From: Bernard Robertson-Dunn
- There is a perceived need for vendor independence. This includes
application development methodologies, programming paradigms, products
and architectures.
- Organisation have changed from steep hierarchies to flattened
hierarchies
- Network management is replacing vertical management
- There is a change to team based management
- The customer should have a single point of contact for all business
with the organisation
- The customer should deal with the same person over multiple contacts.
- The user will perform as much processing as possible during customer
contact time
- The time required to complete the work will be minimised
- There is a need for empowerment of staff and audit trail of actions
- Multi-skilled and multi-function teams need access to multiple
applications
------------------------------
Subject: 4.5 What does business expect from IT?
From: Bernard Robertson-Dunn
- New applications should be aligned with both the user's view and the
business process view. Existing functionally aligned systems are not
appropriate
- Applications need to provide a consistent user interface
- Application complexity needs to be hidden
- The user interaction must be flexible
- Consistent information across all applications
- A variety of user interface styles to reflect the needs of the work
- Users should be able to modify business rules without reference to IT
staff
- IT systems will support all activity performed by the user, not just
a part
- An ability to evolve IT systems to reflect changing business
requirements
- It is essential that there be integrity of transactional processes
------------------------------
Subject: 4.6 What is Business Process Reengineering?
From: Ravi Kalakota
Reengineering is the organizational process required to align people,
processes and technology with strategies to achieve business integration. It
can also be thought of as taking a business in its current state and forming
an organizational and operational blueprint to redirect skills, policies,
information (data), cultural values, organizational structures, processing
and incentives towards targeted improvements.
------------------------------
Subject: Part 5: Books on Client/Server Computing
------------------------------
Subject: 5.1 Introductory/Overview Books
From: Lloyd Taylor
AUTHOR: Orfali, Robert, et. al.
TITLE: Essential Client/Server Survival Guide
PUBLISHED: New York : Van Nostrand Reinhold
ISBN: 0-442-01941-6
AUTHOR: Berson, Alex
TITLE: Client-server architecture / Alex Berson.
PUBLISHED: New York : McGraw-Hill, c1992.
SERIES: J. Ranade series on computer communications
ISBN: 0070050767
AUTHOR: Smith, Patrick.
TITLE: Client/server computing
PUBLISHED: Carmel, Ind. : SAMS, c1992.
SERIES: Professional reference series.
ISBN: 0672300656
AUTHOR: Linthicum, David
TITLE: David Linthicum's Guide to Client/Server and Intranet
Development
PUBLISHED: Wiley, c1997.
ISBN: 047117467X
------------------------------
Subject: 5.2 Detailed Technical Books
From: Lloyd Taylor
AUTHOR: Orfali, Robert, Dan Harkey.
TITLE: Client/server programming with OS/2 2.0
PUBLISHED: New York : Van Nostrand Reinhold, c1992.
SERIES: VNR computer library
ISBN: 0442012195
AUTHOR: Dewire, Dawna Travis
TITLE: Client/server computing
PUBLISHED: New York : McGraw-Hill, c1993.
SERIES: James Martin/McGraw-Hill productivity series
ISBN: 007016732X
AUTHOR: Renaud, Paul E., 1957-
TITLE: Introduction to Client/Server Systems, 2nd Edition
PUBLISHED: New York : Wiley, c1996.
SERIES: Wiley professional computing
ISBN: 0471133337
------------------------------
Subject: 5.3 Other Books
From: Lloyd Taylor
AUTHOR: Baker, Richard H.
TITLE: Networking the enterprise : how to build client/server
systems that work
PUBLISHED: New York : McGraw-Hill, c1994
SERIES: McGraw-Hill series on computer communications
ISBN: 0070050899 : 0070050902 (PBK)
AUTHOR: Khanna, R. (Editor)
TITLE: Distributed Computing: Implementation and
Management Strategies
PUBLISHED: New Jersey: Prentice Hall, c1994
ISBN: 0-13-220138-0
AUTHOR: Inmon, William H.
