Reading, Berkshire-based Implementors UK Ltd, formed last month as a subsidiary of Implementers (Holdings) Ltd (CI No 1,503), has just announced the launch of its Implementor personal computer-based software applications development tool for the IBM AS/400 mid-range system environment. Written in C, Implementor is currently available for the AS/400, with versions for other systems, including Unix, due to be announced in the near future – Hugh McCartney, managing director of Implementors UK, reckons its RS/6000 version for AIX 3 Unix will be available by next April. Implementors is boasting that the totally integrated Implementor product will support the entire mid-range system applications development process from requirements analysis through to automatic code generation. The Implementor, priced at UKP55,000 and being sold directly from the company, comprises three basic components – a design tool on the personal computer, an automatic code generator and a suite of applications. Implementors says its unique product enables users in a wide range of markets, including finance, manufacturing and distribution, to develop commercial systems rapidly, saving over 50% on design times compared with traditional methods, and considerably reducing maintenance time, which can account for 80% of software costs. Applications are developed on a stand-alone personal computer, using IBM Systems Application Architecture keyboard and colour standards. It generates RPG/400 code, which the company claims is more efficient than prorietary made-up language implementations for transfer directly to the target system. Implementor also incorporates features such as the transfer of entity notepads, file navigation and mass maintenance operations. Implementor is supplied as a full package including training and support, offered on three levels according to user requirements telephone support, consultancy and project design, and dial-up support. When asked if Implementors was likely to expand into mainland Europe, McCartney said he hoped this would be possible in about a year – Denmark, Holland and Sweden have apparently already shown interest in Implementors. The move into the continent would, he said, probably be through joint venture – he wants to proceed in a controlled way, into the major markets of France and Germany first, and then into Scandinavia and Southern Europe. America, he continued optimistically, should be possible after a further 12 months. Implementors’ managing director had no comment to make when asked his views on Ask Computer Systems’ takeover of Ingres – he was Northern Europe vice-president at Ingres until he left to start up Implementors UK. He said he was so excited about and wrapped up in the new Implementors product that he hadn’t got time to think about Ingres any more – the fact that he was prepared to give up the prosperity of his position with Ingres, he added, is a mark of his faith in Implementor.
