LANSA on Android (GOOGLE)?

It's not new that Microsoft will get Windows 7 out as fast as possible this year. What was news to me was the article I read in the March 9th issue of Computerworld that shared the fact that Android (From GOOGLE), the Linux-based phone operating system was determined late last year that it was an excellent operating system for netbooks.

"So what" was my initial reaction. After a little more thought, I looked at the facts:

1. Netbooks are growing at a 20% clip while the rest of the industry is in a flat at best scenario.


2. Netbooks are cheap and Linux along with a wide array of open-source software could drive significant opportunities.


3. Google's Chrome Web browser and its wealth of web-based applications would be deployed.


4. LANSA had the foresight to make LANSA deployable on the Linux operating system.

My Conclusion: This might be a great opportunity, particularly for those "between projects" independent consultants to generate a new business opportunity. One might also reclaim existing LANSA applications for the netbooks. Good Luck!

Are You Bullish on PaaS?

I am curious about the LANSA community and who is bullish on PaaS. It would be an interesting departure for LANSA to participate in the model. Imagine developers using free programming tools offered by LANSA to create applications and deploy them in the cloud.

This development model is radically different from traditional approaches, where programmers install commercial tools on their local systems, write code, then deploy and manage the applications on their own infrastructures. But the PaaS model is gaining traction.

There has been a flurry of activity in this area that includes:

• SAP purchase PaaS Vendor’s Intellectual Property (Coghead)
• Telcos being pulled toward PaaS (See Article)
• Predictions of IDC for Asia include: the resurrection of SaaS and the increasing adoption of Platform-as-a-Service (Paas);
• And of course Amazon, Google and Salesforce.com have had have had PaaS for some time

If you are starting to explore this model, let me know. I would enjoy chatting with others about this subject. Perhaps, we can present a model to LANSA that makes business sense for them and delivers the technology to the world.

Version 12. of METHOS is Released

Cincinnati, Ohio – February 2, 2009 – Rippe & Kingston Systems, Inc. With the need for greater efficiencies and cost savings high on executive agendas, superior maintenance management is emerging as a business imperative. The new release of METHOS™ significantly raises the bar in areas of Process Improvements and Integration with other systems. See Details

METHOS is 100% LANSA

Mark Mason submits LANSA for Reader's Choice Award

Below is the partial story regarding Mark Mason's submission to SystemiNetwork on January 27, 2009

Reader's Choice: LANSA

This week's nominee for reader's choice comes from Mark Mason of BuilderSolutions, Inc. Mark is such a fan of LANSA, in fact, he is a consultant that does nothing but LANSA work. He even created www.lansaclub.com. BuilderSolutions offers programming services, full service recruiting, and technical support for the IBM i, so Mark is intricately familiar with the integration of LANSA's products into our beloved system. See complete posting.

Open-Source Cloud Tools Project Spawn Cloud Foundry

For those of you addicted to everything GOOGLE, you might have seen the open-source Cloud Tools project, hosted on Google Code. It is a prime example of the emerging trend of open-source developers targeting the cloud and looking at services such as Amazon Web Services and Google App Engine to host their applications.

LANSA is starting to pursue Cloud Computing more aggressively. Their upcoming webinars regarding LANSA Mashups is a good example of leveraging this approach to systems. By the way...a little toot your own horn here...John Reuter from Rippe & Kingston presented LANSA Mashups at the last LANSA Conference. Way to go John...ahead of the curve as usual. John incorporated our e.ssential Portal and Contract Guardian (LANSA WAMS) as part of the mashup.

Explore LANSA Website

There is an astonishing amount of information contained within the LANSA website. Those of you reading this blog are quite familiar with all of the technical information. However, you should do a favor for some of your business colleagues and share with them why we to quote Don Nelson "Bleed Green".

The best place to get started is direct them to the following sections:

Analyst Research - Nice to know the experts agree with us.
Case Studies - One can find inspiring stories about every industry.
Webinar Recordings - On demand presentations are great. Especially when you have people like Dave Brault presenting.

Next Step: Direct them to your LANSA Representative or LANSA Business Partner

LANSA & Cloud Computing Reliability

This is really an issue of the general reliability of the cloud vs LANSA specifically. It has been my first hand experience with Salesforce.com that the reliability has been quite good---not perfect. (Our internal infrastructure is not perfect either)

I do anticipate improvement in the reliability of the cloud systems. In fact, you will note that broadband infrastructure enhancement in the United States is a significant part of the new stimulus package that President Elect Barack Obama presented on December 6th, 2008.

However, if you need a system that absolutely never never can be unavailable...it will be a long time coming before the Cloud can deliver that degree of dependability. That being a given, from what I have seen from a broad range of LANSA based applications being delivered as SaaS offering, even now, the reliability is good enough for corporate applications. Now more than ever, LANSA and LANSA focused developers/firms will benefit as this world of cloud computing expands.

