Peregrine unveils next-generation Action Request System 5.0

Peregrine Systems, Inc, one of the world`s leading software companies, has unveiled Action Request System (AR System) 5.0, a development environment and application platform used to build and power flexible applications that automate and extend business processes.

"In today`s competitive environment, companies are faced with tight budgets and limited resources, and they need to make the most out of existing corporate assets and IT investments," says Dave Cormack, principal consultant, Peregrine, Enterprise Solutions at MGX.

"For more than 10 years, the AR System has played an integral role in the success of more than 60% of the Fortune 100 companies, and more than 100 corporate clients in SA. AR System 5.0 continues to help businesses remove friction points from application development, deployment and maintenance, so organisations can be more agile and responsive to changing market demands."

AR System 5.0, available immediately, is a free upgrade to customers with valid support contracts.

AR System 5.0 significantly upgrades Peregrine`s AR System foundation and introduces Web technology that enables applications to be created and deployed across the Web. This version enables fast and efficient localisation of applications, integration with external data sources and enhanced user productivity through Web and Windows interfaces. The product is offered with new data encryption products and with updates to the entire AR System product suite: Wireless and Palm, Approval Server, Migrator and the Distributed Server Option. As testimony to the product`s flexibility, Peregrine uses the AR System to build out-of-box infrastructure management solutions for helpdesk, change management, asset management and service level agreements.

Internally, Peregrine uses the AR System to streamline its internal business processes in applications for tracking product enhancements and problem resolution, vacation request approvals, human resource evaluations, and employee knowledge databases.

"Limited time and resources, coupled with an increased importance placed on efficiency and response time, have forced companies to embrace scalable, adaptable and flexible platforms on which to build applications," says Thomas Murphy, analyst at the Meta Group. "The ability to create and adapt applications easily will prove an essential advantage to tomorrow`s successful businesses."

Leveraging AR System 5.0`s improved functionality, customers can create, deploy and maintain global, scalable and adaptable applications and customise existing applications, resulting in maximum return on investment for their organisations. In addition, AR System 5.0 customers can:

• .         Protect and expand IT investments by using AR System 5.0`s built-in integration capabilities. These integration features include: open integration to external data sources with Action Request Database Connectivity (ARDBC) and other new API extensions; data exchange using standard XML format; ability to leverage data from virtually any external data source; development of meaningful and contextual presentation using intermixed data types and sources.

• .         Optimise the value of AR System resources with a single Web and Windows interface. AR System 5.0`s tools and functionality eliminates low-level programming tasks to create Web and Windows applications with workflow logic in a point-and-click environment. It also offers new auto deployment capability for AR System Web applications.

• .         Increase user productivity and provide rich user experience using new interfaces. These interfaces offer new field types for interactive navigation and form traversal; attachments with file preview capabilities; new controls to handle and manage data as permissions allow; new field types and menuing control for the Palm and wireless interfaces; and new Web-based interface for the Remedy Approval Server.

• .         Consolidate business processes with enhanced global deployment capabilities. With this feature, customers can eliminate programming redundancies and deploy global applications in multiple languages. It enables greater scalability and more choices for running multiple AR Server instances connecting to a single database. Additionally, it provides expanded data migration capabilities in Remedy Migrator.

• .         Protect corporate data and provide end-to-end data security with AR System 5.0 and the new AR System Encryption products. The products secure the data link between the AR System server, its clients and associated servers to prevent casual theft of corporate data. The addition of these encryption products completes the end-to-end data protection required for sensitive corporate information.