System Assessment
Understand what the organization actually has before making major decisions. We review the application structure, source and dictionaries, database or file system, templates and third-party dependencies, development and deployment environment, known problems, support risks and current business priorities. For inherited systems, this can also establish what is required for a successful developer transition or application takeover.
Architecture & Design
Translate business requirements into practical application, database, integration and workflow designs. That can include deciding what belongs in Clarion, what should live in SQL or another service, how systems should exchange data, and how to structure changes so the solution remains understandable and supportable after implementation.
Technical Leadership
Lead the technical direction, help coordinate developers and keep decisions tied to the business objective. We can review proposed approaches, identify technical risks, resolve design disagreements, establish priorities and help management understand the consequences of the available choices while remaining close enough to the code to verify that the plan is realistic.
Project Planning
Define realistic phases, priorities, dependencies, implementation steps and acceptance criteria. We can break a large migration, modernization, takeover or development effort into manageable stages, identify what must happen first, separate critical work from optional improvements and create a plan that can be measured against actual results.
Modernization Strategy
Determine what should be retained, improved, integrated, migrated or replaced instead of assuming a full rewrite. Mature Clarion systems often contain valuable business logic that would be expensive and risky to recreate. We assess where modernization provides real value — version work, database changes, UI improvements, APIs, web components, reporting or infrastructure — and where proven functionality should simply be preserved.
Hands-On Implementation
Stay involved at code, SQL, conversion and integration level when the project benefits from senior hands-on work. The same person helping define the technical direction can inspect the application, write or review code, work with the database, validate a conversion, troubleshoot a difficult issue or help bring the agreed solution into production. That reduces the gap between consulting recommendations and what can actually be implemented.
From Assessment to Results
A practical consulting process designed to make the next decision clearer.
Understand
Business goals, current pain points and what success needs to look like.
Assess
Application, code, database, infrastructure, dependencies and project history.
Prioritize
Separate urgent risks from important improvements and optional enhancements.
Plan
Define a practical roadmap, sequence of work, resources and implementation approach.
Lead
Guide technical decisions, developers, testing, conversion and implementation activities.
Deliver
Put the agreed solution into production and establish clear next steps and support.
Consulting, Leadership and Development
The engagement can be advisory, hands-on, or a combination of both.
Consulting
Independent technical assessment, requirements analysis, architecture, modernization strategy, project review and clear recommendations for management.
Technical Leadership
Lead or support a development effort, coordinate technical decisions, review progress, manage risk and keep the project aligned with the business requirement.
Hands-On Development
Personally handle difficult Clarion, SQL, data-conversion, integration and application work instead of handing the technical details off to someone else.
When It Makes Sense to Bring in a Clarion Consultant
- Management needs an independent technical opinion before committing to a major project.
- You have a business-critical Clarion system but limited in-house Clarion expertise.
- The original developer is retiring, has moved on or you need a planned transition to a new long-term Clarion developer.
- A project is drifting, stalled, over-complicated or difficult to estimate.
- You need to decide whether to maintain, modernize, integrate or replace an existing application.
- An internal team needs senior Clarion guidance without hiring another full-time employee.
- You need someone who can communicate with management and still understand the code and database.
- A conversion, implementation or modernization project needs stronger technical planning.
Need Something More Hands-On?
If your immediate need is software development or a difficult existing application, the dedicated Developer and Expert pages provide more detail.