Trends for 2009

Some of these might be just a fad and others will be part of our everyday IT fabric. Below is a list and R&K's status on each one of these issues:

1. Software as a Service (SaaS) - We have been delivering via this model for years.
2. Virtualization - Required in today's world.
3. Enterprise Mobility - We are a little slow in this area, but moving along.
4. Energy-Efficient Data Centers - Virtualization is helping. Our new generator runs on natural gas instead of diesel. Hmmmmm just as prices went down!
5. Security, Risk and Compliance - No simple solutions. With each passing day, threats and challenges become more complex, and complance becomes more of a concern.
6. Social Networking - A wave of sites like LINKEDIN, FACEBOOK and MYSPACE have transformed this into something I wish we could stop from time to time.
7. Web 2.0 - With the help of LANSA and other technologies we are able to deliver on the promises of Web 2.o.
8. Document Management and e-discovery - Yes, our solution Contract Guardian for Contract Management and business partner VAULT400 are on top of both of these issues.
9. Project Management and Project Portfolio Management - Time sensitivity and budget consicous organization (especially now) make this an absolute for everybody. We are starting to see tools that help mesh diverse workgroups, such as finance, marketing and IT.
10. Web and Video Collaboration -Ok, we are doing this on the cheap...GoToMeeting solves this issue for us most of the time. We do not have an elaborate conference room. Web 2.0 works fine for us on this front!

Are any of these trends one that you are facing? Let me know.

LANSA & Cloud Computing Article Published

I have recently published an article that discusses the role of LANSA & Cloud Computing. I define Cloud Computing as follows: Cloud Computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. I would love to receive feedback regarding my personal opinion of the role that LANSA will play going forward. You can read the article in R&K Resource Library.

Great BLOG

On previous post I mentioned the podcast midrange medley but forgot to give you the link to the Blog: It is called My Midrange Meddle Be sure and visit!

Great Podcast Series: "Midrange Medley"

I visited Midrange Medley this morning and found the Podcasts to be both informative and entertaining. Martin Fincham has developed the offering. Do yourself a favor and take a tour. I have also added the link from the links section. Midrange Medley

Happy Thanksgiving!

In light of how the economic downturn has pummeled many of us in business; I am offering some free advice: Focus on the turkey, and turn off the TV and yes even your computer!

LANSA Heads for the Clouds

There is no doubt that LANSA plays in the clouds and not the types with ice particles suspended in the atmosphere. As I have written last month, LANSA delivers Cloud solutions to Rippe & Kingston and could dramatically expand their offering.

I would like to hear from others if they think this is a fantastic concept or simply some marketing hype. Since I am posting this blog using software provided by Google...I guess you can tell that I am sold on the concept. However people like Larry Ellison have criticised the rash of cloud computing announcemnts as "fashinon-driven" and "complete gibberish". What do you think?

LANSA White Paper Examines i OS & Microsfot

Read a great article the other day in Four Hundred Stuff by Alex Woodie. The teaser follows:

LANSA yesterday unveiled a new white paper that seeks to address how System i shops can build an enterprise application architecture that works in concert with software from Microsoft. A properly conceived architecture, LANSA argues, can accelerate the selection of tools to automate application development, and enable System i organizations to adapt their IT systems more quickly and efficiently.

LANSA brought in recognized System i expert Paul Conte to write "The Eight Pillars of an Enterprise Application Architecture: Building a Stable and Agile Software Foundation in a Dynamic IBM i and Microsoft World."

Interested parties can register to download a copy of the white paper at www.lansa.com/contewp2a.

LANSA eLearning Made Easy is LIVE!

We have had the pleasure of being the Alpha site for LANSA eLearning. This is one of the moments that shows you that you have a business partner/vendor that not only listens to your concerns: They Address Them!

Imagine, learning LANSA on your schedule and for a fraction of the cost. This is a win for everyone but the airlines. Put away the luggage and learn at your convenience.

What is LANSA eLearning?

With LANSA eLearning, you will get access to your own personal Virtual PC Environment with LANSA Product Suite already preconfigured and setup. You will get to learn and use our Products with self-paced lab material that will help you learn fundamental concepts through Advanced Topics.

Take a look

Certified LANSA Partners

Benefit from Powerful Partnerships
Partnerships and strategic alliances play a key role in LANSA's delivery of applications that drive results and create value for our customers. To complement our business applications, services and solutions, we have partnered with technology and hardware platform manufacturers, operating systems vendors, software and database developers, consulting firms, resellers, system integrators and service organizations.

Find a Partner
LANSA has a worldwide network of over Solution, Services and Distributors to help you make the most of LANSA. Our Solution Partners use LANSA tools as part of their strategic development platform or to provide Web, Windows and Wireless extensions to existing world leading software solutions. Our Services Partners can help you over project peaks by providing assistance with core application development or to provide Web, Windows and Wireless extensions to existing software solutions. Our Distributors and LANSA offices can, in addition to assisting you with services and application solutions, provide the LANSA products, technical support and training you need to get ahead and stay ahead in today's rapidly changing world.

Americas LANSA Partners List

5 Ways to Simplify Maintenance Management (LANSA Solution)

Mike Albers recently published a nice article that gives 5 quick tips on how to Simplify Maintenance Management. His general philosopy about any process and especially when come it comes to Maintenance Management: Evaluate every process that you repeat, simplify and eliminate where possible.
Read his article

Mike directs the METHOS 7 x 24 Maintenance Mangement solution for Rippe & Kingston. METHOS is a comprehensive maintenance management system with installations world wide. Modules include: Equipment, Work Order, Preventative Maintenance, Inventory / Storeroom, Charge Account, Personnel, Fleet, Security, Integration Control, Purchasing and Standard Jobs. METHOS is based on LANSA technology.

