Switching solvers may seem like a daunting task, but it's typically quite straightforward. New customers regularly tell us that switching was easier than they expected, and that they are happy they made the switch to Gurobi. You'll just need to learn a few simple concepts to get started.

On the Gurobi Product Overview page, we mentioned four things we do to make it easy to get started with Gurobi:

• provide a wide range of interfaces so you can work in the environment you are most comfortable with
• keep the interfaces simple and intuitive to reduce your learning curve
• include Quick Start and Reference Guides, and Video Overviews on using the Gurobi Optimizer
• include support for both MPS and LP file formats

On this and the related switching from CPLEX™ and switching from XPRESS™ pages, we'll share some steps and information to help make migrating models to Gurobi as easy as possible.

Three Steps To Migration

No matter what programming language you use, you'll need to consider three points when starting a migration effort:

1. Building the model: How do I build my optimization model? Do I build it one constraint at a time, or do I build an entire constraint matrix?
2. Setting solver parameters: What solver parameters do I change? What effects are these changes intended to produce?
3. Computing and extracting the solution: Am I looking for an optimal solution, or just a good feasible solution? How do I extract the solution produced by the solver? Do I extract the solution one variable at a time, or do I extract the entire solution vector?

We'll discuss each of these points in more detail on the switching from CPLEX™ and the switching from XPRESS™ pages.

Additional Resources

We've created a Model Migration .pdf where you can review with information on:

• Migrating model files
• Switching to Gurobi from within a modeling language
• Porting existing code (covers both matrix- and object-oriented code)
• Setting Gurobi parameters
• Some additional advanced concepts

In addition, the following may be helpful as you look to migrate from CPLEX, XPRESS, or another solver to Gurobi:

• The Parameter Reference section of our Reference Guide.
• The examples we provide for each of our supported interfaces described in our Example Tour.
• The Tuning Gurobi Performance presentation.

We're Here To Help

While we can't do the migration for you, we're happy to answer questions. If you like, we can also put you in touch with external consultants who can directly assist with your migration. Contact us at your convenience.