TITLE: Developing client/server applications
PUBLISHED: Boston : QED Pub. Group, c1993.
ISBN: 0894354582
AUTHOR: Boar, Bernard H., 1947-
TITLE: Implementing client/server computing : a strategic
perspective
SERIES: McGraw-Hill systems design & implementation
ISBN: 0070062153
------------------------------
Subject: Part 6: Vendor Information
Vendors may submit information for possible inclusion in this section
to lloyd@abs.net. Please limit your submission to one paragraph, and
include contact information. If you want to be taken seriously by the
readership of comp.client-server, it is strongly suggested that you
include a pointer to your WWW page. If you don't have one, get one.
No endorsement is to be inferred from inclusion in the CS-FAQ.
------------------------------
Subject: 6.1 Middleware Vendors
From: Lloyd Taylor
=======
NobleNet specializes in providing high quality middleware tools for
client-server development. Our premier product is EZ-RPC, an RPC
precompiler tool kit that includes our enhanced XDR (packaged as an
IDL), precompiler, and various libraries. EZ-RPC is available on more
than 40 platforms, including most UNIXes, most Windows, Macs, Vms,
OS/2, and several others. We also publish a Windows rpcgen and
distribute the IONA coporation's Orbix Object Request Broker
development toolkit. A new product, a distributed two-tier ODBC driver
SDK, is available for those working with databases. We provide free
evaluation copies of EZ-RPC to qualified programmers. For more
information, contact NobleNet, Inc. at 508-460-8222, send email to
sales@noblenet.com, or browse . An EZ-RPC
mailing list is available. Subscribe by sending a message to
ezrpc-request@world.std.com with the single word "subscribe" in the
message body.
=======
Piccolo(tm), from Cornerstone Software, Inc. is a message-oriented
middleware product that provides application developers with peer-to-peer
connectivity without regard for the underlying communications transport
(i.e. TCP/IP, NetBios, Async). Piccolo is supported on UNIX versions AIX,
SCO, HP-UX (HP9000/700 & 800), Tandem S2 Integrity, Solaris 2.1, and Silicon
Graphics (SGI). It is also supported on Windows 3.x, Windows NT, and the
Tandem NonStop Kernel. Application developers use the Piccolo API to access
data and applications residing on any of the supported platforms on a
network. The developers need no programming knowledge of the underlying
transport protocol. For more information, point your Web browser to
http://www.corsof.com/, or E-mail piccolo@corsof.com, or call Piccolo Sales
at 603-595-7480.
=======
PIPES Platform, from PeerLogic, is message-oriented middleware that
provides the essential communications services for distributing
applications across the enterprise. PIPES Platform's process-to-process
messaging allows development of applications with an asynchronous,
non-blocking, event-driven architecture. A dynamic name service lets
you find at run-time and communicate with any application resource in
the PIPES Platform network. PIPES Platform automatically maintains
information on all PIPES Platform resources, even as machines and
applications are added or moved. Session management services provide
guaranteed message delivery, integrity, prioritization, sequencing,
dynamic re-routing, and error handling. PIPES Platform's cross-platform
and multiprotocol support provide a consistent communications interface
that allows developers to focus on business logic, not communications.
Contact Jennifer Hart, Director, Product Marketing, 800-733-7601,
jhart@peerlogic.com; http://www.peerlogic.com/
=======
SmartSockets (tm), from Talarian Corporation, is a rapid application
development toolkit which enables processes to communicate quickly,
reliably, and securely across different operating system platforms,
through the use of messages. The communicating processes can reside
on the same machine, on a LAN, on a WAN, or anywhere on the Internet.
SmartSockets is an industrial-strength package which takes care of
network interfaces, guarantees delivery of messages, handles communication
protocols, and deals with recovery after system/network failures.
SmartSockets's programming model is built specifically to offer
high-speed interprocess communication, scalability, reliability and
fault tolerance. It supports a variety of communication paradigms
including publish-subscibe, peer-to-peer, and RPC. Included as part of
the package are graphical tools for monitoring and debugging your
application. SmartSockets is available on most UNIX, OpenVMS, Windows
3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, and OS/2. For more information, contact
Kelly Bernardo at 650-965-8050 ext. 145. Also, visit our home page at
http://www.talarian.com/, or E-mail info@talarian.com.
