Recently, Business Computer Design (BCD) performed an iSeries Web development tool customer satisfaction survey called "Snapshots in Productivity." Hundreds of iSeries professionals have selected BCD's WebSmart Web development tool, and the purpose of the survey was to ask 10 questions to find out what motivated them in their decisions. They were asked about their selection process, the other tools they considered (including IBM's WebSphere), the types of apps they had created, and more. The feedback generated by this initiative has given BCD as well as new iSeries Web development tool prospects a better sense of how the marketplace views WebSmart and other current Web development tool options.

BCD has posted the results of the survey on its Web site, and these pages have become among the most frequently viewed on the site. This article highlights excerpts of surveys from four organizations: Canadian Kawasaki Motors, DeSoto County Government (Mississippi), LAMPS PLUS, and Hickory Farms.

The computing environments of the companies that were queried in this survey vary greatly. These organizations range from a very large worldwide vehicle manufacturer to a rapidly expanding county government in Mississippi. In these organizations, WebSmart is running on AS/400 and iSeries machines ranging from 170s to 12-way 820s, and a variety of applications are integrated with it. The IT professionals contacted have titles ranging from Lead Developer to Vice President of Information Systems.

Additional questions asked of WebSmart users during telephone interviews included what products they evaluated before selecting WebSmart, what types of applications they had developed with the product, what WebSmart training was required, why they chose iSeries or AS/400 computers to serve their Web applications, how they'd describe the quality of BCD's technical support, and finally, what grade they'd assign to the WebSmart product and the efforts of BCD.

Canadian Kawasaki Motors

Survey participant Canadian Kawasaki Motors markets and services motorcycles, ATVs, jet skis, and other products manufactured by Japanese parent company Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Canadian Kawasaki's computing environment is based on an IBM Model 810, an internally developed ERP system, and J.D. Edwards/PeopleSoft financials. Programmer/analyst Thierry Gosset has developed a Web-based ordering and communications system for 250 Kawasaki dealers throughout Canada. These WebSmart-based systems allow dealers to order parts, inquire about vehicles, register new vehicles, send warranty claims, and do virtually all the things necessary to support the products they sell.

Gossett says Kawasaki selected WebSmart after looking at IBM's WebSphere and WebFacing offerings. When it comes to Web application development tools, i5 and iSeries users have lots of options, but it seems that people find some alternatives much more acceptable than others. Regarding WebSphere, Gossett says, "...training and development would have taken a long time." Asked if any WebSmart training was necessary, he comments, "No. I talked to a support person over the phone. He showed us how to build an application based on a template. After that, we were on our own. It didn't take us very long; I would say a day." Gossett adds that site traffic varies based on the season. "In early spring and at the end of summer, it's very busy. Our 720 was close to 80 or 90% of capacity. The Web site pushed us over 95%." He adds that the heavy use by dealers of the WebSmart-based systems required Canadian Kawasaki Motors to upgrade from an AS/400 Model 720 to an iSeries Model 810. The need for the upgrade, says Gossett, "...wasn't because of WebSmart; it was because of dealer utilization."

Gossett, an RPG programmer by trade, says WebSmart's high points include easy accessibility of its user interface and user friendliness. "The functions are similar to RPG functions. We spend the most time making the pages look good, but for all the background processes, it was pretty simple."

DeSoto County Government

DeSoto County is situated at Mississippi's northwestern corner and encompasses 478 square miles where agriculture and manufacturing are thriving industries. Its population in year 2000 was 107,199 and has grown by 57% since then. DeSoto ranks as Mississippi's fastest growing county and is the 39th fastest growing county in the United States. The county government seat, situated in Hernando, houses the offices of tax assessor, sheriff, accounting, GIS, IT, and many others. DeSoto County's IT department uses an IBM AS/400 Model 170 with a large percentage of internally developed applications and extensively modified third-party applications.

Initially, Larry Wood, the county's IT director, was approached by the tax assessor, who wanted a Web site to serve the residents of the county. "The assessor's office got nonstop phone calls all day from people closing on houses and that kind of thing," says Wood. To ease the workload in the assessor's office, inquiry applications were written to make public data easily accessible. "The site offers tax appraisal information, land records, voter registration, board of supervisors meeting minutes, and agendas. Much of it accesses AS/400 database files," says Wood.

Why host a Web site on the AS/400? Wood's response to this question is clear: "Anybody who wants to do a Web site needs to do it on an AS/400. Our site has been out there for two years, and it's never had a hiccup, whereas all of our PDF images are stored on a Microsoft server that has gone down three times because it's susceptible to viruses and all kinds of stuff."

When asked if he looked at other solutions, Wood said he considered Lotus Domino but not WebSphere because of the cost. On WebSmart, Wood says, "I went to BCD's Web site, downloaded it, and it started to work immediately. These guys have their act together. And compared to the alternatives, ProGen WebSmart is a very reasonably priced product."

Wood has gotten lots of positive feedback on DeSoto County's Web site so far. "We get really good comments on it. The tax assessor called me the other day and passed along compliments that he got."

