News & Views, August 2001

Lombard, IL — e-business software and services leader michaels, ross & cole, ltd. (mrc) today announced that applications built using its iSeries tool suite, the mrc-Productivity Series²⁰⁰⁰, are fully integrated with IBM’s WebSphere Application Server.

A premier Java technology-based software platform, WebSphere Application Server provides a flexible infrastructure to deploy, integrate, and manage e-business applications. Applications built using the mrc-Productivity Series are fully compliant within this environment and allow organizations to leverage their investment in existing data and server assets. This compatibility simplifies application development and deployment and reduces time-to-market for iSeries customers.

"WebSphere application development is a new challenge for most iSeries shops. With the mrc-Productivity Series, you can take advantage of the portability and openness of Java and WebSphere without the large learning curve or cost associated with manual application development. mrc is a leading tool vendor with a history of providing excellent productivity solutions for iSeries customers and with this new announcement, you can deploy Java applications to powerful transaction processing systems like iSeries or to any other Java-compliant platform," states Doug Fulmer, Worldwide Segment Manager, iSeries Application Development Tools and Middleware for IBM.

"By combining the power and flexibility of WebSphere with the fast and easy application-development capabilities of mrc-Productivity Series, our customers are realizing their e-business goals ahead of schedule and under budget while protecting their investments against future technologies," said Tracy Doell, mrc director of communications. "With demonstrated commitments to open-platform technologies from both IBM and mrc, our customers are confident that their e-business solutions will last far into the future."

About IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) WebSphere Software

WebSphere is Internet infrastructure software — known as middleware — that enables companies to develop, deploy and integrate next-generation e-business applications, such as those for business-to-business e-commerce. WebSphere supports business applications from simple Web publishing through enterprise-scale transaction processing. WebSphere transforms the way businesses manage customer, partner, and employee relationships.

Last month, we discussed the benefits and capabilities of Java applets. This month, we continue our Web technology series with an overview of Java servlets.

Java is an object-oriented programming language, designed to be architecture neutral so that it could run on any computer, regardless of the underlying hardware or operating systems. IBM and Sun Microsystems committed themselves to Java and made sure that it became the open, cross-platform, de facto industry standard language for network computing and the World Wide Web.

mrc’s Java support began in 1997 with the addition of Java applets and continues today with the addition of Java servlets. Java servlets provide the same benefits of Java applets, but run on the server instead of the browser. Servlets provide advantages over not only Java applets, but over other Web technologies as well.

Java servlets allow you to return to the "good old days" of host control, while still taking advantage of Web-based data access. According to IBM, it’s the closest modern equivalent to 5250 green screens that you’ll find. Some of the features of mrc’s Java servlets include:

• Thin client: Servlets run on the server, deliver dynamically generated HTML to the end user, and provide all the benefits of Java with all the advantages of thin-client computing. Since no client download or installation is necessary, Web users get fast service and you have no client application to maintain.
• Platform Portability: Following Java’s "Write Once, Run Anywhere"™ approach, mrc’s Java servlets run on any Web server. This insulates your business from hardware and software changes. Your applications won’t be rendered useless as new Web serving technologies are adopted. Your mrc-generated Java servlets can be deployed to WebSphere, Apache, or any other Java technology-capable Web server.
• Database Portability: Using the industry standard JBDC API, Java servlets efficiently communicate with a wide range of databases. This provides scalability and allows you to integrate multiple platforms into your Web strategy. You can even combine data from multiple databases into one application!
• Server Performance: Java servlets use a single process, multithreaded model to access the server. This reduces server overhead and improves performance.

Java servlets are the answer to many of today’s business challenges. Company mergers require the integration of multiple server platforms. New technologies must be adopted to compete on the Internet. Customers and business partners require faster service and information access. Demand for e-business services exceeds the number of knowledgeable developers, causing costs to skyrocket. The mrc-Productivity Series addresses these concerns and allows you to develop Web applications, using the latest technologies, quickly and affordably.

Have you started working on your Web initiatives? Are you trying to find ways to deploy your iSeries data to an intranet, extranet, or the Internet? Let mrc help you in these areas. We want to know what your concerns are, and we’re here to assist you in any way we can.

If you haven’t looked at the new features of the mrc-Productivity Series recently, I urge you to visit our Web site and online knowledge base. And you can always call your sales representative or our support line to ask any questions about our Web application development capabilities. We want to help you get more done with the mrc-Productivity Series.

If you aren’t receiving the e-mail version of this newsletter, please update your subscription today! The e-mail version contains everything you read in this version but also contains extra information that we can’t always fit here. Immediate delivery to your mailbox means you get important news and information right away, and it’s easy to pass around to your team. Not to mention the convenience of live links to additional articles and software downloads and the environmental friendliness of e-mail versus print.

There are lots of ways you can sign up:

• send an e-mail to news@mrc-productivity.com with "subscribe" in the subject line
• call Marni Bellow at 630-916-0662
• visit www.mrc-productivity.com/members and enter your e-mail address in the box provided
• send a fax to 630-916-0663 with your e-mail address
• wait for an mrc representative to contact you about your subscription

Software Downloads

The latest software upgrade, MRC8010723, is available for download now. This enhancement installs Web/Servlet applications! mrc’s Web/Servlet capabilities give you the power to generate Web applications with all-HTML interfaces over your live AS/400 data. You can also easily modify the generated interface. The generated server program is coded entirely in Java, making the servlets able to run on other Web servers. Inquiry and graph templates are installed.

Download the Web/Servlet enhancement here: www.mrc-productivity.com/members/software/update.html.

New Documentation Added

You can now download instructions on installing and creating Java servlets, installing and configuring WebSphere to run servlets, and painting servlets to customize them for your Web site.

Download the servlet user guide here: www.mrc-productivity.com/members/.

What’s Ahead

R&D is currently working on these upcoming enhancements to the mrc-Productivity Series:

• XML applications
• Wireless applications
• Java servlet maintenance applications

mrc offers training sessions at both your location and ours. Visit our education area for more information on our education services, or click here to view our schedule for the entire year. (You will have to log in with your user name and password to visit this area. If you need login instructions, please click here first.)