Adapting is the Key to Integration

The answer to keeping transaction data flowing smoothly across the enterprise is e-Adapter for TPF.

With the application-development and networking enhancements now available, TPF remains ideally positioned to deliver unparalleled speed, performance, reliability, availability and security for high-volume applications. The challenge until now was finding a fast and easy way to make transactional data readily available to new applications and users outside of the TPF environment.

e-Adapter for TPF, developed by IBM business partner CommerceQuest, distributes data and information quickly and productively across the entire enterprise and beyond to key customers and business partners without regard to data type, communications protocol or computing platform. This unique solution enables real-time TPF transaction data to be available to critical distributed systems, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management and customer relationship management. Web applications can be linked to back-end TPF operations for a seamless, highly responsive e-commerce solution.

TPF users within or outside an enterprise can now exchange information in all forms and all media including the Internet, making e-Adapter for TPF the perfect fit for e-business applications. Furthermore, with e-Adapter for TPF, this seamless information flow is accomplished quickly and easily. That's because CommerceQuest's software portal interface can be embedded into existing TPF transactions. The ability to leverage existing investment in high-performance transaction systems for new e-business solutions, while improving performance and enhancing decision making across the entire value chain becomes reality.

How e-Adapter for TPF Works

e-Adapter for TPF is a highly robust, highly scalable enterprise data-exchange engine that allows you to move data efficiently, effectively and seamlessly into and out of TPF.

Combining the strength of the trusted MQSeries messaging backbone with innovative automated operations, e-Adapter for TPF offers support for the widest possible range of today's heterogeneous information technology environments and delivery mechanisms. The unique features of e-Adapter for TPF allow users to enjoy increased functionality in their IT environments. Some examples of added capabilities follow.

Users can take advantage of resources efficiently by optimizing data transfer schedules. For example, e-Adapter for TPF allows a user to designate when messages are sent. One supplement to the supplied MQSeries trigger monitors is allowing date and time triggers as a means of controlling the exact instance MQSeries messages are allowed to flow. Features such as flexible scheduling criteria, a choice of interfaces, and strategic integration points allow users to effectively schedule and manage the initiation and flow of MQSeries-enabled business processes. The scheduling ability increases user productivity and prevents human error by automating exactly when MQSeries transactions occur.

e-Adapter for TPF is a complete subsystem that exchanges any type of structured or unstructured data between numerous platforms, provides data conversion, and delivers data compression when desired. It is designed to perform file transfers regardless of size, format, or destination, and also provides the capability to track individual status for any phase of the file transfer at any node across the enterprise.

Integration with existing business processes and logic is accomplished with workflow integration exits, e-Adapter Software Portals, and a choice of a variety of interfaces including command line, API, ISPF panels, and a Java ä -based GUI. Exits are user customizable, and can be employed in a plug and play manor. Exits can be called at any point during an e-Adapter transaction. Portals are integration points that can be used to override the internal I/O in favor of custom or specialized I/O. With the use of Software Portals, data can be passed to the e-Adapter transfer engine with a simple, consistent API.

Software Portals available from CommerceQuest include:

Systems:

AS/400 Physical File System

IBM 4690 Point of Sale Controller

TPF

Databases:

IBM DB2

Oracle

Informix

Lotus Notes

ODBC

SQL

Message Brokers:

IBM MQSeries Integrator

NEON Copernicus

TSI Mercator

Utilities:

File to Message

Message to File

Directory to File

MVS Job Submission

PKZIP

 

High Performance and Mission-critical Reliability

Designed to handle the large volumes of information generated by mainframe transaction processing systems, e-Adapter for TPF can:

Recover automatically from network/ system failures;

Ensure performance and "short-circuit" communication problems by automatically breaking large files into multiple message packets;

Support configuration of multiple active components for each machine;

Optimize bandwidth and resources by allowing users to choose channels and queues;

Dynamically load balance multiple channels by taking advantage of multi-channel and high-performance file transfer modes;

Ensure the delivery of critical data by using either persistent messaging or embedded, automated, end to end recovery.

Laying the Foundation in MQSeries

Choosing e-Adapter for TPF means making the decision to standardize on MQSeries as the underlying infrastructure for data exchange across the enterprise for both batch and transactional oriented business processes. And why shouldn't you? IBM MQSeries is the leading message-oriented middleware in the marketplace. That's why CommerceQuest, formerly MessageQuest, started building solutions around MQSeries years ago.

CommerceQuest was founded as MessageQuest in 1992 by a handful of seasoned IT professionals that spent years at IBM learning, developing and selling IBM technology. MessageQuest became a leader in the Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) market by developing and implementing solutions around MQSeries. The company's consultants average over 10 years technical experience and more than 5 years in MQSeries consulting.

Recognition of CommerceQuest's successes in the EAI space include being named "Partner of the Year" in 1997 and "Top Contributor" in 1998 by IBM and a winner of the 1999 Software Magazine "Software 500". In addition, Deloitte & Touche named CommerceQuest a winner of the national "Technology Fast 500" award, where the Company’s 3229% revenue growth between 1993 and 1997 ranked in the top 25 percent of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in the United States from a pool of over 22,000.

CommerceQuest has adapted to change by show of their recent name change that reflects the extension of their EAI solutions to perform Internet Application Integration (IAI). CommerceQuest not only does integration within an enterprise, but also integrates applications over virtually any type of network including the Internet. CommerceQuest is privately held and has its headquarters in Tampa, Fla. with branch offices are located in the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Partnership with IBM

"This product is another example of how we work with IBM to provide integrated solutions to enterprises," said Alex Aversano, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at CommerceQuest. "We've developed solutions that service the needs of our mutual clients, from the smallest IBM device users, e-Adapter for 4690 POS Controller, to their largest most sophisticated systems users, e-Adapter for MVS and TPF for the IBM 390."

e-Adapter for TPF is jointly marketed by both CommerceQuest and IBM. The relationship between IBM and CommerceQuest continues to flourish, resulting in added functionality for TPF and other IBM platforms.

For more information on leveraging the power of transactional processing systems and easing the transition to e-business, please contact CommerceQuest at 1-888-844-6655 or send e-mail to tpf.NOSPAM@CommerceQuest.com. You can also visit http://www.CommerceQuest.com/tpf for more information. MV 2007: remove the .NOSPAM to use the email address