Since Epiphanys inception, Studio has been the sole tool of choice for configuring the database centric metadata. I would like to propose that Infor CRM Epiphany migrate its Studio functionality to Eclipse, an opensource Java based IDE. I believe that there are many benefits to doing this, most of which will result in increased productivity and centralized configuration and customization environments. Following are some of the many benefits that could be realized:

• Leveraging an IDE such as Eclipse will allow both the configuration of meta and customization of Java extensions in a single environment
• Incorporate productivity enhancements through plugins, by Infor or Independents
  • For example, developing extensions could be a one stop process, registering the extension and creating the class extension stub in one step
• Integrated source control for source control systems such as Subversion, CVS and others.
• Leverage external extensions more suited to visual design such as Wysiwyg editors

The list is extensive and the potential benefit is huge. By creating such a development framework, many of us in the development community could contribute and extend its functionality without draining essential development resources at Infor – who can stay focused on core infrastructure of the platform.