looksoftware
provides ACS with a proven path for i5 modernization
Background
Affiliated
Computer Services, (ACS) based in Texas, USA
provides end-to-end business process and information
technology outsourcing solutions to more than
10,000 commercial and government clients worldwide.
With revenues approaching $4 billion and 40,000
staff, ACS is ranked in the Fortune 500 list.
Challenge
The ACS
Government
Systems Division
supplies
over 30 applications
to approximately
1,200 state & local
government
customers,
including
financial
administration,
property
appraisal/tax
billing and
courts/justice
departments.
The i400 applications suite includes Utility
Billing, Capital Assets, Government Fund Accounting,
Budgeting and GASB34 Financial Reporting, Public
Works Costing, Government Payroll and Building
Permits. These applications lacked a common look
and feel as they were developed during different
timeframes by different development teams, with
some even inherited via acquisitions. A common
problem encountered by the sales team when demonstrating
the suite was that customers struggled to understand
the unique requirements of navigating each application.
This was due to the lack of a consistent user
interface design in the green-screen environment
and the expectation by most customers that a graphical
user interface should be presented.
Solution
Mike Bauer,
Director
Financial & Networking
Services
said, "As
we’ve
grown the
breadth of
our government
solutions
through development
and acquisition,
maintaining
a modern
and consistent
User Interface
has been
a challenge.
When evaluating
application
modernization
options,
it became
clear we
needed to
do more than
just re-face
and web-enable."
ACS realized that to achieve their goal of having
their entire customer base upgrade to the new
solution, the modernized solutions needed to offer
new features that went beyond basic UI improvements.
Their criteria when evaluating application modernization
tools were as follows:
- Application
integration
- including
integration
with web-based
services
and common
desktop
applications
- Integrated green screen support - allowing
customers to choose their preferred UI style
- Reduced
costs by
simplified
web deployment
- Flexible deployment options - ACS’s
customers range from small to large government
departments. They required a solution that provided
efficient flexible deployment options, without
the need for customers to purchase additional
software or web servers
- Consistent
User Interface – to
enable
the sales
force to
demonstrate
consistently
across
14 core
applications
- Get the
job done
in 3-4
months!
"After
evaluating
the market-leading
alternatives,
we found
that looksoftware’s newlook
and centric
products
were the
right tools
for the
job. We
emailed
sample
screens
to looksoftware
for use
in the
demonstration.
What impressed
us compared
to the
other vendors
we evaluated,
was their
responsiveness
and the ‘on-the-fly
Dynamic
Environment’.
Within
days of
receiving
the sample
screens
they were
able to
show our
system
running
live in
a browser-based
UI, including
an application
integration
example",
said Kevin
Lafeber,
Vice President
Government
Systems
Division.
Minimizing
dual maintenance,
experienced
with their
existing
UI tools,
was a key
reason ACS
chose looksoftware.
The combination
of rules-based
architecture
and the ability
to make changes ‘on-the-fly’ meant
over 6,000
screens were
refaced and
tested within
the tight
4-month timeframe.
ACS chose to outsource the refacing and integration
work to looksoftware. Mike said,
"looksoftware’s
UI expertise produced quality refaced applications
including desktop integration in record time.
Within 4 months we went to market with our new
product branded ‘NewVision’, with
160 customers upgrading to ‘NewVision’
in the first month!"
Trevor Perry, a consultant on the project commented,
"Sometimes a rich client UI is required
to provide high performance and sophistication.
Browser-based UI’s generally offer the simplest
deployment, but some customers still insist on
using emulation interface. Often customers have
very good reasons for ongoing emulation support.
This was the case with ACS as some of their
end users needed to easily switch back to their
old familiar 5250 interface".
Benefits
"NewVision has gone beyond a reface.
newlook and centric’s
ability to integrate our existing applications
with modern desktop and web-based applications,
has enabled us to provide our customers with additional
functionality, as well as superior graphical capabilities",
said Kevin.
The first release of NewVision included 15 new
integration points across the application suite,
including integration with ‘Mapquest’
within the Utility Billing application. Image
integration is also utilized within the Capital
Assets and Payroll applications while Excel and
Word integration is used throughout the entire
suite. newlook’s automated
web-deployment means ACS’s customers have
the ability to rapidly deploy the user interface
without touching individual desktops.
"Using
the ‘Dynamic
Environment’ means
our customers
don't need
to install
web servers
to benefit
from NewVision.
Some of our larger customers can deploy NewVision
with their chosen web server to meet their own
internal operational needs, but the smaller ones
can still get the ease of deployment benefits,
directly using the i5 virtual web-server, without
having to install, configure and maintain any
new hardware or infrastructure."
"Choosing newlook
and centric
has been
an excellent
business
investment.
Since the
launch
of ‘NewVision’ we
have received
approximately
500 orders
for enhanced
applications
with more
to follow!
Our confidence
in NewVision
is reflected
in our
decision
to make
it our
standard
go-forward
environment,
within
which we
will support
all our
customers
covered
under ACS
software
support
plans",
said Mike
Bauer.
"We’ve started a new project to
modernize our property tax applications –
this time its around 5,000 screens."
Mike concludes, "The ‘Dynamic
Environment’ has transformed our products
in a very short period of time giving our product
suite an extended and profitable lifecycle, while
also providing rich new features for our users".
A win-win for all!
"We would recommend anyone looking to enhance
their existing applications to talk to looksoftware."
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