LANSA 1SYNC: New Lowes Extract Report from Rippe and Kingston

Lowes product introduction process includes a spreadsheet that a supplier fills out and provides to the buyer at Lowes. This spreadsheet now includes a new tab called "Page 6 GDSN Published". Rippe and Kingston is introducing a Lowes Publication Report on our 1Sync Portal support site that will allow you to easily pull your publications for Lowes to Excel. Then you can place this information into Page 6 of the Lowes product introduction spreadsheet. Rippe and Kingston 1Sync clients can sign in and gain access to the extract. This report will be available by 11.28.2008. For more information please call 800.650.1999.

Learn more about R&K LANSA 1SYNC and GDSN Services

LANSA Services Delivered by Certified LANSA Partner

As you prepare your developement budgets for next year, please consider the LANSA services from R&K.

Rippe & Kingston provides the LANSA talent and technology necessary to help you meet almost any business need with efficient reliable custom software solutions. From simple LANSA web sites to sturdy LANSA based back office systems and everything in between, Rippe & Kingston LANSA consultants bring a wealth of experience to ensure your LANSA project's success every step of the way.

Rumor: LANSA Generates CNN Hologram

Allow me to set the record straight: LANSA does many great things. However, they did not create the CNN Hologram that was used to do an interview. If you missed it, click here.

LANSA History

If you are new to LANSA or only been using the technology for a few years, you might enjoy a look back at the LANSA Track Record. This image comes from the LANSA History Page

LANSA and V6R1M0 for Power System i

With V6R1M0 looming on the horizon, rebuilding your LANSA iSeries applications can be done programmatically with a few simple programs. Here at Rippe & Kingston we used the LANSA built-in commands of MAKE_FILE_OPERATIONL and COMPILE_PROCESS to rebuild our System i applications.

With the MAKE_FILE_OPERATIONL built-in, you can recompile all your file I/O modules. There is a little work up front to create a file with all the file names, but a query over file DC@F12 can give you the file and library data. You then copy the queried data into a LANSA defined file and you are ready to run. The code might look something like this:

********** Process all identified files.
SELECT FIELDS((#LIBNAM) (#FILNAM)) FROM_FILE(MAKEFLS)
**********
********** Submit job to make file operational
USE BUILTIN(MAKE_FILE_OPERATIONL) WITH_ARGS(#FILNAM #LIBNAM NNY) TO_GET(#RETCOD)
**********
ENDSELECT


The COMPILE_PROCESS built-in will allow you to recompile all your processes and functions. There is a little work up front here as well to create a file with all the process and function names, but a query over file DC@F23 will give you this data. You then copy the queried data into a LANSA defined file and you are ready to run. The code might look something like this:

********** Define a Process and Function working list
DEF_LIST NAME(#WKPRCL) FIELDS((#PRCN)) TYPE(*WORKING) ENTRYS(500)
DEF_LIST NAME(#WKFUNL) FIELDS((#FCTNAM)) TYPE(*WORKING) ENTRYS(90)
**********
CLR_LIST NAMED(#WKPRCL)
**********
********** Load all the unique Process Names into the working list
SELECT FIELDS((#PRCNAM)) FROM_FILE(PROCFIL)
LOC_ENTRY IN_LIST(#WKPRCL) WHERE('#PRCNAM *EQ #PRCN')
IF_STATUS IS_NOT(*OKAY)
CHANGE FIELD(#PRCN) TO(#PRCNAM)
ADD_ENTRY TO_LIST(#WKPRCL)
ENDIF
ENDSELECT
**********
********** Run through the Process List to build the related
********** Function working list and submit the compiles
SELECTLIST NAMED(#WKPRCL)
**********
CLR_LIST NAMED(#WKFUNL)
**********
SELECT FIELDS((#FCTNAM)) FROM_FILE(PROCFIL) WITH_KEY(#PRCN)
ADD_ENTRY TO_LIST(#WKFUNL)
ENDSELECT
**********
********** Submit the Process/Function compile
USE BUILTIN(COMPILE_PROCESS) WITH_ARGS(#PRCN #WKFUNL) TO_GET(#RETCOD)
********** Check if submission was successful
IF COND('#RETCOD *NE ''OK''')
MESSAGE MSGTXT('Process Compile NOT submitted successfully')
ENDIF
**********
ENDSELECT

One note, it is always best to make sure the submitted jobs go to a single threaded job queue so that compile locks are not a problem.

If you need a little help, don’t hesitate to contact us! It is FREE.

LANSA Delivers Cloud Computing to Rippe & Kingston

Definition of Cloud Computing: Cloud computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service(SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. For example, Google Apps provides common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.

LANSA delivers Cloud Computing to Rippe & Kingston and our clients through the incorporation of the following LANSA Products:

• RAMP - is the fastest and most certain way to modernize your System i (iSeries and AS/400) business applications and in our case, deliver it via the web.