=======
Entersoft Systems Corporation supplies NCR's TOP END (tm)
Transaction Request Broker middleware. TOP END has been used by
customers in banking, retail, telecomm and other industries to
build some of the largest transaction processing systems
connectiong 100s of nodes and up to 10,000s users. TOP END runs
on Windows (all versions), UNIX, and legacy platform, and
includes support for Java and Active/X applications. Entersoft
is the sole supplier of TOP END on most platforms. Entersoft
also provides add-on products for transaction processing, such
as the TOP END-Tuxedo Message Gateway. Customers can contact
Entersoft at http://www.entersoft.com or at 908-575-9100.
Customers can also get additional TOP END information at NCR, at
http://www.ncr.com/product/topend/index.htm.
------------------------------
Subject: 6.2 Test Software Vendors
From: Lloyd Taylor
=======
EMPOWER/CS is load testing software for client/server applications. Load
testing is the process of analyzing the effect of many users on an
application. EMPOWER/CS listens to the traffic between a client and
server. It builds scripts that can be replayed with or without the
client devices. Scripts can be enhanced with C language to extend
captured activity and vary the data in queries and updates. EMPOWER/CS
charts the time each user must wait for his or her screen response
before an application is deployed. Performix, Inc., 8200 Greensboro
Drive, Suite 1475, McLean, VA 22102 (703)448-6606, (703)893-1939 (fax),
Email: info@performix.com
------------------------------
Subject: 6.3 Development Tool Vendors
From: Lloyd Taylor
=======
ICONIX Software Engineering, Inc. is the maker of ICONIX PowerTools,
CASE tools for object-oriented and structured development. ICONIX
offers a free white paper on combining OMT with Objectory for
client/server development, along with special offers and product
information about ICONIX PowerTools, by visiting the new ICONIX WWW
PowerPage site: . For further information,
contact Alyse Rome, Director, New Media Marketing & Communications,
ICONIX. Voice: 310-458-0092; email: ICONIX@eworld.com.
=======
Unisys TransIT Open/OLTP Software is a suite of development tools and
runtime management software that provides transaction processing
extensions for Windows and Windows NT and UNIX based applications.
Enterprises can quickly develop distributed and highly scaleable
business application systems, based on standard (X/Open and ISO)
high-level APIs, networks and protocols. These applications can then
seamlessly blend the attributes of UNIX, Windows, Windows NT and
mainframe systems and can integrate and synchronize the many different
databases used on each of these platforms. This Client/Server
middleware works with Microsoft or third party development tools and
includes the libraries for C, C++ or COBOL, plus Windows and Windows NT
Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs). The Windows and Windows NT support also
includes OLE point-and-click features for application development. On
every platform, these tools enhance normal data access (e.g., ODBC or
SQL) capabilities with transaction processing, naming/location services
and the store and forward (queuing) of messages. Runtime environments
are highly tunable with the ability to locate and/or replicate server
applications as desired without any impact to the client applications.
Likewise, server applications are immune to client changes due to new
platforms, applications or interfaces. For more information, please
reference , or contact Phil Wimpenny via
telephone at +1-215-986-5765 or via email at wimpenny@po3.bb.unisys.com
=======
JYACC is the maker of JAM 7, a cross-platform tool for building
client/server and distributed applications. It consists of a graphical
screen painter, its own scripting language called JPL, a Visual Object
Repository to allow creation of complex objects that can be shared
across screens and updated through inheritance, 100's of C library
function calls, and various tools and utilities. JAM applications can
run unmodified on more than 100 platforms and operating environments,
including DOS, MS-Windows, Motif, OS/2 Presentation Manager, Macintosh,
VAX/VMS, and virtually every implementation of UNIX, both in
character-mode and in Motif. JAM also integrates seamlessly with more
than twenty of the most popular RDMBS products, including native drivers
for Oracle, Sybase, Informix, ODBC, DB/2, and others. JAM works with
the leading Transaction Monitors, including Tuxedo, so that developers
can create true Three-Tier applications. For more information, please
reference: , Email: jazzin@jyacc.com,
Phone:800-458-3313 or 212-267-7722
=======
INTERSOLV is a leading provider of open client/server development
solutions. INTERSOLV development solutions are available for
object-oriented development, open client/server development, software
configuration management and data warehousing. Customers benefit from
INTERSOLVs common look and feel, broad coverage and rich functionality.
