The problem facing adidas Korea recently was one shared by many companies around the world using 5250-based applications: acceptance of the customized RPG back-end was being hampered by its green-screen front end. There was also no apparent chance for easy integration with the Office desktop applications preferred by most business users.
"Our system needed agile responses and data integrity throughout all the processes relating to new product announcements, promotions, and the processing of orders and sales. To achieve these requirements, we investigated a number of options, and newlook gave the best results. It made it possible for us to develop a graphical, Web-enabled user interface in no time at all," said B.H. Lee, team leader of adidas Korea's IT team.
"Our end users are very happy with the improved user experience and additional functionality we have provided. They love the seamless integration with Microsoft Office and now think the System i is wonderful!" said Lee. Now they have a front-end that integrates with Excel, Word and other desktop applications. It also looks and feels like the applications the business users are already accustomed to and no changes were required to the core RPG back-end application, according to Lee.
"The more we use it to enhance, modernize, and integrate our applications, the more we appreciate the power of the looksoftware suite of programs," said Lee. Our users are now actively suggesting other ways in which the applications can benefit from newlook's capabilities-it seems to them that there is very little you can't do with it!"
According to Marcus Dee, managing director of looksoftware, "adidas is leading an important new trend started by Microsoft and SAP with their Duet product when they connected SAP back-end functionality to the Office front end....analysts including Gartner and Forrester agree that it makes sense to connect existing back-end applications to the front ends that most users already use and prefer, like Microsoft's Outlook and IBM's Notes. IBM back-end applications can be accessed from Outlook, Notes, even Google, relatively easily using SOA without changing a line of code," Dee continued.
About adidas
The adidas corporation has revenues approaching $15 billion and representation in every major market in the world. Today, the company is the world's largest manufacturer of sports footwear, clothing, and accessories and in 2006 acquired one of its major competitors, Reebok. adidas Korea is one of the many successful national subsidiaries of the group, with 500 stores around the country. Being a long-established user of IBM System i hardware, it had developed its own core ERP application which has successfully coped with the company's requirements for some years.
About looksoftware
looksoftware, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, is an Advanced IBM Partner and Microsoft Certified Business Partner, providing easy-to-use, powerful tools to Web-enable, reuse, extend and integrate core applications. looksoftware is a member of the IBM Developer Roadmap and the Midrange Alliance Program. With more than 2,000 customers in 45 countries, looksoftware's products are distributed via a global network of 120 resellers and ISV partners. For more information, contact looksoftware in Australia at + 61 3 9535 4444 or in the U.S.A. at 678-494-5465.
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online