In an attempt to improve productivity amongst its Tandem Computers Inc user base in the City, Admiral Computing Ltd, the computer systems division of Admiral Computing Group Plc, is offering an applications generator for Tandem NonStop computer systems. Developed by Fourth Dimension Software in San Francisco, EasyPath/TFS produces structured Cobol code for Tandem transaction processing systems, and is complementary to the Tandem Pathway and NonStop structured query language environments. Jim Chapman, managing director of Admiral Computing Ltd, claims EasyPath/TFS can improve code generation by up to a factor of 10, and by eliminating the need to write application support software reduces support costs by between 40% and 60%. There are two software tools: Tandem Framework System, an application support and management environment which is integrated with Tandem Pathway; and Easypath, an application generator which produces integrated requester-server applications written in Cobol. Admiral has acquired the exclusive worldwide rights for the application generator and the system is already under evaluation in four sites in the UK and two in Holland. Though it has been used for stock control and order processing, travel reservation and management and electronic Yellow Pages, Jim Chapman expects that it will be used initially to generate financial applications. Finance has been one of Admiral’s biggest markets since it was formed in 1979, and the company admits there has been a substantial slowdown in the securities marketplace since the crash last October. Chapman says that the emphasis is now on value for money, whereas before Big Bang the time scale was the most important factor, but says the company is doing well in the banking sector. He would not comment on the company’s end of year results – the company’s financial year runs to December 31 – but says he expects to announce a major banking contract early in the New Year. EasyPath/TFS costs UKP60,000 and is available now.