INTERSOLV, with annual revenues exceeding $120 million, has more than
375,000 product licenses at 16,000+ customer sites around the world.
The INTERSOLV World Wide Web site can be accessed at
http://www.intersolv.com/.
=======
CS/8000 is the first development system that seamlessly integrates
methodology, expert systems and client/server system architectures.
With CS/8000 you have all the tools you need to manage client/server
projects of any level of complexity. Use it to select your system
architecture, develop your project plan, and generate all of your
project documentation. CS/8000 keeps you organized and keeps you on
track. Learn more about Client/Server Connection by visiting us at
http://www.cscl.com or contacting us. Voice: 914-241-9100 email:
cscl@cscl.com
=======
Cornut Informatique provides a range of client/server products. CI-Link is a
powerful middleware that connects SQL database with Macintosh and PC/Windows
applications. Eclipse Query is an easy to use query tool for Macintosh and
PC/Windows. Eclipse Report is graphical multi data source report generator.
Eclipse Builder is C/S development environment for Macintosh and PC/Windows.
Don't read our lips, try and judge. The Cornut Informatique Web site can be
accessed at http://www.cornut.fr/. Frederic Bouquet, fbouquet@cornut.fr
=======
MAGNA X from Magna Software Corporation provides a safe growth path to the
open systems environments of the 1990's, a path that preserves and leverages
your existing IS investment. MAGNA X is an open OLTP application
development system that simplifies growth into the complex world of
distributed computing involving PCs, UNIX servers, and mainframes. MAGNA X
generates three-tier client/server TP systems, concentrating on the SERVER
portion of distributed systems. Services are generated for UNIX and/or
CICS/ESA; Windows NT support has been announced. Unlike competing 3-tier
products, MAGNA X is strictly open. There is no run-time software.
Industry-standard middleware (Encina, CICS, Tuxedo, Entera) is used for
connectivity. Service programs are generated in COBOL and/or C++ (available
late '96) and are fully compiled, efficient. Front-end clients can be
written in any language, including Power Builder, Visual Basic, Delphi,
Java, C or C++. If PB or VB is used, MX "Wizards" automate the construction
of fully functional "test clients" with no programming required. The MAGNA
X development environment is currently available on most major UNIX
platforms. Oracle, DB2/AIX, DB2/MVS, Sybase and Informix are supported.
Local service and support is available in the U.S, Europe, Japan and Korea.
For more information: info@magna.com, www.magna.com or call 212/691-0300.
=======
Blyth Software is an international supplier of modular application
development tools for building, deploying, and maintaining workgroup,
departmental and enterprise client/server applications. Blyth has
more than 25,000 registered developers and 450 ISVs worldwide. Blyth
Software is headquartered in Foster City, California, with
international offices in London, England; Hamburg, Germany; and
distributors throughout Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
URL: http://www.blyth.com email: info@blyth.com
US Sales: 1.800.346.6647 email: us_sales@blyth.com
US TechSupport: 415.570.2220 email: us_support@blyth.com
UK/EUC Sales: (44) 1344.482258 email: uk_sales@blyth.com
UK/EUC Tech Supp: (44) 1344.482258 email: alistair_killick@blyth.com
=======
Dynasty is a true Enterprise Client/Server development environment.
It provides a truly Open solution, generating runtime-free C code,
native to the target platforms. Presentation can be targeted at Windows
3.x/95/NT, OS/2, Motif and Macintosh. Services can be automatically
partitioned in various ways, from standalone with the client, to out on
NT, OS/2, Unix or Tandem servers, with no limit to the number of tiers.
