Kirland WA, August 1997

ADVANCED BusinessLink Corporation will demonstrate the industry's first AS/400 Push technology product at Common this fall in San Antonio.

Called BusinessLink/PUSH, it provides direct AS/400 push capabilities similar to those found in existing PC based products such as PointCast, Castanet, etc. from within a native AS/400 environment.

A significant addition to traditional push technology is interactivity with legacy AS/400 applications. Instead of pushing static data or basic forms, BusinessLink/PUSH can actually push the user into an interactive session with an existing AS/400 application. This means that AS/400 applications can choose who they wish to interact with and pop up instantly on hundreds of desktops across the world.

According to Chris Lategan, ADVANCED BusinessLink Corp.'s CEO, " Push technology is actually a more natural fit for AS/400 sites than for PC's, and the AS/400 installed base is in an unique position to lead the industry in push applications. This is because the traditional PC, website or bulletin board is a pull environment where users are expected to search for the data they need.

As such the PC market place and PC applications generally lack the application software infrastructure to take real advantage of push, and for some time now push has been a technology without much real-world application.

While on a PC server, its common for users to search directories for the files and information they need, very few if any AS/400's sites have users searching system libraries for objects they might need. Instead, traditional AS/400 applications determine user needs based on interaction with menu based applications or physical location of devices/printers, then distribute reports and data outbound to those users as their natural mode of operation. This is a good architectural basis to extend these applications with a solid push technology ".

To use BusinessLink/PUSH, users simply download a small tuner application (pTUNER) from any web server and it installs on their taskbar. Clicking on the taskbar icon allows them to select from the channel guide of registered 'channels' which the tuner will capture. The pTUNER is free for download.

Through the use of the pTUNER, users tune into a specified channel (in reality a specific AS/400 site). It runs in the background, and provides all the necessary information the host requires to establish a connection.

pTUNER presentation/delivery options include flashing taskbar icon, screen saver, ticker, application call or interactive session launch (either client/server or 5250).

BusinessLink/PUSH channels are either Public or Private. BusinessLink channels are registed with a central registry worldwide and automatically appear live on every channel guide for every user. Private channels are only listed for those users with the ability to access.

To run a BusinessLink/PUSH channel, providers purchase the BusinessLink/PUSH Server which runs on any AS/400 v3r1 (and above). 'Pushing' content to the channel is achieved by issuing a single command from the AS/400 either interactively or from within applications.

The 'content' can be AS/400 database files (converted automatically to .DBF's for instant import into Excel, Access, etc), spool files (by simply printing to the BusinessLink/PUSH outq for that channel), PC files including multimedia, streaming data such as suitable for bulletins, tickers, etc for the initiation of interactivity with the AS/400 applications.

Interactive content can be pushed in two ways - either by launching an emulation session to the recipient (BusinessLink securely handles login to an actual application making the sign-on process seamless), or by launching a small GUI client to interact with an AS/400 server using BusinessLink's high speed messaging (HSM) client/server architecture. This is particularly important because the number of clients is potentially very large and HSM uniquely delivers all client requests to a single host server application as entries in a data queue which it can process and reply to.

Traditional approaches such as APPC partner programs would be unsuitable in this environment where the huge number of clients would make a one for one client/server pair prohibitive, potentially launching tens of thousands of jobs on the host AS/400. BusinessLink/HSM instead would deliver these requests as a stream of entries in a single data queue which a large AS/400 could easily clear in a few seconds.

The demand for AS/400 push has been strong with major software vendors seeing opportunity to distribute software releases or survey customers effortlessly, other public channels such as an AS/400 free trials channel will allow vendors to reach a new worldwide audience. AS/400 magazine and education vendors can greatly extend their web site offerings. Individual corporations will use push mainly on private channels to their clients for applications such as pushing emergency repair and parts requirements to suppliers, pushing stock price variations to major clients, despatch to couriers and repair centers, etc.

Whereever there is a financial or business benefit for the immediacy or the interactivitity, push is the answer. BusinessLink/PUSH delivers urgent information in addition to initiating an interactive communication and given BusinessLink's performance reputation, it promises the horsepower to deliver these volumes out across the net and help to further establish the AS/400 as the enterprise server of choice.

Media Contact: Chris Lategan