Letter From the President
Greetings!
Welcome to the Fall issue of ASNA Edge! Last month we enjoyed seeing many of you at ASNApalooza, our ninth annual developers' conference. BluePhoenix Solutions CEO Arik Kilman joined me in welcoming attendees to the conference. He gave an overview of how our exciting merger affects you, our valued customers, including how our improved financial position enables the additional investment in new products and services. And he also discussed the benefits customers will reap from our efficient and expanded professional services delivery. You can read more about ASNApalooza 2007 in this issue of ASNA Edge.
This month I'm excited to announce that Colleen Pence who, as many of you know, has worked in our marketing department since 1996, recently accepted the position of public relations manager for both ASNA and BluePhoenix. Colleen's work with the management teams of both organizations and the media will continue to raise awareness about the stellar migration and modernization strategies that ASNA and BluePhoenix provide. Please join me in congratulating Colleen!
This issue of ASNA Edge is full of great information including a new technical article about integrating Monarch with the "rest of the world" as well as a new technical tip for AVR for .NET developers. You'll also want to be sure to read about the migration success that ASNA ISV Pathix is enjoying with ASNA Monarch in this issue's featured case study. In addition we've provided an insightful State of the System i article that discusses how ASNA can help you with your migration and/or modernization plans no matter what platform you prefer. And, you'll get a chance to meet Forrest Forbus, ASNA customer and Elvis impersonator, in our Getting to Know... feature.
As always, ASNA would love to spotlight your success in a case study in ASNA Edge. If you're interested in helping us get out the word about your successful solutions, please contact colleen.pence@asna.com.
Sincerely,
President of ASNA
ASNA Joins BluePhoenix as Premier Sponsor of Gartner Application, Architecture, Development and Integration Summit
This December 3-5 ASNA and BluePhoenix Solutions will exhibit as premier sponsors of Gartner's Application, Architecture, Development and Integration Summit in Las vegas: “Getting Down to Business with SOA.” The ASNA/BluePhoenix team will meet with attendees to discuss how to open their mainframe and midrange applications to the future.
Full story.
State of the System i
It’s no secret that System i sales are doing poorly. The third quarter of 2005 was the last revenue growth quarter posted by the System i. Back then, Bill Donohue, System i vice president of worldwide sales, said, "We've started a run, and we're gaining momentum. The market is moving into our sweet spot, which is solutions based on integration and simplicity." Read more.
Alas, that sweet spot didn’t last too long. For the 3rd quarter of 2007, System i revenues were down 21 percent. The graph below shows the annual history of System i revenue. The source information for this graph was gleaned from an IT jungle article and from IBM annual reports. The System i has all but been in a revenue slide since its introduction.
Full story.
ASNA Debuts New Customer Support Site
This month ASNA debuted our new DevNet.ASNA.COM support web site. This updated website includes comprehensive support information including articles, product documentation, downloads, tutorials and tips and techniques that you can easily navigate to and access.
Full story.
AVR for .NET 8.2 coming in spring 2008
AVR for .NET 8.2 will be released in the spring of 2008. This release will be the last version of AVR for .NET to support legacy DataGate COM print files. The large majority of AVR for .NET customers are using DataGate .NET print files (these print files are created and edited inside Visual Studio). However, a few AVR for .NET customers may be using legacy COM print files, which were originally created with AVR Classic, with their .NET applications.
Full story.
Pathix Uses ASNA Monarch to Revitalize Its Flagship Software
Pathix, a division of ACROHELIPRO Global Services, Inc, specializes in management solutions for industries such as government/military, communications, insurance, utilities, engineering, aviation, and aerospace. They sell a world-class aviation management software solution called Navixa, which is used by aviation companies to manage the operation, repair and overhaul of hundreds of aircraft around the world.
Although Navixa is a mature and stable product, prospect feedback was starting to reveal a substantial weakness: Navixa required the System i to run which was the cause of many missed opportunities, since many prospects have hardware standards that exclude this platform. To solve this problem in a timely and effective manner, Pathix turned to ASNA for help.
Full story.
Integrating Monarch With the Rest of the World
Using Non-Display File .ASPX Pages
The ASNA Monarch® 3.1 Framework now provides for application integration between Monarch and “non-Monarch” application classes. Using Monarch’s Command class, stateless C#, VB.NET and AVR for .NET ASPX pages can employ CALL/Parm with both stateful interactive and non-interactive Monarch program classes. And, using the Monarch Job’s ShowPage method, stateful programs can initiate stateless web page requests and wait for the web application to return to the program.
Full story.
Getting to Know...
From time to time, ASNA Edge features customer profiles. The intent of these customer profiles is to show a more personal side of our customers. Let's take a minute to get to know Forrest Forbus.
Forrest is the Intergalactic Exalted Cosmic Hyper Programmer (or a Systems Analyst in common vernacular) for Managment Control, Inc. He has been with the company since 1991; 8 years. He lives in Alexander City, Alabama with his wife, Linda, and three of their five kids (the other two are in college, but visit frequently, especially when they want more money).
Full story.
ASNA International Update
with Derek Cooper, ASNA Europe
Greetings from ASNA's European office! Here are news updates on what's been happening in Europe these last few weeks.
After completing our most recent Monarch migration in Europe (read the case study on Microsoft's Web site) we have several other System i to .NET migration projects underway. One of these migrations is for an ISV in the UK which will be completed shortly by the ASNA Services Group.
Full story.
ASNApalooza 2007
Our 9th annual developers' conference was a resounding success and we think our attendees said it best:
"From the welcome session to the closing session, from the keynote speakers to the receptions, ASNA personnel have gone above and beyond to make certain that everything is in order and everyone is getting the information they need."
--Chris Houser, Integrity Consulting
Full story.
AVR for .NET Tech Tip
Using cookies with AVR for .NET browser-based apps
Cookies provide a way to store user-specific information on a user's computer. Cookie values persist across sessions so that any cookie values you write for a user will be available the next time the user starts the browser. For example, it's built into ASP.NET's forms authentication to create a cookie to optionally persist user sign-in information. In this case, the cookie creation is implicit--the forms authenticate engine creates it for you. It's also possible, though, to create your own cookie values to persist other information for the user. For example, you may persist the starting customer number of a list so that when the user returns to app, the list starts displaying customers from where the user last listed customers. This article shows how to read and write cookie values.
Full story.
ASNA Education Schedule and One-day Technical Seminars
ASNA seminars fill up fast. Click here for dates and details on our complete 2007 and 2008 seminar schedule.
Our one-day technical seminars are also coming to a city near you. These exciting seminars show you the powerful solutions you and your team can create with ASNA's .NET technologies. Click here for dates and details on our 2007 and 2008 one-day seminars.