How To Get Enterprise Data to Mobile Devices Successfully
By Charles A. Wilde
As much as 70 percent of corporate data still lives on mainframes. In fact, the IBM System z is having a sales revival.
These powerhouse machines run mission critical applications in a wide variety of industries, in education and in government with remarkably high performance, reliability and security. They represent a huge investment in staff, applications and equipment which enterprises rely on for daily operations. Enterprises have been using TN3270 terminal emulation software for host access for many years to access “Legacy” applications on these enterprise servers.
Why Are Fortune 1000 Companies Still Using Mainframes?
Why do companies keep them? It makes business sense. Here are three major reasons:
- Reliability, Security and Safety
The enterprise mainframe computer has proven to be extremely reliable and secure. “High-end enterprise revenue grew over 9 percent on the strength of IBM’s System z product family. The introduction of the z9 BC [business class] machines coupled with the previously announced z9 EC [enterprise class] systems, invigorated the mainframe market during the quarter,” said Steve Josselyn, research director for Enterprise Platforms at IDC, in a statement. “IBM’s System z revenue growth of 25 percent contributed a significant amount to overall market performance, and further highlights the continued customer demand for mainframe-class systems.” Enterprise Systems – December 5, 2006 - Magnitude of Investment
There currently exist thousands of active mainframe applications encompassing hundreds of millions of lines of code. These applications jointly represent billions of dollars of investment and can be very expensive to modify. These systems represent a substantial investment in hardware, software and services by corporations and government. A recent survey of Fortune 500 companies indicated that 490 of these companies (about 98%) planned to continue using their mainframe systems. - Performance
Mainframes currently have the unique capability to reliably and securely process huge numbers of simultaneous business transactions. In the face of mounting concern over the cost of cooling, powering, and housing the enormous data centers of today, it’s not surprising that enterprises are disproportionately breaking for massively consolidated systems: either server blades or high-end servers—such as mainframe systems.
These applications are often critical to the daily operations of an enterprise and so modifications to these applications are done only after much careful analysis and thought.
With such a substantial investment in equipment and hardware, the vast majority of enterprises want to continue to maximize use.
But how do you do that and minimize costs?
Three General Approaches to Get Mainframe Data to Mobile Devices
There are three general approaches to provide mobile devices the ability to view the mainframe data as displayed by existing mainframe applications:
- Terminal Emulation places client software on the mobile device that communicates through established protocols, TN3270, TN5250 and VT220, to the existing mainframe communication network.
- Web To Host has client software, the Internet browser, on the mobile device interacting with an intermediate or middleware server. This intermediate server then interacts with the mainframe via TN3270, TN5250 and VT220.
- Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) that diffuses some of the business logic from the mainframe to a combination of modified mainframe applications, middleware servers, and end user clients. It is accessed using the Internet browser on the mobile device. Each SOA provider has its own proprietary hardware and software for handling transactions. Interoperability standards have not yet been established.
Each approach has its positive and negative ramifications.
Terminal Emulation |
Web to Host |
Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) |
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Pros
Cons
* Smart Client software using a terminal emulation component can address some of these limitations. |
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Pros
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Terminal Emulation Mobile Architecture
Terminal Emulation Mobile Architecture uses client software (such as Aton Connect for Windows Mobile) on the mobile device that emulates a 3270, 5250 or VT220 terminal. From the mainframe application point of view, the mobile device is no different from a legacy IBM 3270 terminal or a desktop computer with terminal emulation software.
No changes to mainframe programming are required. The user interface (green screen) remains the same, so little or no training is required. Depending on use locations, the mobile device may connect with the same communication network being used for desktop applications.
Time is required to locate and test combinations of devices and wireless connections to achieve a secure, reliable result for the user. The underlying business process does not change. Terminal emulation represents a low risk way to implement a project to get mainframe data to mobile workers in the field in a very short time.
Web to Host Mobile Architecture
Web-to Host or Integration architecture uses a web browser such as Windows Mobile Internet Explorer on the mobile device to display mainframe data and other data. In contrast to the terminal emulation architecture which communicates directly with the mainframe, the middleware or web server communicates with TN3270, TN5250 or VT220 protocol over TCP/IP.
Aton Connect Host Integration Toolkit for ASP.NET allows the web server to communicate with the mainframe to present data to the web page. Migrating data to Web-to-Host requires planning, coordination and project management with multiple stake holders. User interfaces need to be designed. While this is an opportunity to streamline a business process, care must be taken to change the right processes to gain productivity. Training will be needed on the new user interfaces and business process changes. All of this lengthens the time to implement the solution.
Web to Host works well where the installation replaces older terminal emulation packages for a large number of desktops or notebooks and merges data from different hosts or operating systems . Limitations on a mobile device, such as size of screen and intermittent connectivity may make it less useful on mobile devices depending on the business process and needs of the user.
Services Oriented Architecture (SOA)
Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) attempts to handle varying platforms, varying protocols and varying devices used in an enterprise through use of platform independent services. Just as you use your Internet browser to view web pages located on web servers in a multitude of locations, a device using SOA would be able to access data to accomplish a business task by communicating directly with another system. Storage of data can be distributed rather than concentrated in a centralized location like a mainframe.
A “service” is a function that is well-defined, self-contained, and does not depend on the context or state of other services. For example, you go to iTunes, purchase music and download it to your iPod. This is a “web service” in its most basic form. iTunes is a Service Provider and you are the Service Consumer. Now imagine you program your iPod to locate and download music on its own.
The iPod might communicate using XML with various music service providers to find the music you want at the lowest price. This would be XML web services. XML is the common “language” that allows different systems to talk to each other. Now imagine business systems within a global enterprise exchanging information like that. The exchanges happen automatically based on rules established for each Service Consumer and Service Provider.
Before this can happen, every business process must be mapped and analyzed. Developing an SOA application involves substantial time and resources both for IT, business and other units. And, challenges still exist at this time in the form of evolving standards, security and interoperability.
Should Mobility Initiatives Wait?
No. The potential benefits from mobilizing mainframe applications today, even if they are limited to small, business unit projects, are substantial. We believe an approach which combines both a short term and a longer term view offers the most value.
To rapidly deploy mobile access to mainframe data, particularly for small or experimental projects, terminal emulation offers real advantages. It is low cost, faster to deploy, and may not require training the mobile worker who can use the same data screens in the mobile environment as on the desktop computer back at the office.
Aton International launched this line of Terminal Emulation products because we saw a need for enterprises to get data to mobile workers now. Pressing business issues need to be addressed in a matter of days or weeks, not months or years. It is an approach that is quick to implement and can be very cost effective. This solves the pressing need to get mobility initiatives going, and provides a ready testing ground for iterative changes and improvements as business conditions warrant
We offer:
The limitations of terminal emulation can be addressed by the development of Web-to Host applications. Web-to Host offers the opportunity to streamline a business process. Instead of the employee accessing data from individual green screens, the application can aggregate data from multiple locations on a single web page. The server can manipulate the data in numerous ways to improve a business process and increase a worker’s productivity.
Part of the work can even be accomplished on the mobile phone or device itself. This gives the mobile worker the ability to work independent of the network and store results in the device database until connected again. Once connected, the phone can automatically upload the results to the server.
We offer:
The components in the Toolkit work with Visual Studio (a development tool you probably already own) to provide the same terminal emulation within your custom application. Building your own application gives you the ability to tailor it to your company’s needs. Development in Visual Studio is fast. Aton International provides support to help you deliver a successful project.
Aton International can offer you the experience we have developed in building applications to jumpstart your mobile initiatives. Let us help you achieve your goals faster and more cost effectively.
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