LANSA, LANSA Consulting, LANSA Software

LANSA Software from Rippe & Kingston

"Rippe & Kingston combines the LANSA Products with our Services to deliver high quality solutions." Thom Davidson

LANSA provides a comprehensive suite of software products designed to assist customers in rapidly implementing business Rippe & Kingston LANSA Partner solutions. LANSA's Solutions allow customers to reduce operational costs and improve customer service - providing a rapid Return on Investment. In addition, LANSA's products make effective use of new technologies such as Java and XML, while reducing the risk of deploying these emerging technologies.

Rippe & Kingston's focus is on protecting investments that our customers have already made in systems and enhancing those systems through technology to increase business effectiveness and opportunity. With this foundation in mind, Rippe & Kingston provides both the LANSA Products and Services to our clients.

Visual LANSA
RAMP
Open .NET
Cloud
Commerce
Composer
Portlets | Web Parts
aXes

Visual LANSA from Rippe & Kingston

Visual LANSA

Rapid Development of portable applications

Rapid development of portable applications Visual LANSA provides a comprehensive Windows-based development environment. You can deploy applications to many platforms including Windows, IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400), UNIX, Linux and Wireless devices. Visual LANSA uses LANSA’s Meta Data Repository and RDML (Rapid Development & Maintenance Language) 4GL to develop both client and server programs. You only need one set of easy-to-learn skills to rapidly develop highly graphical browser and client/server applications.

Advanced development made simple

Visual LANSA is a development tool tightly focused on just one thing — rapidly creating high quality commercial applications. But it is not simply a more productive Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Visual LANSA’s platform independent Meta Data Repository and high-level business-focused 4GL lets you develop 5250, Web and Windows rich-client programs — from a single code base.

You can develop and deploy highly graphical Windows and Web applications with native/seamless access to System i and ODBC-compliant databases — utilizing LANSA’s powerful and proven Meta Data Repository technology and fast open middleware. Anyone who understands the essentials of fields, files and programs can rapidly develop flexible ebusiness and client/server applications with Visual LANSA.

The simplicity and power of the LANSA RDML is portable and you can centralize common application intelligence in Visual LANSA’s portable distributed Meta Data Repository. You gain the native performance benefit of compiled C/C++ but you debug at the LANSA RDML level.

New and existing LANSA developers will enjoy all the productivity benefits a Windows development environment brings: point-and-click to select fields and files, cut-and-paste to rapidly edit and debug and a powerful forms painter lets you design graphical applications.

Test and deploy to multiple platforms with ease

With the Visual LANSA Framework you can rapidly prototype, develop and deploy applications to the Web and Windows — from a single code base you can develop for a single system such as the System i or Windows today, then split and move programs and data — without changing source code — to a mixture of System i, Windows, Web, UNIX and Linux platforms tomorrow.

You can support XP, Vista, Windows 7 and System i from a single set of LANSA source code. You can even deploy to Wireless devices. You test on a single Windows system and then deploy to whatever mixture of platforms you require. Visual LANSA also provides an online client and remote server RDML level debugger.

Learn more about Visual LANSA by contacting Rippe & Kingston.

RAMP from LANSA (Revolutionizing System i Application Modernization)

LANSA's Rapid Application Modernization Process (RAMP) is a single integrated solution that addresses both your immediate and strategic modernization requirements. What's unique about RAMP is that it is a "reengineering" product that lets you rapidly consolidate your applications into a graphic application framework and then incrementally replace your legacy programs with new reengineered components in a time frame that makes sense to your organization.

Why is RAMP Different?

Until now, companies planning to modernize System i applications were forced to either start all over again or continue to build upon and be limited by their legacy 5250 programs. System replacements are costly and have a high level of risk. Refacing and code conversion tools use your existing applications as the foundation, which is what you’re trying to move away from by modernizing. RAMP is the perfect hybrid between these two drastically different approaches. By providing an Application Framework that consolidates functionality from existing System i 5250 applications and new components into a composite application, RAMP address both immediate tactical issues and long-term redevelopment strategies.