It is also possible to create servers that can be accessed from Visual
Basic, Powerbuilder and Internet clients. Standard communication
protocols such as IMC and TCP/IP are supported, as well as Tuxedo for
more complex distributed applications requiring TP. SQL for Oracle,
Sybase, Informix, SqlBase, Nonstop SQL, DB2/2, SQL Server and ODBC is
automatically generated, with the option to modify it if necessary.
For more information see http://www.dynasty.com where local country
information is also available.
======
Systemator is produced by Sysdeco, a well-known Scandinavian software
company. Systemator provides support for all phases of the
development process, from modeling through to implementation,
testing and maintenance of information systems. Systemator
supports a wide range of machine platforms, database systems and
user interfaces. Its powerful repository and conceptual modeling
abilities ensure cost effective development as well as much lower
maintenance costs. Thanks to its graphical dialog modeling and editing
tools, Systemator provides a powerful GUI prototyping capability which
greatly facilitates user involvement in the initial stage of
prototyping. In Systemator's model designer you can build abstract
models of the structure, the functions and the information of
your enterprise. Data modeling is used for describing the structure of
the information handled by the organization. The data model is the
basis for generating both database structures and user dialogs. Such
an abstract model of the data ensures portability between several
database management systems and windowing systems. More information is
available on the WWW at http://www.sysdeco.no/tools/systemator/
or by contacting Vivian Ra (vra@sysdeco.no, tel:+47 22 09 65 00,
fax: +47 22 09 65 01)
=======
Nat Systems builds and supports the NatStar development tool. NatStar
offers an pragmatically object oriented and user friendly environment for
rapidly developing applications that can be deployed enterprise-wide, from
the mainframe to the desktop, making native use of middleware. NatStar's
development environment offers three separate but tightly integrated
modules for graphically defining the presentation, data model and workflow
model of the application. NatStar automatically generates code and SQL
that can be deployed in a multi-tier environment, enabling a dynamically
partitioned application. NatStar is a perfect tool for Component Based
Development and today offers a catalog of tried and tested technical
components, and business components for the near future. NatWeb
is Nat Systems' solution for developing Internet applications that
front-end legacy systems. Nat Systems offers support for the entire
software development cycle, enabling integration with upper CASE tools,
Configuration & Change management, workflow tools, document management,
etc. See www.natsys.com for more info.
------------------------------
Subject: 6.4 Other Client/Server Vendors
From: Lloyd Taylor
=======
The IBM Client/Server Computing Unit maintains a web page at
http://www.csc.ibm.com dedicated to information related to client/server
computing. It addresses both business and technical issues.
The business side includes a Consultant's Corner where there are articles
from industry experts. The technical side includes a web demo of
IBM's Client/Server Advisor System and many client/server success
stories from around the world. There is also a Client/Server Spotlight
section that contains a C/S Newsletter and information on other C/S
resources. Suggestions on additional content are welcome.
=======
Sequent Computer Systems, Inc. is a leading architect and provider of
open client/server solutions for enterprise business computing. With
an installed base of nearly 8,000 systems, Sequent leads all other
vendors of high-end UNIX systems supporting very large-scale on-line
transaction processing (OLTP), decision support (DSS)/data warehousing
and Internet-based applications. Sequent's project-oriented offerings
include consulting, educational and professional services geared to
help organizations re-architect their existing information technology
infrastructures. Sequent successfully commercialized symmetric
multiprocessing (SMP), and today, architects enterprise-class computing
environments based on open systems. Symmetry servers incorporate up to
30 industry-standard processors to provide superior price/performance and
scalability for on-line transaction processing (OLTP), data warehouses
and the application of internet technologies to business communications
(including intranets). NUMA-Q systems, Sequent's next-generation, will
scale to more than 250 processors and manage 100 terabytes of data.
Call (530) 626-5700, or browse our website at http://www.sequent.com/.
=======
End of Client/Server FAQ
