ResQNet package wires up mainframe access

NEW YORK - A new turnkey package from ResQNet. com lets users access legacy mainframe, AS/400 applications via wireless devices such as Palm PDA's, Pocket PCs, Windows CE devices and cell phones.

Called ResQEnable, the service and software is targeted at large enterprise customers such as banks, insurers and health care providers that need to let their mobile workers access host applications. With roughly 20,000 mainframes and 700,000 AS/400s installed, the idea of being able to tap resources such as order entry or inventory status via wireless devices could be attractive to many users, observers say.

ResQNet is an established host-access vendor whose specialty has been getting legacy applications Web-ready. Now the company is moving into the wireless IP arena, says Steve Eskenazi, vice president of marketing.

The service is implemented by ResQNet personnel who go to a company's site and install ResQNet's Java-based software server, called Results Quickly-Mobile Express (ResQ/ME). This software sits on either a mainframe or AS/400 host or intermediate Windows NT server and converts legacy applications into a wireless IP format. The ResQNet personnel will also train in-house staff to do the conversion of legacy applications to wireless with a development tool kit.

End users can convert SNA screens or legacy enterprise resources planning application for wireless by using simple development tools that only require point-and-click and drag-and-drop operations. The back-end applications remain untouched.

The service usually takes about three days for the software installation and training, Eskenazi says. Any departmental staff member able to use Microsoft PowerPoint can learn in a few days to get their legacy back-office applications mobile-ready, he adds.

ResQ/ME can be tied to most popular application servers including IBM's Websphere, SQL capable databases such as Microsoft's SQL Server, Oracle and Sybase. The company claims the software can support thousands of concurrent wireless sessions.

ResQEnable and ResQ/ME are available now. A typical ResQEnable service and package will start at about $50,000.

ResQNet.com: www.resqnet.com