Like many of us, your company is probably looking for ways to reduce costs and increase revenues during these tough economic times. For those of you using the IBM i platform, one way to achieve both of these goals is to deploy Web services and XML processing directly on your Power System. XML has rapidly become the de facto standard for data interchange between customers, vendors, and web-based services. It’s much easier to deploy than Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) which often requires expensive software, VAN contracts, and per-document fees. And as a bonus, XML provides built-in encryption to protect sensitive data and satisfy compliance rules.
When the opportunity arises and you need to deploy XML and web services, it’s crucial to integrate with your existing ERP and CRM applications and to get it up and running fast. There are a few critical factors you should look for in a good IBM i web services solution. A successful IBM i web services solution should:
• Be affordable to deploy
• Maximize your RPG and Cobol developer skills
• Solve the complex communications requirements of web services
• Use strong encryption to protect your sensitive data
Many of our customers are using the Alliance XML/400 product to meet the challenges of XML and web services. With a built-in XML-to-DB2 mapping application, secure web communications, and built-in encryption, there is no web service integration project too tough for Alliance XML/400. Here are some examples of recent successful customer projects:
• IBM i order management integration with web-based shopping cart for Weaver Popcorn.
• Lawson purchasing integration with IBM i ERP solution for Bed Bath & Beyond.
• IBM i customer loyalty program integration with RightNow CRM for Bass Pro.
• IBM i integration with Microsoft SharePoint servers for Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn.
These projects helped companies reduce costs, increase customer loyalty, and bring on new customers and new sources of revenues.
Alliance XML/400 has stood the test of time and has a rich set of capabilities. It handles the technology challenges that are tough for standard RPG and Cobol application developers. These include Proxy server negotiation, WebDAV file transfer, encryption, Base64 encoding, XML to DB2 translation, and HTTP and HTTPS client and server applications. All of this is available without a requirement for IBM Websphere, the Apache server, expensive hardware upgrades, or time-consuming API programming.
You can read more about Alliance XML/400 here.
I hope you’ll find that by knowing more about XML for System i you’ll be able to profit from the next business opportunity that comes your way.