A staged approach to green-screen application modernization: First, you use the Application Framework to design a brand new system – eliminating the problems inherent in refacing of using your existing application as a foundation. Next, you populate the Application Framework with repurposed functionality from your existing applications — reducing the cost and risk of failure associated with system replacement while matching the speed of delivery of refacing and code conversion tools. Then, you can incrementally deliver high-priority enhancements and gradually reengineer or extend your applications. RAMP lets you "mix-and-match" existing 5250 screens and batch jobs with new components that can execute against System i, Windows, UNIX or Linux servers in a Web browser or as Windows rich-client applications. You determine the level of modernization. You determine the level of consolidation. You determine the needs for each part of your application portfolio. You can Web-enable parts of your application to provide a self-service portal, consume and publish Web services or deliver new functionality to meet business requirements – all within the same Application Framework that serves as a platform for full modernization.

Rippe & Kingston's staff of professionals are experts in LANSA products and solutions. As a IBM Premier Business Partner and the certifications to prove our expertise ...our clients are assured of project success.

Opening Up the LANSA Repository to Microsoft .NET Developers

LANSA Open for .NET allows Microsoft .NET Framework developers easy access to data and information on remote Servers via the LANSA Repository. Since its inception, LANSA’s Repository has protected the integrity of data for thousands of companies using the IBM i worldwide. With LANSA Open for .NET, LANSA brings the productivity, discipline, security and performance of its Repository to the .NET world. By storing enterprise business rules centrally in the LANSA Repository, IBM i and .NET programs can be subjected to the same validation constraints. The results are zero duplication of source code, tighter security, faster performance and cleaner, more reliable data for IBM i organizations.

Just about every non-LANSA application contains source code that validates data before information is inserted, updated, or deleted in the database. Even though these rules are critical to safeguarding the integrity of enterprise data, they are often duplicated in multiple programs in today’s mixed platform environments. Not only is this a maintenance nightmare, but also it can introduce validation variations and application inconsistencies.

LANSA for .NET Architecture In LANSA, business rules critical to enforcing data accuracy are stored centrally in its metadata Repository rather than in the database or application. This locks down system-wide validations, calculations and other business rules by delivering a completely independent Data Services Layer that governs all database access. With LANSA’s Repository, these business rules, algorithms and calculations reside within the Repository and are not sprinkled across many programs. Changes made to these Business Rules, algorithms and calculations do not require the client programs to be recompiled or redeployed, whether the client is a .NET or IBM i application. Implementing a Data Services layer for LANSA Open for .NET dramatically reduces the time and cost associated with traditional application development and maintenance.

Rippe & Kingston's staff of professionals are experts in LANSA products and solutions. As a Microsoft & IBM Partner with the certifications to prove our expertise...our clients are assured of project success. Rippe & Kingston's LANSA Service Professionals can assist you with our LANSA Services in the deployment of LANSA Open for .NET LANSA is a development environment and suite of business solutions that organizations use to rapidly implement business systems that make effective use of new technologies.

LANSA Cloud

LANSA Cloud Computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.

Cloud Computing is generally broken down into 4 areas:

Software as a Service (SaaS) - Special-purpose software made available by a third party over the Internet, with a usage-based pricing model. Some call it "application as a service." A couple of examples are Google Apps, Salesforce.com & Zoho. A number of LANSA partners as well as LANSA themselves offer solutions using Cloud Computing. LANSA makes available their 1SYNC solution via a SaaS model. R&K offers our contract management solution (LANSA software based) Contract Guardian to hospitals using the SaaS model as well. LANSA RAMP can make any iSeries, System i, AS/400 application a potential SaaS candidate.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - A service that provides the core computing resources and network fabric for the cloud deployment. Examples include Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud, Rackspace Hosting's Mosso service.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - An integrated software environment for which systems administrators and developers can build, test and deploy custom applications. The Google Apps Engine is a perfect illustration. This has some interesting potential for LANSA. This is particularly true as Web 2.0 becomes more of a reality for everyone.

Core Cloud Services - Stand-alone components build on cloud platforms that can be woven into cloud applications, such as billing, systems management and storage. Amazon's S3 and Microsoft BizTalk Services are cases in point. I believe LANSA has huge opportunities by offering their LANSA Composer in a similar fashion.

Learn how Rippe & Kingston can help you role out your Cloud Solutions by contacting us.

LANSA Commerce

It is a suite of Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) components built upon LANSA's powerful, award-winning productivity tools. The framework approach rapidly generates iSeries (AS/400) and Windows eBusiness applications leveraging your existing ERP application. External users integrate with existing logic such as pricing and inventory allocation with real-time data access to provide award winning customer self service to your business partners and users.

