Larkspur, California-based AS/400 house Synon Corp is still just that, an AS/400 house despite promises last year that it would ship a Unix implementation of its Obsydian development tool set in the first quarter this year (CI No 2,560). The launch was part of its plan to storm the Unix client-server high level language and second-generation application development markets. But the lack of a Unix engine also means Synon’s much-vaunted relationship with Reston, Virginia-based methodology merchant James Martin & Co is currently floundering like a fish out of water (CI No 2,560). The two companies are still talking but if the agreement comes to pass, Synon believes Obsydian will be propelled into large-scale information engineering accounts, the top-dollar business it covets. It has now moved its Unix goalposts out to the first quarter of next year and claims that the current hustle and bustle in the AS/400 world – new PowerPC units, new operating system – has put it off its Unix stroke. Insiders said that the project was simply under-resourced. Synon admits it is likely to add to the $4m funding it has already committed to the project.
