Tom, the CIO of ABC corporation, needs to modernize their logistics ERP system which runs on an aging AS/400 to meet new business requirements. The experts recommend implementing a business services layer on top of the AS/400 to develop new functionality, while retaining the backend. They create a proof-of-concept in 2 weeks demonstrating the new purchasing process integrated with the AS/400 using various products. Impressed, Tom asks them to implement and train his staff on the solution.

1. (1) Risk-free scenario to add new functions
(2) How to establish solid integration
(3)Easy-to-implement & open solution
AS/400 modernization scenario
Audience: CIO, CFO, general management
Harmony Services for I

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About this presentation
• we use a business scenario
o introducing Tom, a hard pressed CIO, and
his challenges
• we describe the solution:
o Architecture
o Products
o demo (video, configuration)
• we show how to implement
o our recommendations
o delivery in 2 weeks - production ready

3. • Case description
• 3 modernization scenarios (slide 11 onwards)
• The integration scenario (slide 19 onwards)
• Proof-of-concept overview (slide 26 onwards)
• How does this work ? (slide 37 onwards)
• 2 week delivery – how ? (slide 42 onwards)
• Useful links/info ( last slide)
Contents

4. Tom is the CIO at ABC, a large
corporation, and he is worried about
the AS/400 supporting the logistics
process (ERP) ....
Meet Tom

5. • a "standard" AS/400 ERP package
o in use since 1998
o 40% still "standard"
o 60% custom developed using RPG
o poorly documented
• which runs on the IBM i platform
o "5250" black/green screens
• supported by in-house staff
o that have lots of expertise
o Hard to recruit professionals
o There’s a need to fill-up positions considering the
average age is 52
The logistics process is supported by:

6. Amsterdam, 14-03-2013
Tom,
The board has approved our proposal to
restructure our warehousing and
purchasing process. Such in order to
improve efficiency and lower our costs.
Immediate action is required - our systems
need to change!
John Ranking,
CEO ABC corporation
order to restructure

7. • Implement one warehouse per country
o current: multiple warehouses
• More EU suppliers will be contracted
• Increase supplier involvement in logistics
chain
o more insight into our orders + suppliers'
purchasing expertise = efficiency !!!
o outsource transport planning
• Increase user & IT productivity
o More workers output, in same time, at same
costs!
business requirements:

8. Tom conducts a "satisfaction
survey", checking with the
heads of the departments to
check overall performance
AS/400 satisfaction survey

9. • Performance
• Stability
• Core functionality
• Business process support for the
logistics flow
• Quick turn-around time by IT
department
o fixes
o minor functionality updates
Users are satisfied with AS/400

10. • Outdated (5250) interface
• [lack of] flexibility
• management information
o not timely / not up-to-date
o no "self-service" possible
• Turn around time is too low for:
o major functionality updates
o new applications, like:
 customer self-service (web shop)
 mobile app support for
• suppliers, transporters and customers
• Business Intelligence requirements
User are dissatisfied with

11. A solution is needed
Tom is aware he needs to act. What
are the options open to Tom ?

12. Possible scenarios
• I: new standard software package
• II: plan new developments on AS/400
o RPG and web UI development
• III: new development on other platform
o Unix?
 supported on IBM i [hardware]
o open source?
 limited investments
o .NET ?
 already used for Office Automation

13. I: New standard software package ?
After some research it turns out
that this is not a viable option.
because ...

14. New package is no option
• Hardly any AS/400 packages available
• Non AS/400 package (like SAP)
o high initial costs (investment)
o additional development would be needed
 current AS/400 ERP system:
> 15 years of "fine-tuning"
o disinvestment of AS400 ERP
o training of staff
o implementation & migration
 takes a long time
 is expensive

15. Tom thinks it is risky to consider
developing new functionality on
the AS/400 using RPG ...
II: new developments on AS/400

16. • Increases "customization" ratio
o ratio stands at 60% [custom developed]
o would be even harder in future to migrate
• Additional hardware is required
o + software licensing costs up by > 15%
• Performance
o AS/400 tuning is labour intensive
• Long term AS/400 outlook is bleak
o AS/400 market is "shrinking"
 less standard applications
 less expertise available.
risks and impact

17. Tom is not in favour of developing
applications on other platforms
like Linux or .NET. He worries
about ...
III: New development on ....

