In a move that it hopes will encourage more software vendors to the AS/400 platform, IBM Corp says it has ported Synqest’s supply chain manufacturing software to its mainframe OS. Synquest’s APS (advanced planning and scheduling) application is designed to work in conjunction with manufacturing-oriented enterprise resource planning applications, like JD Edwards’ OneWorld, for discreet manufacturers. In the past, said Paul Woods, worldwide AS/400 supply chain manager, not having Synquest on the AS/400 meant customers had to go through time consuming and costly integration procedures to make the software work with their ERP applications.
Woods said IBM started work on the port in March. The software is currently at one beta site and will be generally available in January, he said. The announcement is an extension of the relationship IBM announced with Synquest, in conjunction with JD Edwards back in July. Under that agreement, which IBM called Supply Chain Advantage, Big Blue said it would offer preconfigured versions of its RS/6000, AS/400 and Netfinity platforms with the software pre-loaded and help customers integrate Synquest’s software with JD Edwards’ ERP offerings.
Now we can cut down on implementation times by having Synquest’s software running natively on the AS/400 alongside JD Edwards, Woods said, adding that the new partitioning functionality on the platform would further improve performance by allowing both sets of applications to share CPU power.
Woods said that being able to offer Synquest natively will be a big selling point for new users, whom IBM hopes will then want to stay with the platform and add new – preferably IBM – applications over time. The company has made no bones of trying to get more applications on the AS/400 and Woods says this week’s announcement is just a further manifestation of that. It will also be advantageous to existing AS/400 users, he says, around a third of whom run ERP software and could potentially want the additional functionality of an application like Synquest’s.
We can’t say exactly how big that market is, but it’s a significant portion of customers, said Woods. They’ve invested in ERP applications and now they’re looking for the next thing to give them significant value add.
In addition, Woods says that having companies like Synquest on the AS/400 will encourage like vendors to do the same. We certainly intend to leverage the Synquest relationship as much as possible, he said, adding that IBM is currently in talks with other vendors and that partnership announcements would be made within the next two quarters.
IBM already offers similar APS supply chain options on the AS/400, notably from two vendors called Lilly and Commit Systems, but Woods said Synquest has the largest market share and is considered to be one of the best suppliers out there.