How does it work?

Virtually every commerce application needs an order entry function – whether for products or services – that handles choosing the item to be ordered, displaying the price, entering the quantity, validating the order and a whole host of other tasks involved in an eCommerce transaction. Instead of defining each of these functions for every project, LANSA Commerce Edition provides a proven single Order Entry component that completes all of the necessary steps. For instance, LANSA automatically passes the required parameters to the ERP’s Advanced Pricing module and receives the pricing and break points specific to that user. LANSA also accesses real-time information such as inventory and account history to provide immediate up-to-date information to the user. Whether you’re running your ERP without modifications or it has been heavily customized, LANSA allows easy integration with this data and extends it with B2B and B2C functionality using these pre-built components.

Next Step:

Contact Us. Rippe & Kingston's LANSA Service Professionals can assist you with our LANSA Services in the deployment of LANSA Commerce Edition.

LANSA Composer

LANSA Composer is a design and execution platform for integrating business activities involving transport and transformation of data and custom business processing. It satisfies the four key requirements of a business process integration solution: Every business is under pressure to automate manual processes, better integrate internal systems and securely share data with external parties. But most Business Process Integration (BPI) tools are unsuited for quick and simple solutions to urgent business requirements. LANSA Composer delivers the power of BPI technology in a highly visual environment so designers and business analysts, rather than developers, can rapidly automate and integrate business processes.

What can LANSA Composer do for your business?

A Business Process Integration solution like LANSA Composer differs from other middleware because it takes a top-down, process-centric approach. The goal is to automate manual processes and eliminate re-keying of data by reducing the amount of paper, email, fax and human interaction required to complete a given business process. LANSA Composer is the first BPI solution designed specifically for the heartland of the System i/iSeries community – the small or medium sized business. It is simple to install, easy to use and truly affordable.

LANSA Portlet Generator

Creating custom portlets has traditionally been difficult and required skilled J2EE developers. The e.ssential Portlet Generator and LANSA dramatically accelerate and simplify the entire process" Thom Davidson

In addition, LANSA users can leverage their investment in LANSA based applications and rapidly convert them to Portlets for WebSphere, essential Enterprise Portal or any Portal that supports the industry standard of JSR168. e.ssential LANSA

Microsoft SharePoint Web Part from LANSA WAM. The Lansa WAM Container Web Part is developed using the following technologies and versions: .NET framework 3.5 SharePoint Services 3.0 Windows Server 2003 Visual Studio 2008 C# .NET development language.

Features Include:

Drag and drop Portlet layout for new and existing LANSA Web Application Modules (WAMS)
Theme Management for the generated portlets
LANSA Portlet to Portlet communication
Targeting of Portlets for use with multiple applications
External communication with Portlets using Web Services and most programming languages including JAVA, LANSA, RPG, etc.
LANSA Wizards for Portlets to automatically create LANSA based Portlets through a simple dialogue process

These add up to a complete portlet development environment for LANSA and Portal customers. Using these tools enable one to create portlets on demand, leverage existing enterprise applications, extend portlet creation to a broader development group, empower business users to create, customize and manage portlets, open portlet communication to a broad range of tools and maximize the portal investment.

Rippe & Kingston's staff of professionals are experts in LANSA products and solutions. As a IBM Premier Business Partner and the certifications to prove our expertise ...our clients are assured of project success.

aXes

"Transform your 5250 green-screens into Rich Internet Applications without changing a Line of Code and then Access them from Anywhere you can use a Web Browser ." Gerald Combs

aXes automatically transforms your current 5250 green-screen business applications into modern Web browser-based applications – without changing any code. Using the 'eXtensions' feature of aXes, you can enrich and add real business process value to your 5250 applications with a host of Windows user interface constructs – including dropdowns, checkboxes, radio buttons, calendars, charts, hyperlinks, images and a full color palette. And there's more... straight out-of-the-box, aXes includes remote access to spooled print jobs, remote SQL access to IBM i databases and server administration.

Try the free evaluation version and start to enjoy the benefits and transformation as shown below.

aXes eXtensions modernises a 5250 application and converts it into a rich Internet application.

Rippe & Kingston's staff of professionals are experts in LANSA products and solutions. As a IBM Premier Business Partner and the certifications to prove our expertise ...our clients are assured of project success.