Re: Looking for like-minded programmers who use the

Bob, et al.

Have y'all looked at the screen modernization tools like BCD's Presto or Profound Logic or looksoftware? You can get a new look very quickly sometimes - some of these are scrapers on steroids, and they also may have teh ability to convert existing display resources into a new way of working - like Profound does, it can make DSPFs work with RPG Open Access, stuff like that.

In my way of thinking, your users could then choose which interface works better - the one with the standard 5250 emulator and the one that is usually browser-based. They could be given desktop shortcuts for both.

The initial cost of a pretty dramatic change is not all that high, esp. compared to moving to what you're talking about, right?

Regards
Vern

On 6/26/2018 10:57 AM, Bob Cagle wrote:

Andrew - Thanks for spelling it all out. I was aware of all these details and the CNC recommendation. Basically E1 is too expensive for our small company budget.

We just need to look at what we can do to modernize what we currently have - or migrate to a cheaper ERP. Not sure there is one.

p.s. Someone earlier mentioned the JDE World GUI tool: We have used this in the past and the users hated it.

Thanks

Bob Cagle
IT Manager
Lynk


From: Andrew Lopez (SXS US)

We migrated from BPCS directly over to E1, but if would be really hard to believe anyone could do a World-->E1 upgrade for no cash outlay. What kills a traditional iSeries shop is that you're used to being able to run everything on one system. With E1, there are piles of >interacting software bits. The deployment server has to be a Windows box. The development machines (the ones you do modifications to versions, program development, manage packages, etc.) are normally Windows boxes. The web servers can be either Web Logic or >Websphere, and Websphere can run on your i. Oracle is the only database on the development machines, but it can support MS SQL, DB2, MySQL or Oracle on the Enterprise Server.
The person who normally builds your deployment packages and sets up the software is a CNC (Configurator Network Computing) specialist. You cannot live without these guys. They have to know web servers, databases, support C++ development, manage a host of >configuration settings and be overall system architects. You can learn it, but it is a job where, if you're only supporting one company, you're actively losing skills. In my humble view, you need someone who is doing it full time, supporting the multiple operating >systems/web servers/databases, java components so they are flexible enough to manage the product.
We died when we tried to do it ourselves. And if you do hire a CNC full time, they will have a lot of free time on a stable, smaller system (the poor guys die when there are lots of packages and rollouts).
E1 is a bear. We are installing 9.2 now, and it takes a fully qualified CNC about a month to get the software up and running with all the pieces speaking to each other. Our former I/T director couldn't believe that, but it held true in our original 2009 implementation, and >upgrade in 2012 and another right now.