IBM Rational HATS Overview 2013

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IBM RATIONAL HATSA customer overview of

Host Access Transformation Services

www.StrongbackConsulting.com

About Us: Strongback Consulting• IBM Advanced Business Partner

– Rational, WebSphere, Lotus, Information Management certified

– Strongly focused on Enterprise Modernization and application lifecycle management

– Key Industries Served: Finance, Insurance, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Travel & Leisure

– Rational Design Partner for HATS and other Rational enterprise modernization technologies


Why modernize my green screen?• “If it ain’t broke…”

• “Only our call center uses it. … “

• “It’s a 3rd party app”

• “I’ve used it for 20 years.. Nothing wrong with it!”

• “We don’t need to integrate it”

• “Too much invested in it to throw it away”

• “But it has all our business rules!”

• “We’re going to all .NET …..next month”

• “We spent too much training everyone on thissystem”

• “Joey retired and we lost his member files”

• “I’m retiring next year, what do I care?”


Business Challenge: Data Entry Errors• Terminal Apps offer poor data entry controls

• Garbage in – garbage out

• Poor data entry results in:

– Inaccurate business intelligence

– Giving the customer or patient the wrong order

– Longer call times

– Loss of productivity due to data re-entry, or data correction

– Having to purchase additional software to correct errors (i.e. Infosphere QualityStage, Optim, etc)


Business Challenge: Longer Training Time

• Non-intuitive interface

– No tool tips, context sensitive help, coded fields, abbreviations, etc.

• Current generation knows the web

– Does NOT understand ‘field exit’, ‘clear’, etc.

– “Where is the PF3 key?”

• Training is often a neglected item in IT budgets

– “Isn’t that what consultants are for?”

• Average annual turn over in a call center is 33%*

– Longer training required == less productivity, greater cost per resource

*http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globalcallcenter/research/unitedStates.html

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/globalcallcenter/research/unitedStates.html


Business Challenge: User Frustration

• Poor field labels

• No ‘hints’ on field controls

• Lack of access to documentation

• Complex navigation

• User workflow that does not make sense

• Post-it notes around the monitor as ‘documentation’

• Multiple windows

• Poor printing capability


Business Challenge: Lack of Access to Source CodeColumns . . . .: Edit

SEU ___________________________________________________________

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• Common with COTS applications

• Legacy apps from acquisitions

• Required use of a partner, vendor, or parent company application

• Developer lock out

– You fired the guy who had the code, he deleted it as he walked out

• Changes to source may involve costly risks

– “Everything is tied to our ERP!!”

==================================================================

_______________________________________________________________

02/009


Business Challenge: Need a modern experience NOW!!!

• Rip and replace requires prohibitive or catastrophic spending

• Low ROI on rip and replace

• Time to market is of the essence

• Can’t access new markets

• Almost like trying to pivot a battleship

• Large application audience

• Heavy load on testing

• Large cost involved in retraining


Overview of Rational HATS• Web 2.0 features

– Dojo

• HATS Dojo widgets

• Transform for Dojo editing

• Dojo for IOs

– New templates

– RESTful web services

• JSR286 Portlet support

• iPad support

• Support for the latest runtimes

• Support for the latest development tools

• Support for Apache Geronimo 2.1.7

• Support for Android devices (default browser 2.3.4 +)


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Web 2.0: Templates

• Research, industry, and medical

• Benefit: Modern look and feel- tabs, menus, highlighting, fading, rounded corners


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Mobile Platforms• Sample Scenarios:

– An employee on the department store floor needs to check stock in the warehouse and make an order

– A distributor of products to car dealers needs to track product availability and order products while at the dealer

– Service personnel need to order products and mark work complete

– Many possibilities!

• Windows Mobile devices

• iPod Touch, iPhone

• iPad

• Android (Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Droid, etc.)

Customized System z

Application

IBM i application with compact table support


Eclipse based development: HATS tookit plugin

•Creates Java EE artifacts

• JSP’s, CSS, Javascript, XML

• Deploys as an Enterprise Archive

•HATS toolkit plugs into Rational Application Developer

• Benefits:

• Harness existing skills

• Simplify deployment


Improving data entry accuracy• Calendar drop downs ensure date formatting

• Radio buttons eliminate non-valid values

• Drop downs give the user legible options

– Avoid post-its around the monitor to decipher field label values

• Dojo enabled widgets

– Easy to inject client side validation

– Type ahead features make it easier to find values in long lists


Improving the user experience• Macros improve navigational flow

• Replace acronyms, & codes with real legible field labels

• Clickable buttons & links replace function keys

• The more intuitive the interface, the less demand for documentation (or the less it gets used)

• Dojo layout widgets better organize the screen

– Tab, accordion, stacked containers organize fields appropriately

• Print directly from the browser

– Use “print” style sheet where needed


Reducing training time• Leverage web browser familiarity

• Make labels & field options readable

• Client side validation gives instant feedback.

