October 2010 - Issue 60
   Eden Watt
Eden Watt,
VP of Professional Services

Project activity has continued to keep the LANSA Professional Services team busy during 2010. Here are a couple of highlights from some customer projects in the areas of eCommerce and social media.

A number of customer organizations - both old and new - are rolling out next generation WAMs and LANSA Commerce Edition-powered Web sites this year. One example is LANSA customer Carole Fabrics, a subsidiary of Hunter Douglas, who has recently released their second generation Web site built with LANSA. This highly interactive and graphical Web site allows designers to browse fabrics and custom create products online. Check out a video of their exciting new Web site.

Typically, eCommerce projects involve a lot more than technical development and configuration. We not only work closely with our customers' IT departments on the roll-out of a site but also with many customers' marketing and sales organizations on their roll-out plans, which may include usability testing and planning for customer announcements and promotional activities (like Carole Fabric's video). In fact, some of these experiences have been parlayed into several interesting posts on LANSA's iOpener blog. Keep your eye out for two upcoming posts from LANSA's Directors of Professional Services Steve Collins and Lana Ho on "Tips for a Successful eCommerce Roll-out and Onboarding Strategy" and "Supplier Portals."

Social Media, the hottest topic on the Internet (and at the cinema), continues to drive activity for LANSA Services with both our customer projects and our own initiatives to collaborate with you.

One recent instance is the American Legion, a grass roots organization who has always been focused on collaboration with their members. LANSA is helping to enable communication and organization between members and the American Legion posts via social media. Similar to Facebook, the American Legion has implemented user-to-user messaging and group-type forums to enable members to find and connect with other members in their vicinity or with similar interests.

Remember to check out our iOpener blog over the next few months to see some of the latest updates on these topics and more.

Regards,

Eden Watt
VP of Professional Services

The 2010 Distribution Solutions Conference
October 25 - 27 in Tampa, FL

OMNI User Conference
October 26 in Oakbrook Terrace, IL

VAI User Conference 2010
November 4 - 6 in Orlando, FL

iSeries Devcon 2010
November 15 - 17 in Las Vegas, NV

SCUG Holiday Networking Event
December 8 in Long Beach, CA

Partner News

LANSA Data Sync Direct Gives Pernod Ricard a Framework for Two-way Communication

Pernod Ricard USA is the premium spirits and wine supplier in the U.S. and the largest subsidiary of the France-based Pernod Ricard SA, a top player in the global spirits and wine industry. The Company is focused on the high-margin segment and has a leading premium brand in virtually all key spirits and wine categories. Pernod Ricard USA is using LANSA Data Sync Direct to synchronize supply chain information with its customers using GS1 standards - and the 1SYNC data pool to communicate GTIN and GLN data to the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN). Read more

2010 iPulse Survey - Initial Results

Back in September, we asked to get your input via a brief survey on the state of the IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400) market.

Over 1,700 participants worldwide completed the iPulse survey, representing the views from a broad range of industries across 50 countries. Among those participants, the following trends have emerged:

  • 4 percent say they are moving to a package
  • 25 percent of applications are idling in maintenance mode
  • 58 percent will develop new applications or modernize what they have
  • 26 percent say there is no threat to the IBM i platform in their shop
  • 49 percent of shops say they have no budget for new software

Final results will be tallied and presented in a comprehensive report at a later date. Read more

The Four Hundred
 "Software Vendors Adapt to the Social Media"
September 28, 2010
CFO World
 "RPG and COBOL Go Mobile with aXes"
October 11, 2010

Thinking Beyond Modernization — A Strategy for Your IBM i

Join LANSA for this Webcast at the free System iNetwork Application Modernization virtual event.

The bar has been raised considerably as modernization projects are now expected to be more forward-thinking.

In this Webcast you will hear Warren Fristensky, CIO of John Wiley & Sons, explain how he has navigated his Fortune 1000 print and publishing company through significant industry changes and how the adoption of the Internet forced John Wiley to modernize their existing IBM i applications to stay competitive.

October 21 at 11:30 a.m. CT
Enroll Now

 

eLearning - Find out More
   

In the Know About

LANSA Documentation

When was the last time you updated your LANSA Documentation? Did you know that almost 85% of the 40+ LANSA manuals have been updated since January 2010? Refresh your complete set of documentation here. The document, "Tips for use of LANSA's Online Documentation," can help you navigate the online documentation.

If you are new to LANSA or even an "old hand," you might want to review the LANSA Documentation Roadmap Guide, which provides a quick reference on commonly used references and resources based on your role in the LANSA development process - including Administrators, Developers and Project Leaders. The Roadmap Guide also includes a helpful LANSA Glossary to assist your understanding of the terms and concepts used in LANSA Documentation and other communications.