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 Competition redefines the role of the IS
In the face of growing economic competition, IT departments must be capable of providing infrastructure and applications that solve the business challenges of their companies.
This requires them to be increasingly responsive and innovative in the provision of solutions that meet the needs of their users, whether these are customers, partners or employees. All this must be achieved, of course, while also guaranteeing the reliability and quality of the global information system of
the company. For IT departments, this is a real challenge.
In particular, because it is difficult to simultaneously manage an existing information system, permanent technological innovations and increasingly stringent requirements in terms of reliability, availability and user-friendliness.
This challenge is made even more difficult because companies expect their IT departments to achieve these performance levels with increasingly limited budgets. Mainframe applications at the heart of the company's business
This task is made even more complex because many
companies are structured around applications
hosted on mainframe platforms, when in fact the
future of information systems will be based on
Web technologies.
One of the major challenges faced by IT departments is therefore to promote the long-term interoperability of the different elements making up their information system (data, applications, platforms, networks and workstations), and to also allow the whole system to develop in a way that most effectively meets the business objectives of the company.
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SysperTec: experts in Web-oriented mainframe applications
As a specialist of mainframe applications, SysperTec has always sought to develop solutions that allow applications and data from a central site to be easily accessed, upgraded and integrated so that they can coexist more efficiently with heterogeneous environments, and in particular with the environment of the Web. Interoperability between mainframes and other technologies, both current and future, is a core component of our expertise.
This requires knowing how to deal with the continual upgrading of technologies, and therefore of being capable of developing solutions that are natively open and easily adaptable to these changes and to the constraints of the business in question. In this context, SysperTec offers companies the opportunity of re-orientating their central applications towards the Internet without having to rewrite them. In this way, they benefit from the best of both worlds, while also saving time and money.
VIRTEL WEB, a solution that ensures the interoperability of central site applications Our approach is primarily characterised by the fact that our solutions are located entirely on the mainframe in order to preserve the advantages of this platform and ensure interoperability in relation to data and transactions themselves.
Mainframe applications are therefore not used as a source of information and processes by other "intermediate" applications which would undergo certain developments. Instead, they become citizens of the Intranet / Internet in their own right. This approach has resulted in the development of a flexible solution known as VIRTEL WEB.
VIRTEL WEB is a communication monitor installed on the central platform. It incorporates both VTAM relay and HTTP server functions.
It complies with several fundamental criteria:
|   | Development of open, upgradeable and reusable software guaranteeing that the solution is future-proof. |
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Simple installation allows excellent control of costs, fast delivery times and does not require any mainframe/web cross-disciplinary expertise. |
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Optimised and secure technical architecture facilitates production startup, and ensures simplified operation and optimum performance. |
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Use of standard
market technologies, guarantees the long-term
interoperability of the solutions used.
In order to achieve this, SysperTec has made use
of existing benchmark technologies (HTML,
XML, HTTP, URLs, AJAX etc.) and of the
architecture style defined by REST. |
This means that central applications
benefit from both the advantages
of the z/OS platform and the latest
technological advances with in particular
access to Web 2.0 (AJAX, JavaScript etc.).
To put it simply, they become fully fledged citizens of the Web. |
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| Ensuring
the interoperability of central site applications
Enlarge image | | Advantages
of the mainframe platform Security of the platform. Processing power and performance. Reliability of tried and tested applications.
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Access, modernisation, integration: solutions for every need
SysperTec offers a range of solutions built around VIRTEL WEB. These respond to the differing interoperability needs of 3270 applications (CICS, IMS etc.) hosted on IBM z/OS type platforms:
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| Development of mainframe applications:
A real need for meeting business objectives
Interfacing them with Web technologies
Making them accessible to different types of user
Developing the user interface to make navigation easier and improve its appearance
Integrating them within new company processes
Enabling them to dialogue with other applications and software packages of the company and its partners
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Enlarge image |
| | Improved
and secure access
to applications.
Objective: allow access to legacy applications from a standardised workstation. Find out more...
 | | Modernisation
of the user interface.
Objective: modernise and/or develop the interface of legacy applications to provide users with a truly dynamic Web application without the need for redevelopment. Find out more...
 | | Simplified
integration
of data and transactions within Web architectures.
Objective: make transactions and data on the host accessible and usable by any other server or Web application in order to create composite applications.
Find out more...
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| VIRTEL WEB is a communication monitor installed directly on the host. It incorporates both HTTP server and VTAM relay functions.
Host applications can therefore dialogue naturally with heterogeneous users and applications via a secure URL.
VIRTEL WEB also includes an SMTP server that allows dialoguing with messaging applications (e-mail, SMS, etc.).
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Specific features and advantages of VIRTEL WEB
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| Benefits from the power and performance of the host : - Developed in ASSEMBLER.
- Installed on the host.
- Uses VTAM relays and an HTTP or SMTP server on the host.
- Does not require the use of JAVA, thus avoiding memory and CPU inflation as well as associated software costs.
| | | | | | | | | Technical requirements
Platform:
z/Series, z/OS or OS/390,
MVS or VSE.
3270 applications:
Cobol, CICS or IMS, TSO etc. TCP/IP User station:
Light client fitted with a browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox etc.). | | | | | |
About... REST AJAX |
| | Compatible with 2-tier or n-tier architectures: - In 2-tier mode, there is no need to use an intermediate server.
- Can dialogue with any n-tier configuration.
| | Dialogue between the mainframe and heterogeneous terminals and servers is established via in-flight protocol conversions: - Connection in asynchronous mode (no TN3270).
- No data contention.
| | Uses the advantages of the ultra light client station:
- No plug-ins or Java applets.
- Dialogues with any type of terminal (PC, Palm, GSM etc.) fitted with a standard browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape etc.).
- Easy to install (no deployment or centralised maintenance resulting in reduced costs).
| | Allows central applications to benefit from the use of Web 2.0 technologies: - AJAX technologies.
- JavaScript scripts and libraries.
- Appropriate use of URLs.
- REST architecture style.
- XML, HTTPand Web Services exchange formats.
| | Benefits from the secure environment of the host:
- Uses RACF, TSS
and ACF2 environments.
- Integrates the HTTP/S functions available on the z/OS version 1.7 platform via AT-TLS.
- Benefits from the security of asynchronous mode.
- Incorporates control and filtering rules (calling IP address, network mask, date & time etc.; access limited to authorised users and transactions etc.).
- Compatible with the security components of IP environments: Proxy, Firewall, DMZ, VPN, Single Sign On gateway, SSL, user/password, Bastion etc.
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