• Visual LANSA - provides us the development tools for creating Web Application Modules


• LANSA Portlet Generator - allows us to plug our LANSA applications into a central portal

Rippe & Kingston has incorporated the technology into their Contract Guardian Product, METHOS and LMS. If you are curious about learning more about how Cloud Computing might be in your future, contact us.

LANSA Case Studies

If you ever need to be inspired by what others have done with LANSA, take a look at the long list of Case Studies provided by LANSA. Case Studies.

Microsoft targets IBM midrange server customers

Microsoft plans to link hands with hardware and services companies on Tuesday in a push to win over IBM's midrange server customers, ZDNet UK sister site CNET News.com has learned.

The Midrange Alliance Program, or MAP, will see Microsoft join up with Fujitsu, LANSA, EDS and a half-dozen other companies to try to convince businesses to look at Windows-based alternatives to IBM's iSeries servers, the latest in the AS/400 family. See complete article

LANSA Education

LANSA continues to dial up their education offering. Rumor has it that they are nearing a release of some very exciting and cost compelling options. Check for the latest in their LANSA education offering by linking to their site at http://www.lansa.com.au/education/index.htm

RPG and .NET--Yes, they can get along!

Hi, everyone. LANSA Open for .NET is getting lots of play in the media, so I thought you might be interested in seeing how LANSA Open for .NET's architecture works.

Also, you'll want to view this video tutorial

of LANSA Open for .NET, which was featured

as part of an article about the new product

in the September 18 issue of

My i-.NET Newsletter:

www.lansa.com/downloads/lansaopenfordotnet

Vicki Hamende of System iNetwork blogged about

LANSA Open for .NET earlier this week. Check out

Product Lines: RPG and .NET: Can We All Get Along?

R&K Rolls Out LANSA on IBM i5/OS V6R1 in Data Center

We are pleased to announce that Rippe & Kingston has rolled IBM’s new i5 operating system release within our Data Center. This release further solidifies an already secure and robust OS with native support of encryption for files and backups, enhanced disaster recovery and high availability, support for blades, and virtualization technology including support for VMWare’s ESX server.

• i5/OS V6R1 features include:


• Virtualization of i5/OS storage


• Encryption of backups and data on disk


• IBM Systems Director management


• Enhanced Java performance


• Support for IBM BladeCenter servers


• Improved performance with IBM System Storage™ devices Support for IBM High Availability Solutions Manager (HASM)


• And most importantly to us is that it works great with LANSA

.NET Abides by IBM i Logic, Thanks to New LANSA Product

Alex Woodie of IT Jungle Reports: .NET Abides by IBM i Logic, Thanks to New LANSA Product

It would be a huge understatement to say it's a challenge to get .NET and RPG programs--let alone .NET or RPG programmers--to play by the same set of rules. For companies that rely on a mix of IBM i (AS/400) and Microsoft Windows servers to run their business applications, it's a problem faced on a daily basis. But thanks to a new data integrity tool launched last week, LANSA's Open for .NET, users can share DB2/400 data and enforce IBM i business rules upon Windows .NET applications, in real time.

LANSA Portlet Generator Submitted to IBM

The LANSA Portlet Generator from Rippe & Kingston has been submitted for approval on the WebSphere Portal 6.0 & 6.1. Since it is already operating in a client environment this should be a quick technicality before the official press release.

Some of the features for the LANSA Portlet Generator include:

• Drag and drop portlet layout for new and existing LANSA Web Application Modules (WAMS)


• Theme Management for the generated portlets


• LANSA Portlet to Portlet communication


• Targeting of Portlets for use with multiple applications


• External communication with Portlets using Web Services and most programming languages including JAVA, LANSA, RPG, etc.


• LANSA Wizards for Portlets to automatically create LANSA based Portlets through a simple dialogue process

If you would like to learn more, click here or contact your LANSA Representative or Rippe & Kingston directly. 513.977.4544

LANSA Open for .NET Announced

On September 15, LANSA released LANSA Open for .NET, a new product that helps to simplify client/server limitations. LANSA Open for .NET enables IT departments to safely open up their enterprise data and applications to a variety of internal and external .NET applications without risking security or data integrity. Read more about it at http://www.lansa.com/press/20810.htm

LANSA Version 11 SP4 & SP5 Product Update

I had the pleasure of sitting in on the update presented by always amazing Madan Divaker.

LANSA has been very busy and I like what I see. A couple of noteworthy items from my recolection are as follows:

• Optimized run-time and code generation


• Improved Database Access and Operations


• WAM Designer Integrated into IDE


• Numerous IDE Enhancements


• Execution History


• Import Viewer


• Auto-Complete Improvement (Inline)


• Improved Navigation


• Bacground Text Search (A Personal Favorite)


• They even have some goodies for people working with 5250 Screens

I don't know what they have been feeding the development team Australia, but please keep it up. I am sure I missed several items so contact your LANSA rep or R&K and we will be happy to tell you more about all the wonderful things the folks from LANSA provide.

LANSA helps U.S. Corrugated Expand Their Maintenance Operations

U.S. Corrugated, Inc. continues to expand and control their maintenance operations by using METHOS 7x24 Plant & Facility Maintenance. Rippe & Kingston developed METHOS using LANSA technology.