18. • Stability
o is this the same as AS/400 ?
• Connectivity
o not easy to connect to AS/400
• Scalability and performance
• Investment in hardware and software
o + disinvestment of AS/400
• Re-training IT staff
o development and systems support
o (also considering the "age" factor)
• Tom sees this as a "Big bang" scenario
Unix, OpenSource or .NET platforms

19. Tom concludes that this is not the
right time to outphase the AS/400.
Overall conclusion
He decides to develop new
functionality on top of the AS/400
backend.
Tom needs advice ...

20. The experts advice
@Tom: smart decision [to retain AS/400]
Implement a business services layer
to create new business logic "on top
of the AS400. A “state-of-the-art”
user interface will replace 5250.
We have the expertise,the
experience and the solutions .... our
advice ....

21. Tom’s dilemma
A business services layer, sounds
complicated! What about integration
with the AS/400? Can you show me
how this would look like?

22. I’m here to help you
reduce ALL testing
effort to max 40%
We're here to help
It'll take me max 2
weeks to implement
integration with the
AS/400.
It'll take me max 2
weeks to implement
the business logic

23. Business services (logic, rules)
Presentation tier
“standard”
RPG / COBOL *pgm
“Headless”
(Open Access)
Copy of *pgm
Integration requires "headless" programs

24. business services / rules
JavaScript for presentation
"logic"/dialogs
“standard”
RPG / COBOL *pgm
Webservices to access AS/400
dev framework
Smart solutions require an architecture
HTML(5): content/stucture
CSS: structure/look and feel/layout
Presentation
tier

25. Harmony
“standard”
RPG / COBOL *pgm
WAS400: Webservices Adapter AS/400
Isis (JAVA) / Sencha
HTML5 / Java script / Sencha
Our recommended solutions

26. The Proof-of-concept
Impressive slides, but, given the business
requirements (improve the purchasing
process) , can you show me in a POC ?

27. The Proof-Of-Concept
We have created a flowchart and
"animation“ of your “new"
purchasing process
There's a lot of stuff ...
Please (re)view with your
IT experts
We have analyzed the AS/400
sales and purchasing integration.

28. Your business users/experts can modify/maintain themselves - no need for
(expensive) IT staff!
This flowchart is available online to share/modify. Saves time & money!
The overview of your purchasing process

29. Sales Order Entry
“co”-existence old & new
Harmony purchasing
business rules
WAS400 web services for AS/400
Modern UI
-browser AND
mobile
Business logic &
business rules
-easy to maintain
Web services
1
2
3

30. Sales Order Entry
WAS400: monitors database & applies changes
Business services layer (all Logic)
The solution in action
RPG program started; user enters data, order files + stock are updated
0
0

31. Sales Order Entry
WAS400: monitors database & applies changes
HARMONY Business services layer (all Logic)
The solution in action
If WAS400 detects a database change it sends the change to Harmony
1
1

32. Sales Order Entry
WAS400: monitors database & applies changes
HARMONY Business services layer (all Logic)
Issue an
PO?
The solution in action
Harmony receives the transaction – calculates stock level and issues a PO
(Purchase Order) when stock level falls below threshold
2
2

33. Sales Order Entry
WAS400: monitors database & applies changes
Business services layer (all Logic)
Issue an
PO?
PO
>
10.000?
The solution in action
PO value more than 10,000 ?
-> approval required
3
3

34. Sales Order Entry
WAS400: monitors database & applies changes
Business services layer (all Logic)
Issue an
PO?
PO
>
10.000?
The solution in action
Manually start “Receive
goods” process
4

35. Sales Order Entry
WAS400: monitors database & applies changes
Business services layer (all Logic)
all goods
received?
Issue an
PO?
PO
>
10.000?
The solution in action
Check if PO quantity
is “open”
5
5

