Australian apparel retailer Stafford has implemented lookserver for Open Access as part of a project to deliver online order processing. The organisation last year developed an iPhone-optimised graphical version of their order processing application for use by their department store concessions. With the majority of their applications written in RPG however, Stafford had no native support for emerging technologies and delivery channels, and IT Manager Rod Riley was cautious about investing further in an ageing architecture to fulfil their long-standing need for online order processing.
“We had just completed a mobile project that delivered the projected customer service benefits and an approximate 14% sales increase for our premium Anthony Squires product. However, technically it was constrained by the ‘dead-end’ 5250 green screen architecture that forms the basis of our core applications.”
“We’ve invested significantly in customising the RPG-based business rules and integrating these applications to deliver effective systems support for our business, so we’d rather not dump that investment and start again when a new technology comes along. We needed to review our business priorities and assess whether our IBM i technology platform could support our plans.”
Following some research, Stafford identified IBM’s Rational Open Access, coupled with lookserver for Open Access, as the strategic investment that would safeguard their IT investments. Not only would it enable them to deliver the online functionality they currently required, but the single handler would open their architecture to virtually any current or future delivery channel or technology.
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