Mike Albers, Director of METHOS Product & Services for Rippe & Kingston, said "We are extremely pleased by the acceptance of METHOS by U.S. Corrugated. Our services and implementation teams have been working with them in their coordinated deployment plan. We are delighted by the recent addition of new plants and look forward to continued growth and success. METHOS is being used by 17 plants in 14 statesCedar Rapids IA


About U.S. Corrugated, Inc. With a well earned reputation as one of the most dynamic and progressive companies in the industry, U.S. Corrugated, Inc. is the leading independent corrugated packaging producer in the United States today. The company operates 20 full service manufacturing facilities in 14 states, including its state of the art recycled containerboard mill in Cowpens, South Carolina.

About METHOS: METHOS is a comprehensive maintenance management system from Rippe & Kinston Systems, Inc. with installations world wide. Modules include: Equipment, Work Order, Preventative Maintenance, Inventory / Storeroom, Charge Account, Personnel, Fleet, Security, Integration Control, Purchasing and Standard Jobs. METHOS is based on LANSA technology

ISC Taps LANSA for App Modernization

IT Jungle reported that Investment Systems Company (ISC) will modernize its i OS-based suite of portfolio management applications using LANSA's RAMP (Rapid Application Modernization Process) solution set, the companies announced yesterday.

ISC is a Moreland Hills, Ohio, software company that has been providing the investment community with i OS-based portfolio management applications since it was founded in 1984. The company offers three main products--including Portfolio Accounting System, Shareholder Accounting System, and Bonds Payable System--to a range of organizations, including banks, mutual fund companies, professional investment houses, asset managers, and housing authorities

LANSA Tech Exchange

Something new from LANSA: LANSA Tech Exchange. This new site is where members of the LANSA Community can sell or share LANSA Components such as Weblets, Templates, Code Snippets and other technical items.

One feature I find particularly valuable is the "WANTED" section for whatever LANSA components you may desire. Take a look and share your brilliance! LANSA Tech Exchange

LANSA on YouTube

The LANSA SOURCE publication has a lot of great news from LANSA. However, being the relatively easily entertained person that I am....you might enjoy what jumped out at me:


LANSA on YouTubeBabies don’t laugh, nothing explodes, and nobody sings or dances, but we think you’ll still enjoy watching this video on YouTube at http://youtube.com/watch?v=qg3xL5Ug8Xk. Conference attendees will recognize it from the opening session, but those of you who missed seeing it first time around can get in on the LANSA experience. Be sure to turn up your speakers, set the YouTube player to high-quality mode and bump it up to full screen. Then, share it with your fellow LANSA developers!

LANSA Touts RAMP Successes

This is a nice article in IT Jungle by Alex Woodie. See how some of the LANSA RAMP users are delivering some pretty amazing solutions. Who knows, you might be reading about yourself. Companies include:

• Cinram UK
• CHS
• DEMCO
• Francis Marion University
• Gannet
• Norfolk Iron & Metal
• PartyLite
• Strattec

LANSA Conference Downloads

If you have been hoping to retrieve some of the fantastic content from the LANSA User Conference 2008, your prayers are answered.

The conference downloads are now available online. Visit http://events.lansa.com/downloads.htm and use your email address and password along with the Conference Download Key.

New LANSA Site

Wow....Take a look at the new design for the LANSA Web Site. It has a great look and the navigation is spot on. One feature that I personally enjoyed was the Jargon Buster. Congratulations LANSA!

Need Visual LANSA Developer

R&K is looking for a Visual LANSA Developer.

We would expect a minimum of 2 years experience, using some of the following skillsets: LANSA Frameworks, Javascript, Visual Modeler, Desktop Integration with a current version of LANSA (11.3 and above), knowledge of activex and microsoft offices products is a plus.
In addition, the right individual will possess good communication, teamwork and leadership/training skills, as well as general knowledge of business type software application and business procedures.

We can provide a challenge to your skills, utilizing the latest technology. We provide a superb atmosphere, competitive salary, possible travel and opportunity for advancement.
Please send your resume and salary requirements via email to : thom@rippe.com or via fax: 513-977-4875.

Guideline for Surviving IBM System i Modernization

This is a nice article written by Dan Burger. Here is the preamble....

The pressures that a constantly changing business environment place on an IT department are only increasing. Discovering ways to improve the cooperative efforts between executive management and information technology is on everyone's to-do list. And at the top of many of those lists is a project titled Application Modernization. A majority of IT department leaders say they are in the planning phases of such a project or will be very soon. Read the complete LANSA Modernization Article

LANSA Poised to Embrace Windows 7.0

The rumors and raw random data department confirmed today that LANSA is poised to support Windows 7.0!

Francis Marion University Modernizes with LANSA RAMP

Francis Marion University (FMU), one of South Carolina's 13 state-supported universities, provides strong liberal arts based programs for both undergraduate and graduate studies. FMU is fully accredited and has nearly 4,000 students enrolled at its Florence campus. FMU extended its student administration system with LANSA Web access by students and faculty members to registration, class scheduling, grades, degree audits, financial aid applications and more. FMU is now modernizing its core System i applications with RAMP and Visual LANSA.