• Reduce training time by up to 75%

• Make it intuitive!

• Example: Has anyone ever taken 3 months to train on Facebook, Gmail, or other popular sites?

– Anyone ever seen the documentation?


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Iteratively improve the application as you goToday Day 1 Tomorrow

Instant Value: HATS default rendering automatically transforms actions into

clickable links and buttons. No changes required to the host

application.

Modern UI: All pages share the same theme and

style, which can be based on an existing

Web site.

Aggregation: data from other screens,

databases, or other systems can be merged and displayed with host

data.

Integration: Text can be replaced with images, input fields can be populated from

data on other screens or from a database, date fields can be converted into popup calendar

widgets, and more!


No need for access to RPG/COBOL code• Rendering engine transforms the Data stream on the fly

– 5250 , 3270, VT100

• Does not access display files, or file members

• Multiple panes of data – not a screen scraper

– Text, Field, DBCS, Color, Extended Attributes, Grid

DB

CS

Text

GR

ID

CO

LOR

TN5250 and TN 3270 Planes of information


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J2EE Enterprise Application *

Web module

HATS Runtime

Browser

JSPs

TransformationServlet

(EntryServlet)

CSS+.JS

HATS Web Architecture

*Note:• For Portlets, HATS runtime is included in the .war• All possible parts of a HATS module shown for completeness

AdministrationServlet

IntegrationObjects Application

client

EJB Module

HTTP(S)

REST, SOAP Web serviceover HTTP

HATS EJB (per client)

IntegrationObjects

SWT TerminalBeans (HOD)

TN3270(e)

5250 datastream(TN5250 or 5250W)

TNVT

System z

IBM i

System p

RAS

Conn Mgr andIO Support

WEL

HS Rendering(Components,

Widgets)

APE, 3270 Print


Example: Customized Page

Tabbed navigation

Calendar popups

Combine with database lookups


Example: Combining with DB2 Lookups

F4 to lookup

Selection list from DB2 via AJAX


HATS Case Study: Winnebago IndustriesBusiness need:

Their dealer management system needed to be modernized. The graphical user interface to the delivery management system was over 12 years old and a product that is no longer supported.

Solution:

Using System Z for all manufacturing applications, HR applications. Using HATS to provide web services for WebSphere Portal based dealer management system.

Benefits:

$13K less annual paper/communications

$65K/yr annual labor costs

Improved Employee productivity

Improved dealer satisfaction


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Case Study: Total System Services (TSYS)


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Company Background Ticker: TSYS

Largest (publicly traded) Electronic Payment Processor in the World

Based in Columbus, Georgia

TSYS is the only company with a single platform capable of serving a client's portfolio on more than one continent

VERY large mainframe footprint

At one point was the 3rd largest in the US


Business Challenge Very large host based applications (TS1/TS2)

Services the credit/debit card industry

These are the systems service reps use when you call your bank

Account balances, payment history, card activations, etc.

1000's of 3270 green screens

Highly available, secure encrypted communications to customer premises

Very complex business logic

> 50,000 users on these systems

18M 3270 screens displayed per day

TS1 in operation for decades, TS2 since 1994

Both offer different services depending upon retail, commercial, debit, or credit customer

Tiered service offering

3270 Green Screens ($)

ProphIT (.NET) – no custom workflows ($$)

ProphIT with custom .NET, MQ/CICS workflows ($$$$)


Business Challenge• Need to replace the interface for lower tier offerings

• Gradually losing customers to competition

• Competition has Web or Rich UI

• Less expensive, more features than TSYS' low tier offering

• Top tier offerings still require 3270 for some functions

• Very high training costs

• ~90 days to bring a new CSR up

• Average turnover of 10-12 months

• 7-9 months average productive time

• Expensive and risky to replace TS1/TS2

• Strict SLA's, Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, Financial regulations

• ProphIT originally meant to replace the UI


Technical Challenges• 1000's of screens

– About 10% used 90% of the time

• Complex business logic

– CICS, multiple regions, highly customized RACF

• Tight real estate on the screens

– Many fields are coded results

– Many field labels are abbreviated/coded for space

• EXTREMELY tight security

– No external parties can connect to their internal network

– TSYS development teams cannot connect to external networks

• Little to no in-house expertise in Java / Java EE

– .NET one side, Cobol/Assember on the other


Screen Shot

*Data shown is authorized test data, not real / live customer data.

