newlook
and Java
gives CMC
the FLEX
Computer Marketing
Corporation (CMC), based in Utah, has around 250
Credit Unions relying on its 'Flex' application
for share account processing, loan processing,
teller transaction processing, ATM, Debit &
Credit Card processing, integrated general ledger
and credit union investment tracking.
Challenge
CMC’s success has grown as a result of
continued functional enhancements and close customer
relationships. As CMC began to compete with new
Windows-based solutions, sales became tougher.
Without a modern interface which was easy to learn
and use, new customers were getting harder to
win over to their solution.
CMC’s Development Manager, Jim Simonsen,
considered redeveloping 'Flex',
but the time and expense of a redevelopment was
not acceptable. "Besides the initial
investment to rewrite, we still would have had
to maintain two packages and have two development
teams and two support teams."
Solution
After evaluating
some of the
leading modernization
solutions,
CMC selected
newlook.
Jim said
the main
reason for
selecting
newlook was
speed of
development.
looksoftware’s partner
program which includes low cost access to all
the newlook tools, allowed CMC
cost-effective rollouts to their customers
"newlook was very easy to
learn and our current program staff could learn
and maintain our packages without extensive training."
Benefits
One week’s on-site training provided sufficient
skills transfer for CMC to modernize Flex. CMC
also used newlook’s APIs
to integrate Java support. CMC developed some
Java and C routines that provided flexible access
to the Flex database, without the constraints
of the existing green screens, making the new
version of Flex much easier to use. All codified
fields now use combo boxes that are populated
directly from the database in real-time. Jim said,
"Our sales have remained consistent during
the last year, which we attribute to Flex’s
new look. Our trainers have found that training
is much easier and customers pick it up faster
and require less help."
Jim believes CMC now have a very functional,
competitive solution without needing to hire any
new developers or support staff. "We
feel that we now have the solution to keep our
current clients happy and also meet the needs
of new clients. newlook allows
us to compete on level ground with the Windows
based packages and still lets us have all the
benefits of the iSeries as the database server."
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Critical
issue
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As
CMC began to compete with new Windows-based
solutions, sales became tougher.
Without an easy-to-learn and use
modern interface, new customers
were getting harder to win over
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| |
Solution
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|
A
modern user interface that was easy
to learn and use
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Database
integration
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Results
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Customized
user interface that has enabled
CMC to
compete with windows-based packages,
maintaining the benefits of the
iSeries as the database server
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