Read more about the LANSA RAMP success at Francis Marion University

Learn how Rippe & Kingston, an IBM and LANSA Premier Partner can help with your LANSA RAMP Project.

LANSA Composer helps Terminix Face the Challenge of Rapid Growth

The Terminix International Company, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee USA is part of the ServiceMaster family of brands and the largest termite and pest control company in the world, safeguarding over three million homes and businesses in the U.S. and 14 other countries. Terminix replaced a COBOL mainframe system and hundreds of standalone UNIX systems at its branches with a central LANSA-based application on a single 595 iSeries. 12,000 employees at over 400 locations and 5,500 service specialists with wireless hand-held devices use the system that also interacts with an increasing number of third-party systems using LANSA Integrator and Web Services. More recently, Terminix used LANSA Composer to automate the remittance processing with third parties.

Read more about LANSA Composer at Terminix

LANSA Conference 2008 Winner!

The LANSA Conference 2008 Winner of the iPod Touch from Rippe & Kingston is Brian Mauk.

We can only assume Brian is viewing the opening session from the conference on his new "Toy".

advance for Health Information Professionals features LANSA Based Solution

Rippe and Kingston Offers Contract Guardian. Rippe and Kingston Systems Inc., provider of contract management solutions for health care, now offers Contract Guardian as a managed service using its Portal Based Solution, which uses a 100 percent browser user interface. Contract Guardian dynamically designs screens based on the user's credentials and roles. Features such as document management, external (RSS) and internal news feeds, document loading and downloading to excel, full comment journaling, interface alerts via e-mail and calendar, as well as power searching features deliver a managed service solution with no capital investment.

Contract Guardian uses LANSA as the foundation technology. LANSA provides simple but powerful application development tools and solutions to thousands of customers worldwide.

LANSA User Conference 2008..Disney World

WOW...As usual, LANSA has delivered antoher great conference that is very informative as well as a good time. They shared with us some amazing new capabilities and a few that are just around the corner:

LANSA Composer..LANSA Composer is a Business Process Integration solution designed and packaged for any size of business. It is so easy to use and highly graphical....no code.

WEB 2.0...LANSA took the covers off of some of their new wizards that no only make software development easy and functionally rich with a very elegant presentation leveraging technologies like AJAX. Rippe & Kingston will be a beta site for this technology and hope to build on all of the richness that LANSA delivers to us every day.

IBM Aims to Simplify IT Delivery for SMB Customers

IBM Aims to Simplify IT Delivery for SMB Customers
New Initiative Offers Web 2.0 Platform -- and a New Choice -- for Software and Solution Firms



LOS ANGELES & IBM Business Partner Leadership Conference - 01 May 2008: -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new software and unveiled for the first time a broad initiative to combine hardware, software and services to tackle the cost and complexity of IT for small and medium businesses. The new, strategic initiative -- code-named the "Blue Business Platform" -- aims to provide a new and compelling choice to simplify IT delivery for companies that lack the time and resources to manage computer systems. The initiative, which is part of IBM's ongoing plans to aggressively target its largest opportunity for growth in the $500 billion SMB marketplace, is focused on enabling thousands of software and solution providers to dramatically accelerate the adoption and simplify the management of their business applications on IBM systems.
This new, open platform, which will be piloted and delivered in the coming months, will offer software and solution providers access to new customers on a global scale and reduce the high costs of new client acquisition, technology integration and support.

Rippe & Kingston, a Premier IBM Business Partner and LANSA are ready to support the announcements.

LANSA Based Solution Presented at National Health Care Compliance Conference

"Having our product based in LANSA and offering our LANSA Services has given us the flexibility and speed to out develop the competion." Thom Davidson

Rippe & Kingston Sponsors LANSA 2008 User Conference

Disaster Recovery Pod Cast from VAULT400

I think you will find this of value as you make your plans related to disaster recovery/online backup.

See LANSA at 2008 Common in Nashville

Rippe & Kingston and of course LANSA look forward to seeing everyone at the COMMON Conference in Nashville.

Take advantage of belonging to the largest community of IBM midrange users and attend COMMON’s 2008 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Nashville, March 30 – April 3.
This is COMMON’s largest educational event of the year. Five full days of in-depth i5/OS education that includes all-day pre-conference workshops, all-day Integrated Seminars, open labs and a wide variety of regular-length sessions.

You can anticipate LANSA will be showing off products like LANSA Composer, LANSA RAMP and of course Visual LANSA.

Are you ready for IBM System i V6R1

i5/OS V6R1 delivers IT freedom for business flexibility

With business moving faster than ever, you need an operating environment that can protect business continuity while enabling new levels of flexibility, scalability, and efficiency. Combining a tradition of excellence with industry-leading innovation, IBM i5/OS® is the answer.

i5/OS V6R1 takes a great step forward to set new standards for efficiency and resiliency in business processing. To help businesses thrive in competitive marketplaces, this release includes expanded options for virtualization, upgraded storage and availability management, breakthrough Java performance, new support for POWER6™ processors and BladeCenter®, and a broad range of middleware and tools to help drive SOA transformation.

