Attachmate and IBM have jointly proposed the Open Host Interface Objects (OHIO) standard as a vendor-neutral set of interfaces allowing applications access to host systems via the Internet.
Paul Cripsey, country manager of Attachmate SA, believes the proposal opens the door for vendors to write to the same API (application program interface) and offer corporate developers a safe environment for developing e-business applications. "This is especially important to ease IT efforts in business combinations where disparate systems are common and mergers, acquisitions and corporate consolidation a frequent occurrence," he says.
Vincent Zandvliet, general manager software at IBM in South Africa, says OHIO protects investment in custom built web-to-host applications, ensuring the code will work in any system supporting the standard. "OHIO is again a clear proof of the openness and multi-platform support of the IBM software strategy."
Cripsey says Attachmate and IBM began collaborating on this API more than a year ago with the express purpose of making web-to-host development easy and portable. "OHIO will free corporate developers from having to make choices between platforms, server hardware and vendors. They will now know their applications will run with any host access system supporting the standard."
Corporate information systems are undergoing a transformation as business seeks new opportunities to extend information access to remote employees, partners, and customers, he says, pointing out that common interface standards are key to the success of this evolution.
OHIO is a set of object classes providing access mainframe or AS/400 data and allowing e-business applications to be built that are compatible with any implementation. It frees developers from having to consider the restrictions inherent in implementing web-to-host projects on proprietary platforms.
The new standard will be submitted for review at this week`s meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) TN3270/TN5250 Working Group. More information about the IETF and its proceedings is available at www.ietf.org.
Editors Note
Attachmate Corporation
For 16 years Attachmate has been a truly global company and today has more than 10 million customers worldwide supported by 80 offices in 30 countries. One of the ten largest PC software companies, Attachmate is the leading supplier of desktop and server-based host access management solutions. These solutions provide organisations the ability to manage, from a single console, who is allowed to access host data and what types of host data they can see.
Attachmate`s products enable users to safely and securely access mission-critical information located on hosts (mainframes, midrange, UNIX(r), DEC(r)/VAX(r), Unisys(r)) from any location inside or outside the firewall. A team of technical support and consulting experts backs all of Attachmate`s products, including management software and development tools in addition to client and server products to help people access and use corporate data.
For more information about Attachmate`s products, contact Attachmate`s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington at (425) 644-4010, (425)-747-9924 (fax) or toll free at (800) 426-6283. Attachmate`s World Wide Web address is http://www.attachmate.com.
About IBM
IBM is the world`s largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM Software offers the widest range of applications, middleware and operating systems for all types of computing platforms, allowing customers to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is through the IBM Software home page at http://www.software.ibm.com. Alternatively, IBM South Africa can be contacted on (011) 302-9111.
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