Evidence Grows that App Modernization Tops App Replacement.
A recent survey by Forrester Consulting, based on a composite case study of several representative enterprises, found that legacy modernization would produce a five-year return on investment (ROI) of 331%, with payback achieved in less than four months.

The tougher economic conditions being experienced at present, provide a compelling reason to invest smaller amounts of capital on shorter, ROI - focused modernization projects that can cut costs and increase profits quickly. Most companies simply cannot afford the costs, risks and delays in 'rip and replace' strategies that promise benefits years down the track.

It is usually more cost-effective to make the best of what you have, rather than reinventing the wheel! Read the full story.

'IBM i' is the new name for System i , iSeries, AS/400 etc...
Despite yet another name change, the most important news is that your i investments are now better protected, because they can run on IBM’s premier hardware platform, Power Systems. This will mean better price/performance and hardware pricing equity with Unix and Linux. The traditional strengths of the i, together with IBM’s premier hardware, gives the i platform a much brighter future. Read more.

Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co of Green Bay, Wisconsin, recently selected looksoftware after evaluating modernization alternatives for 18 months. Steve Jones, IT Manager said, “The speed with which I got to learn to use the software amazed me, and the concept of dynamically transferring from green screen to GUI, in no time at all, made a big impression on me! Seriously, I looked long and hard at the alternatives, and they all had too much of a learning curve”.

Given the fact that many of his users spend so much of their time in the Microsoft Outlook interface, the next step will be to integrate the modernized applications with Outlook and other Microsoft Office desktop features, using looksoftware's snap.

looksoftware announces snap at COMMON Nashville 08
looksoftware announced their snap solutions, designed to allow traditional applications to be plugged into popular front-ends including Microsoft’s Outlook and SharePoint, IBM’s Notes and Websphere Portal, and open portals like Google. snap provides rapid integration of back-end RPG and COBOL with the business user’s preferred front-end, thereby delivering streamlined business processes and reduced operational costs.

The first snap solution pack for Microsoft Office and SharePoint, allows entire applications, or specific transactions from classic System i applications, to be accessed seamlessly from within Office 2007 and SharePoint. All this, with no changes required to the RPG/COBOL 5250 back-end. snap supports two types of connections – UI components and web services – providing the flexible component-level support required to integrate the front-end with the back-end to improve workflow.

adidas IT team leader B.H. Lee, who used looksoftware’s snap functionality to integrate its RPG back-end with Microsoft said, “Our end-users are very happy with the improved user experience and additional functionality we have provided. They love the seamless integration with Microsoft Office and now think the System i is wonderful!”

Read more about snap.

looksoftware v9 - more about our major release for 2008
Get highlights of the official v9 release, announced at the Nashville conference 08.
v9 presentation by Brendan Kay, Technical Director, looksoftware.

UI Modernization for Green Screeners
One of COMMON Nashville 2008's most highly rated sessions!

At last month's conference, looksoftware was invited to give eight presentations including practical examples of back-end modernization using web services, front-end trends, agile development and test-driven development. An introductory session was offered for RPG System i people, to help them understand how to provide their users with the optimum User Experience (UX). We’ve recorded the session here, because it is great educational value.

See the video here.

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snap...plug your i applications into any other application!
snap’s plug and play approach means you can snap your i application components into virtually any other leading platform, without having to change a line of code!

This snap webcast demonstrates:
- Creating component level access to traditional i apps, without changing a line of code
- Reusing existing applications to create UI containers and web services
- Plugging traditional i apps into leading front-ends like Microsoft Outlook and SharePoint

Register to join the webcast in your time zone.

Highlights from Nashville Conference 2008
Thanks to all our American customers who attended our conference held at Nashville from 26 - 28 March. It was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, the same venue for this year's COMMON Conference.

The conference was totally booked out, with more than 50 attendees participating. The three-day event was a good mix of technical and business related sessions. Speakers from IBM, Microsoft, looksoftware and some of our successful partners shared their knowledge and experiences about the modernization market.

"I haven’t been to a conference in 5 years but I came to looksoftware’s and found great value in it.”
Steve Cataldo, SCI 400.

"I was so excited from the first day of information, I couldn’t sleep! I was up at 4 in the morning thinking about the possibilities!”
Mike Hayes, Manager Application Development, Optimum Solutions.

View the Conference Photo Gallery here.

looksoftware's next conference is for partners and customers in Asia Pacific. It will be held in Melbourne, Australia from 28 - 30 May, 2008.
Register for the Conference.

TOPIC
	May 28 - 30, 2008	Australia	Melbourne Conference 2008 - Register now!
	Jun 30, 2008	USA	OCEAN Conference and Expo Irvine, CA.
	Jul 20 - 23, 2008	USA	IT Leader's Forum - Denver, CO.
	Sep 8 - 10, 2008	Australia	Interaction - Gold Coast, QLD.
	Sep 24 - 26, 2008	Netherlands	Amsterdam Conference 2008 Details on our website soon!
	Sep 25 - 26, 2008	USA	COMMON Directions - Dallas, TX. looksoftware will be exhibiting and presenting

Please be informed that looksoftware's Australian office will be closed on:

Monday the 9th of June, 2008 for Queen's Birthday.
Normal office hours will resume on Tuesday 10th June, 2008.

Whenever you need help, you'll get it faster if you direct your questions as follows:

TOPIC
	Sales assistance	sales@looksoftware.com
	Maintenance and license codes	license@looksoftware.com
	Technical questions	support@looksoftware.com
	Customer Service	customerservice@looksoftware.com