You can expect LANSA to be available for development and execution as soon as you upgrade to V6R1!

LANSA Wins Contract for Application Modernization Software

LANSA Wins Contract for Application Modernization Software
Published: January 22, 2008

by Alex Woodie

A trip to the spring COMMON show last year eventually paid off for Control Systems Software (CSS), a developer of agribusiness software that runs on i5/OS. CSS traveled to Anaheim, California, to help it chart an application modernization strategy, which eventually led to LANSA and its Rapid Application Modernization Process (RAMP) solution. Complete story...

Share your LANSA Composer Experience

We are looking for someone to share their real life experiences with LANSA Composer. It sounds great and makes a lot of sense, just would like to hear from somone that has taken it for a good test drive.

For those of you unfamiliar with LANSA Composer, it is a design and execution platform for integrating business activities involving transport and transformation of data and custom business processing. It satisfies the four key requirements of a Business Process Integration solution:

• Transport – moving data between source and target.


• Transformation – mapping data between many different formats.


• Process Orchestration – sequential and conditional execution of process flow.


• Administration – auditing, error-handling, logging, security and system operation

LANSA Data Sync Direct Chosen by Food Logistics Magazine for 2007

MELVILLE, N.Y., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Food Logistics, the only publication exclusively dedicated to covering the movement of product and information through all channels of the food supply chain, this week announced its fourth annual list -- the Food Logistics 100 -- which features top technology solution providers that serve the needs of a unique segment of the food service industry. The list is compiled through end-user nominations. Each company listed is top in their field for assisting food, beverage and consumer packaged goods' companies to transform their supply chains.

About LANSA Data Sync Direct

6 Good Reasons for Online Backup Services

6 Good Reasons for Online Backup Services


Please excuse the self promotion. I have written an article about why all of the LANSA shops should consider using online backup services that R&K uses and provides via VAULT400. They support all platform and are particularly strong with the iSeries online backup services (AS/400, System i).

Here is the teaser: Online backup is a method of offsite data storage in which files, folders, or the entire contents of a system are regularly backed up on a remote server or computer with a network connection. A number of companies provide online backup services for subscribers whose computers are connected to the Internet, automatically copying selected files to backup storage at the service provider's data vault. To read the article click here.

LANSA Partners Join Forces

LANSA Partner Futura Data of Denmark has become a partner of Rippe & Kingston Systems, Inc. They will be using the e.ssential Portal and the LANSA Portlet Generator to expand their LANSA business practice.

About Futura Data: Futura Data A/S has extensive experience with the IBM System i (iSeries AS/400). They have customers within several lines of business, with the main empahasis on wholesale dealers within the autombile spare parts. Futura Data has developed a Web trade system for spare parts, which is built on the international catalogue from TECDOC. They are both a IBM & LANSA business partner. http://www.futura-data.dk/

Rippe & Kingston's global footprint now includes:

Bermuda
Canada
Cayman Islands
Denmark
Germany
Great Britain
Philippines
Puerto Rico
Romania
Thailand

DB2 Web Query for System i

I just returned from a training class on the new DB2 Web Query offering from IBM, and am excited about using it with our Plant and Facility Maintenance application (METHOS). It shows great promise in both retrieval and analyzing vital data. You are able to add a more modern look to any existing Query/400 report as well as produce new, more graphical reports. Queried output can go directly to spreadsheets or PDF documents, and color coding or graphs can be added. These new options will greatly enhance the ability to highlight Preventative Maintenance Tasks and Work Orders that are in need of attention as well as assist in easier distribution throughout the organization.

Features like the Developer Workbench allow for the complexity of the database to be hidden from the end user (non-IT staff). The Power Painter (WYSIWYG) provides users the ability to easily design reports with the end goal directly visible. The On-Line Analytical Processing allows users to drill into data so they do not have to guess as to what makes up the numbers on the report. And using Active Reports allows you to take the queried data on the road for analysis; no server connection required.

If you have not seen this new tool in action, I highly recommend it.

New Weblets for LANSA WAMS?

We are looking for new weblets to incorporate into our packages...does anybody have any weblets for sale? We have created a few and would like to know what others have created. If you have any for sale, let me know. Thanks!

"Business Process Integration For The Rest Of Us"

October 16, 2007

LANSA announces the general availability of LANSA Composer, the first Business Process Integration (BPI) solution designed specifically for small and medium businesses. The first release of LANSA Composer is targeted to System i users, while a second release will expand to Windows and Linux users. BPI solutions are common in large companies, which can afford the cost and complexity involved. But today every business – large or small – is under pressure to automate their manual processes, better integrate their internal systems and securely share data with external parties. LANSA Composer is the first native System i solution to address all of these requirements and be packaged and priced for the mass market.

I personally believe this will be a rapidly embraced tool. My guess is that we will see plenty of demonstrations at the 2008 conference.

VAULT400 Awarded Value Add by IBM for System i (AS/400 iSeries) and other Platforms

For those of you that are now using our recommended method of Data Vaulting (Online Backup), you will be happy to hear that IBM has awarded VAULT400 with the Value Add Certification. This is further validation along with the IBM Server Proven Certification of what a great solution this has been for our clients. Just like LANSA, it will work support numerous platforms. All platforms that can run LANSA plus several others in your entire enterprise can be centrally backed up and managed with VAULT400.