36. Sales Order Entry
WAS400: monitors database & applies changes
Business services layer (all Logic)
all goods
received?
Issue an
PO?
PO
>
10.000?
The solution in action
Harmony submits
goods received to WAS
WAS400 sends data to
AS 400
6
7
6
7

37. AS400 AND “NEW” PURCHASING
Establish integration

38. Integration between sales &
purchasing
1. Sales orders are created on AS/400
a. after order is created an RPG program checks to see if a
purchase order has to be created (for a specific
warehouse)
2. AS/400 purchasing =hard coded logic
a. We'll move all logic to the business services layer

39. Integration between warehousing &
purchasing
1. Goods received at a warehouse
a. a RPG program checks all goods are delivered and updates
stock on the AS/400 (for a specicific warehouse)
2. We'll move all logic to the business services layer
a. and we'll create new application for goods reception

40. 1. WAS400, our AS/400 web services adapter
a. monitors all sales order transactions
b. generates web services
2. Harmony, for the business services layer, to
control
i. If a Purchase Order (PO) has to be raised
ii. Approval when a PO exceeds a certain amount
iii. To check if all goods are received
3. Goods reception, warehousing, application
a. Standard process step.
i. (browser and mobile version)
b. WAS400 will update stock QTY in AS/400 DB.
What is needed to solve this

41. DEMO ON YOUTUBE
showing the real stuff .... 4 minutes of your time ….

42. Great stuff. POC well done!
You understand our business and the
solution promises to be very flexible.
Please implement & train my staff.

43. Implementing the process
Nikola: The best things about Harmony
a. it's all based on spreadsheets
b. powerful and easy
c. scalable and fast !
• I have used the Flowchart (slide 28) to
generate the new process [in Harmony]
• I have modified this process:
a. added products & supplier data
i. (included the AS/400 key fields)
b. implemented decision logic
c. implemented orders "push" to spreadsheet
d. added VAT adapter (for new foreign
suppliers)

44. Configuring the AS/400 adapter
• Installed and configured the monitoring
of sales orders
• Created AS/400 <-> Harmony mapping
Using datamodel (and assisted by developers)
a. AS/400 order details to "sales sensor"
b. Goods received mapped to RPG program
Paul: WAS400 best features
a. All RPG functionality is exposed !
b. Simple and powerful mapping
c. great performance / minimal
overhead

45. Creating the test stories
• I have used the Harmony configuration
that Nikola created to configure initial
tests
a. Using AS/400 test data which was supplied by
your users
Minto: Automated testing =
Testimony
a. Testing becomes fun!
b. Anyone can use it!

46. Wonderful job done!
The results are impressive - delivering a
working and tested solution in 2 weeks!

47. Closing
@Tom,
thank you for your compliments.
If you or your staff need support -
let us know - and we will collaborate
online. We use Google DOCS - great
for sharing ... saves time (&
money)!

48. Purchasing implementation details
Part Number of Total rows
Rules 20 (50) -
Dialogs (process steps) 10 (15) 60
Reference files 2 (4) 120
MDT none (1)
DT 1 (4) 10
Expressions 5 (10)
Templates 3 (5)
Groups 5 (8)
POC (full version + roll-out) 2 (4)
(in brackets) is the estimate for a fully developed version
POC = 2 weeks / fine tuning & roll-out another 2 weeks
MDT = multi-dimensional decision table.

49. For more information
• Visit
• www.liquidsequence.com
• Release overview
– (all new features)
• Business process flowchart
• click here to view the Lucid Chart online
• WAS400, Harmony and Testimony videos on YouTube
• http://www.youtube.com/user/LiquidSequence/
• WAS400: How to implement a business services layer on top of the AS/400
For RPG developers and system engineers
• http://www.slideshare.net/LiquidSequence/was400-web-services-
adapter-for-the-as400
• How to create your process with Harmony
• Available soon
• Creating and running tests with Testimony
• Available soon
• Architecture overview (cloud / private enterprise)
• click here to view the Lucid Chart online