Web Wears Path To Legacy Data

By AMY ROGERS

Cisco, Persoft and Modcomp are introducing software that lets users access legacy data over Web browsers, a corporate push that continues to gain momentum.

Cisco Systems has inked a deal with OpenConnect Systems Inc., Dallas, and Interlink Computer Sciences Inc., Fremont, Calif., to resell and build software that lets users access SNA data with a browser.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Cisco also has made minority investments in both companies.

IOS/390 and WebAccess/390, which will not be priced or available until the first quarter, works with Cisco's Internetwork Operating Systems software. The IOS/390 code will enable MVS mainframes and applications to be integrated into corporate intranets, and will be built on top of TCPaccess, Interlink's TCP/IP package, Cisco officials said.

Forthcoming releases of I nterlink's TCP/IP software will be built around IOS/390.

OpenConnect's OC://WebConnect and OpenVista products are the first members of the WebAccess/390 family.

OC://WebConnect brings 5250 and 3270 screens to a user's PC, as if a terminal emulator is running locally; OpenVista is an application development tool that helps developers rewrite legacy applications in Visual Basic, while automatically converting them to Java-based applications.

Over the long term, Cisco and OpenConnect will "work on more code that will provide efficient, secure connections across the Net," said Lisa Lindgren, product manager in Cisco's InterWorks business unit in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

In related news, Persoft Inc. , Madison, Wis., will begin shipping next month its new Persona line of Web-to-host access software.

Persona Entry is targeted toward customer-service and order-entry staff, while Persona Insight adds application hyperlinks to guide more experienc ed users through host programs, said Steven Entine, Persoft's chief technical officer.

Some 1,000 staffers at A.O. Smith Automotive Products Co., Milwaukee, need regular access to one host application or another, said Tim Manegold, information systems consultant at the company, which manufactures structural components for the automotive industry.

"What appeals to us is the ability to let users get all their information and applications via a single interface," said Manegold, who is testing the Persona products. "That is our long-term strategy."

Manegold said that if a browser-based method of accessing host data can support enough simultaneous sessions, he would consider pulling standard terminal-emulation applications off users' desktops. Entine said, however, that the Persona line complements Persoft's existing SmarTerm product.

SmarTerm is Persoft's flagship PC-to-host connectivity product for Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 3.1 and DOS. Entry costs $295 a copy; Insight is $445.

In addition, Modcomp , Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is positioning its new ViewMax 2000 software as an aid to companies developing electronic commerce applications. The software lets users access mainframe data and conduct business transactions over intranets or the Internet.

With hardware, software, installation and consulting services, the ViewMax package starts at about $75,000.