All respondents from every company that BCD spoke to said they have WebSmart factored into their ongoing plans. In Desoto County's case, more work is being done to ease the burden on the assessor's office. "I'm working on a new application that will let people find out how much their car tag is going to be. Now, the tax assessor's office gets bombarded with requests from car dealers."

LAMPS PLUS

Since LAMPS PLUS first opened its doors in 1976, it has become the nation's largest specialty lighting company. LAMPS PLUS, headquartered in Chatsworth, California, currently maintains 40 stores throughout the western United States and over one million square feet of inventory space. To manage its inventory and serve the five million customers who shop at LAMPS PLUS every year, the company uses an IBM iSeries Model 820.

Application development efforts at LAMPS PLUS don't include green-screen UIs anymore, according to Chuck Ackerman, VP of information services. I got my first application up in two hours. It is very easy to use. It looked polished right out of the box and was running with a sub-second response time in only a few days. By the end of the second day, I created the purchase order for WebSmart."

Ackerman and his team looked at several alternatives before settling on WebSmart. "I looked at WebSphere, but it's costly and cumbersome to maintain. The CPW rating just to bring up WebSphere was more than our whole AS/400. I also looked at CGIDEV2 and actually created some pages using it, but it's very labor-intensive from a programmer's standpoint.”

WebSmart is designed to be easy for RPG programmers to learn. In all cases, respondents to the Snapshots in Productivity survey said the RPG skills that they and their colleagues had translated very well to Web development in WebSmart. Says Ackerman, "I have six programmers using it. No special skills were necessary."

Most organizations measure the value of an investment by how it benefits their customers, improves internal processes, and saves the organization money. Having considered WebSphere as an option, Ackerman says this about WebSmart, "It saved a lot of time because WebSphere is hard to administer, and we saved money because we didn't have to upgrade the machine. I was afraid we were going to kill the system with WebSphere."

Ackerman summarizes his experience with WebSmart on a high note, saying, "I had a great experience. We really enjoy this product. I tell lots of people that all the time. It makes it easier from a programmer's standpoint to make sure that valid data is put in by customers and salesmen. We use drop-down lists instead of letting end users enter any item."

Going forward, Ackerman says he will use WebSmart for any new interactive programs. "WebSmart is core to our future. All new interactive programs will be programmed exclusively in WebSmart. Everybody loves it. The metaphor of a browser is much easier to understand."

Hickory Farms

Privately held, Ohio-based Hickory Farms is the nation's premier specialty food and gift retailer. It has grown into a nationwide network of company-owned and franchised seasonal stores. Resident on Hickory Farms' AS/400 Model 720 is SSA Global Technologies' BPCS supply chain and order processing software, Infinium's HR and payroll applications, and other systems.

Gary Stewart, Hickory Farms' AS/400 applications development and support manager, explains that after an onsite training class, he and his team developed a kiosk management system for the organization's retail group. This was to accommodate the exponential growth in demand for Hickory Farms products that starts in the fall and runs through the holidays. "A large part of our business is seasonal. We are starting to open over 700 stores for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, and these stores have kiosks. We are getting orders in all the time. In our business, there is no room for error," explains Stewart, adding, "These WebSmart applications are working fabulously well for us." Stewart's team has also developed add-on components for the Hickory Farms human resources system as well as a system to facilitate EDI inquiries. "We also wrote a purchasing and quotations system," adds Stewart.

IT departments often have crushing deadlines placed on them. In Stewart's response to one survey question on what led to his selection of WebSmart, he describes a situation in which WebSmart actually enabled his team to develop a new system in an unthinkably short time frame. "We had less than a month to get some very high-profile, mission-critical applications up and running. We needed a tool that gave us the horsepower to get it done pronto. WebSmart was the answer; it generated all of the executables needed."

Tech Support

When asked if the quality of technical support extended to them met their expectations, Gary Stewart from Hickory Farms said, "We received excellent support and excellent training. WebSmart is easy to use, and the manuals are easy to understand, and no hardware upgrade was necessary. " Kawasaki's Thierry Gossett was also pleased, saying, "They have really good tech support. If you have a problem, they never let go until the issue is resolved. I'm really pleased with them." According to DeSoto County's Larry Wood, "This is what sealed the deal for me. I have never called when someone didn't have an answer for me or didn't get back to me by the next day." And Chuck Ackerman of LAMPS PLUS declared, "Their tech support is by far the best I've seen in the industry. They are professional; someone always answers the phone, and that person almost always has enough knowledge to answer your question. They don't have to refer you to someone else or call you back; they answer your question right then and there. That's really refreshing."

The Final Grade

Finally, survey participants were asked to grade their experience with BCD and WebSmart on a scale of A through F. Respondents across the board gave As or better to WebSmart and BCD. "It's a good product. I would tell anybody to buy it. As far as a grade, I'd give them an A. WebSmart is good stuff," said Wood. Is it possible to receive a grade that beats an A? Stewart, daunted by the grading scale, said, "Is there a grade higher than A? How about an A+++?"

BCD offers free evaluations on all of its software products. Download complete, production versions of software, send your request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or call 630.986.0800.

Robert Gast has written extensively about technology and business management since 1986. He is the managing partner of Chicago area-based Evant Group and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..



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