For those of you that might not be familiar with VAULT400:
VAULT400 is a premier managed service for secure online backup and recovery. VAULT400 backs up an entire organization’s business-critical data to VAULT400’s secure data center. Safe and Off-site, the Encrypted Data is Available online at all times for Immediate, user-initiated Recovery. VAULT400 works seamlessly in an organization’s existing infrastructure with no additional hardware required.
Click here if you would like to learn more.

VAULT400 Press Release

Homebuilder Taps LANSA for Lead Management System

I read this article in Four Hundred Stuff:

Maronda Homes, a homebuilder that does business across the Midwest and the southern states, has installed a lead management system, based on LANSA Windows and System i application development technology, to help it sell new houses, LANSA announced last week. See the complete article

Thom Davidson joins IBM Advisory Council

R&K has been invited to participate in the IBM Advisory Council. Thom Davidson will be joining 20 companies selected nationally. The council will meet on July 24th & 25th in Chicago. I hope to bring back technology trend information compiled by IBM and their leading partners that we can share with our clients. LANSA will be a prominent topic in my discussions with IBM and the other firms that have been chosen.

Have a little fun during your coffee break--go boxing!

Just before COMMON, LANSA released RAMP Mania, an online boxing game that pits the speed of the Web against the quick wit of System i users. Simply put, you “box” your way to a score by eliminating unwanted function keys, green screens and dead-end modernization alternatives and, if the score doesn’t meet your personal goals, you can play again and again. RAMP Mania is a way to poke fun at those legacy components that annoy us. If you can’t beat them in the real world, at least you can in RAMP Mania’s virtual world!

Box your stress away at www.rampmania.com

LANSA RAMP Modernization Workshops

Spend 1/2 day and attend a RAMP Modernization workshop and discover how to modernize your System i applications using a business application framework for improved extendability, navigation and presentation, including isolating and reusing the best parts of your legacy applications.

We just held a couple of sessions at Rippe & Kingston. The reaction was Fantastic! Reading the literature, seeing Power Points and looking at some before and after pictures doesn't cut it!

You need to have that tactile experience that only a hands-on workshop provides.

If the schedule or location being offered by LANSA is not convenient...send me a request for a FREE Workshop. We will be happy to schedule one that meets your calendar so that the word will get spread. LANSA definetly got this one right!

LANSA Accepted into IBM's SOA Specialty

LANSA has been accepted into IBM's SOA Specialty, a certification program created to highlight software products that can further the creation and adoption of service oriented architecture (SOA). LANSA's primary tool for SOA development, called LANSA Integrator, was accepted into the program.
There are a myriad certification programs housed deep within Big Blue's PartnerWorld program. You've probably heard of the ServerProven and StorageProven certifications. Well, here's another: IBM's SOA Specialty, which is administered by the IBM SOA Foundation.

LANSA Releases Upgrade To RAMP Modernization Tool

"Among the new features shared with me are improved performance and enhanced productivity." Thom Davidson

LANSA has announced a new release of RAMP modernization tool for the System i platform that provides users with key features to improve performance and productivity, including multiple sessions, favorites folders, and 5250 screen wrappers.

A leading feature is the end user's ability to open and control multiple application framework windows at the same time. A framework window contains a new instance or a subset of the framework, for example, a specific application, a specific view of an application, or a specific business object. The ability to open and work within multiple windows naturally increases the user's productivity.

With the new release, users may also create personalized favorites folders, that is, a selection of application components containing only the business objects they use most frequently. By extension, an application designer may elect to allow multiple favorites folders (for example, order-entry favorites, end-of-month favorites, etc.) for different users or different periods of use to further simplify navigation and usability.

The third main feature is screen wrappers, that let developers put a graphical interface replacing one or more 5250 screens without having to analyze, rewrite, and retest the business logic within. These wrappers are graphical components that provide a fully functional and extendable user interface without having to change the server-side code.

"This new release provides features and functions that our early users of RAMP have been asking for," said John Siniscal, president of LANSA Inc. "As the RAMP customer base grows, we are learning and responding to the requirements that will make RAMP even more powerful and flexible for large-scale, real-world modernization projects. Customer feedback from both end-user organizations and ISVs has so far been enthusiastic and encouraging."

Learn More About RAMP and RAMP Services

Need Help with Product or Services

LANSA: A great developer tool

I've been a LANSA developer since 1990 and I have to say that it is one of my favorite development toolsets. I've done LANSA green-screen applications, reports, Lansa for the Web, and LANSA Integrator applications. I've found that I really like the repository and many of the tools and leverages that it brings to the table. Now, I'm even more excited as I just finished some LANSA WAMS training that was really great. The "bang for buck" that the LANSA IDE and development toolsets bring to the table is just incredible. I've coded in other languages, but never found either the satisfaction or the productivity that I get from using the LANSA toolsets. After using LANSA, I simply cannot imagine going back to using any other toolset as my mainstay for getting business applications developed and deployed rapidly. - Robert S. Sweney rsweney449@gmail.com