© Proximity 2014

Trends and directions

© Proximity 2014

Our solutions

Web and mobile

Business Intelligence

Open source / PHP

Doing more on the IBM i

© Proximity 2014

Web and Mobile

© Proximity 2014

Web and Mobile

Browsers have become the de facto user interface for most people

Browsers are not yet the standard for IBM i users – but that is the direction we are seeing

The user experience in a browser is getting richer and more productive

Various browsers available and users want choice (and it gets harder to tell them what to use)

Delivering to a web browser is primarily a server side operation

Much like traditional Green Screen

At the same time, Mobile is catching Desktop as the main device to access information

© Proximity 2014

Web and Mobile

According to Intelligent Positioning

• UK Mobile (tablet and smartphone) share of traffic increased from 22.8% to 37% in 2013

• UK Desktop’s share of traffic decreased from 77.3% to 62.9% in 2013

• If rates continue, then mobile and tablet visits are set to overtake desktop during 2014

This is probably not reflective of the current IBM i base……..

But the trend is clear.

There is a mobile element to most applications Proximity are now delivering

Especially if there is access by anyone outside the ‘company’

Delivering mobile is a very practical option on IBM i

Browser Based – increasingly common

Responsive (good for visibility / informational functions)

Dedicated (best for data entry / higher interaction levels)

Specific Apps

Often write once and generate for specific devices

© Proximity 2014

Survey Data

How important is it to your organization to provide access to web-enabled IBM i screens from mobile

devices?

Only 31% said it was not important

How important is it to your organization to create IBM i mobile web apps?

Only 22% said it was not important

What is your most pressing mobile development challenge?

46% said - Don't know where to start / Not enough time/staff

© Proximity 2014

Just some of our customers

© Proximity 2014

Gartner website:

http://gtnr.it/1eiGB7s

© Proximity 2014

“

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Gartner website:

http://gtnr.it/1eiGB7s

© Proximity 2014

Business Intelligence

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/03/forrester-saas-and-data-driven-smart-apps-fueling-worldwide-software-growth/

© Proximity 2014

About Proximity

© Proximity 2014

PHP

•

Estimates vary but…

Somewhere between 50% and 70% of the web is typically the estimate for how much of the web is delivered with

PHP

PHP is designed to deliver browser based applications

Is delivered as part of the operating system

PHP continues to grow in popularity on IBM i and Zend remains very committed to IBM i market.

15% of ZendCon attendees were IBM i

BCD once again hosted the IBM i reception at ZendCon

© Proximity 2014

Open Source

•

Open Source continues to grow in popularity

Examples at all levels

PHP

MySQL (though now owned by Oracle)

Lots of JavaScript components

JQuery is a prime example

Apache Server

Applications for many areas

CMS (Content Management System)

CRM (Customer Relation Management)

eCommerce

Wiki

Bug trackers

etc.

PHP and Dbi (MySQL equivalent) opens up the IBM i to run many open source applications

A common model is for a community edition to be free and to pay for extra features and often for a support contract

© Proximity 2014

Doing more on the IBM i

© Proximity 2014

Doing more on the IBMi

Most new IBM i systems have unused processing capabilities

Most have CPW ratings way in excess of what is needed to run the line of business applications

Memory and disk is relatively cheap and often already in place

Many have ‘cores’ which are unused

Our IBM i has four cores, but only one licenced for OS/400

© Proximity 2014

Doing more on the IBMi

Web and Mobile enable existing applications

Deliver more functionality and open applications up to :

Partners

Suppliers

Customers

• Order Management

• Sales Representatives

• Delivery Tracking

Etc.

© Proximity 2014

Doing more on the IBMi

Implement existing open source applications for Internal or External use:

Content Management systems (and themes) for websites e.g.

• Drupal

• WordPress

• Joomla

CRM

• Sugar

Bug Management

• Mantis

eCommerce

• Magento

Wiki

• Wikimedia

And there are lots more – mainly very good and mainly free

© Proximity 2014

Doing more on the IBMi

Install Linux on a spare core

• Free

• Relatively Easy

• No impact on other CPU usage