Hoskyns Group Plc has released Enterprise Server, a client-server version of its AMIS management information software. The product runs on IBM Corp’s AS/400 but draws data from company databases, operating in different environments. The data is then stored in a data warehouse in a multi-dimensional format on the AS/400. The release includes new application programming interfaces to link data on the system to desktop pesonal computers running under Windows or OS/2 and to existing AMIS applications. The interfaces make the server software easier to connect to personal computer applications and to existing AMIS applications, says the Cap Gemini Sogeti SA company. There are special spreadsheet links to the desktop that enable data to be drawn from the AS/400 and presented as an integral part of the spreadsheet. The Enterprise Server is a plug-in-and-go solution, says Hoskyns’ Adam Winklemann and makes it far quicker and cheaper to implement an enterprise-wide information system than a bespoke system. Hoskyns says that the product has been installed and running within 15 days. As part of the release, Hoskyns is also offering a business consultancy service to assist in implementing the system into the client’s business practices. There are no plans to move the core software from the propietary AS/400 into other environments. We will become open through the AS/400 system rather than going around it, says Hoskyns’ Adam Winklemann. The original AMIS EIS software came out in July 1993 (CI No 2,219). For the central software, prices range from UKP18,000 to UKP50,000 depending on system size, client connection prices start at UKP500 but volume purchases can bring this down to UKP300.