BEFORE


BEFORE



AFTER



AFTER


Previous Solutions – ProphIT

• Key revenue stream for top 2 tiers

– Originally intended as a UI replacement

– Serves as the top 2 tiers for credit/debit card servicing

• Microsoft .NET Based

– Custom work flows

– Headless MQ/CICS transactions

– 150+ developers

• Each customer gets their own rack space

• >$30M initial development cost

• Handles 20-25% of TS1/TS2 functionality

– 95% of CSR's time spent in ProphIT

– Remainder using green screens


Alternatives Considered• Seagull Software

– Closest competitor to HATS

– Does not support RTL languages (i.e. Arabic, Hebrew)

– Recent change of ownership with no clear future strategy

• Pegasus Systems

– True screen scraper

– No way to combine screens

– Not mature product, poor documentation

• Microsoft Host Integration Solution

– Similar to features already used in .NET with MQ transactions

– API based


New Solution• Initial Proof of Concept

• Pilot for single new customer

– Our consultancy trained TSYS in-house personnel and performed initial implementation

– Wildly successful

– One of the fastest deployments IT had done

– Sales and marketing group highly interested, ready to sell

– Set a precedent for all other departments to match

• Conversion to beta for group of key customers

– Some new, some old customers

• Transition to major project within IT division

– Goal to replace Tier1 offering with HATS based UI

– No more 3270 offerings except for specific security needs

– All web based, no RCP or Mobile


Implementation/Architecture

Host Access Transformation Services for 3270 Applications 7.1

WebSphere Application Server ND 6.1

IBM HTTP Server

Cisco Load Balancers

Rational Application Developer

Load Balancers

HTTP Proxy Servers

Client

VIP

H P le x

Websphere Cluster

23 23

Websphere Plug in

HTTP 80HTTPS 443

HTTP80

Firewall

Firewall

Firewall

90809443

AdminConsole

Harvest

Code deploym ents

51011800-1900

Bi- Directional

Plug in updates 8008

Plugin updates 8008


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Resources for Learning Enterprise Modernization (EM) Home Page

• http://www-306.ibm.com/software/info/developer/solutions/em/index.jsp

HATS Resources:

• Product Page: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/hats/index.html

• Demos: http://rational.demos.ibm.com/atdemo/atdemo_hats.html

• HATS HotSpot: http://www-949.ibm.com/software/rational/cafe/community/hats

• IBM Education Assistant: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/info/education/assistant/

Other HATS Case Studies and Technology Examples

• http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/how-a-tactical-hats-solution-became-a-strategic-asset-a-customer-story

• http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/innovate2012-modernize-host-applications-for-mobile-devices

• http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/build-smarter-user-interfaces-for-legacy-applications-with-ibm-rational-host-access-transformation-services

• http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/rational-hats-and-his-v8-overview

• http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/ibm-innovate-2011-what-every-system-i-developer-needs-to-know36

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/info/developer/solutions/em/index.jsp

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/info/developer/solutions/em/index.jsp

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/hats/index.html

http://rational.demos.ibm.com/atdemo/atdemo_hats.html

http://www-949.ibm.com/software/rational/cafe/community/hats

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/info/education/assistant/

http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/how-a-tactical-hats-solution-became-a-strategic-asset-a-customer-story

http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/how-a-tactical-hats-solution-became-a-strategic-asset-a-customer-story

http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/innovate2012-modernize-host-applications-for-mobile-devices

http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/build-smarter-user-interfaces-for-legacy-applications-with-ibm-rational-host-access-transformation-services

http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/build-smarter-user-interfaces-for-legacy-applications-with-ibm-rational-host-access-transformation-services

http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/rational-hats-and-his-v8-overview

http://www.slideshare.net/strongback/ibm-innovate-2011-what-every-system-i-developer-needs-to-know