Successful Terminal Emulation Replacement Tips and Techniques for IT Executives and Administrators
Holmes Publications
June 29, 2009
www.bluezonesoftware.com
The following 5 points outline some of the most common concerns technologists face when deploying a new terminal emulation solution.
#1 What are the hidden costs to deploy a new product?
The potential costs associated with deploying a new emulation solution go beyond just software license fees. Administrators must configure and install software for hundreds or thousands of users, who may be spread across multiple buildings, cities, states or countries. With most emulation solutions, this process is manual. Plus, deployment may require the purchase of new hardware.
At the risk of oversimplifying the task of launching new emulation software can be deployed with minimum costs if:
• The solution can be deployed from any Web server (WebSphere, NT, mainframe, iSeries, UNIX) so no additional hardware/software purchase is required.
• Distribution is simple and inexpensive. Ideally, users are simply sent an e-mail that includes a Web link. When users click on the link, a download of the emulation software is initiated. Or, users can be directed to a link located on an Intranet Web page to begin the download.
• In many cases, users may lack the skills necessary to install and configure a new emulator; however, the emulation download should be accompanied by a predetermined configuration file. This eliminates the need to tie up technical resources to configure software again and again, user by user. There is nothing required of the user beyond clicking on a hyperlink, which starts the automatic download of a preconfigured client.
#2: Will my users´ productivity be disrupted?
Without the right emulation solution, there are genuine concerns such as lost functionality, compatibility, and learning curve just to name a few. Some organizations feel there is so much risk involved with launching a new emulation solution they limp along for years using older and obsolete emulation technology, only perpetuating the problems of their current solution. The truth is converting to new state-of-the-art emulation technology can uncover dozens of deficiencies that have been dragging down the productivity of your emulation users. Only once your organization has the modern, replacement emulation in place do the advantages of this architecture become realized. The new solution should be designed to be easy to implement, easy to use and highly customizable to support ever-changing business requirements, all while maintaining the functionality and compatibility of your original legacy applications.
#3: Will I have to recreate all my scripts and macros?
When evaluating a new emulation deployment, organizations must assess the solution´s ability to preserve existing automations in the form of custom Macros and Scripts. Many organizations have invested countless hours and effort into tailoring their emulation solutions to match their business needs, so to duplicate the work that took months or even years to complete, is unacceptable. The replacement solution should take the risk out of the transition to a new emulation solution. It must automatically convert your existing scripts and macros to be 100% compatible with the replacement script environment. No recreation necessary.
#4: How will my users overcome the learning curve of a new product?
It is a common concern that employee frustration, high training costs, operation downtime and a significantly delayed ROI could result when deploying a new emulator. That´s why a key part of the replacement strategy is to pre-configure the interface and functionality of the new emulator to duplicate the previous emulator´s settings. Its configuration settings should be set to look and behave virtually identical to what your users have used for years, so the threat of deployment disrupting day-to-day work is minimized. In the correct replacement solution customers should find that very little training is necessary for users already familiar with the previous emulation software.
Concern #5: Keyboard Mapping and Session Settings
A new emulation deployment shouldn´t require you to reinvent standards that you have already determined, such as keyboard mappings and session settings. Technology executives must evaluate an emulation solution´s ability to duplicate standards to avoid complicating or delaying deployment. The administrator must be able pre-configure these settings and then automatically distribute them when deploying the replacement emulation clients.
BlueZone Software´s Terminal Emulator, BlueZone has been extremely successful in accommodating all these techniques and more. In a BlueZone conversion, administrators are able to accommodate virtually every display and printer setting that users require. The sessions come pre-configured and are automatically distributed when deploying the BlueZone client from a web server. There is little or no work required for script conversion as BlueZone incorporates an automatic script conversion utility with the product. As a result, BlueZone allows you to focus on new strategic business initiatives, not duplicate work that has already been done once before.
BlueZone Software
www.bluezonesoftware.com
The following 5 points outline some of the most common concerns technologists face when deploying a new terminal emulation solution.
#1 What are the hidden costs to deploy a new product?
The potential costs associated with deploying a new emulation solution go beyond just software license fees. Administrators must configure and install software for hundreds or thousands of users, who may be spread across multiple buildings, cities, states or countries. With most emulation solutions, this process is manual. Plus, deployment may require the purchase of new hardware.
At the risk of oversimplifying the task of launching new emulation software can be deployed with minimum costs if:
• The solution can be deployed from any Web server (WebSphere, NT, mainframe, iSeries, UNIX) so no additional hardware/software purchase is required.
• Distribution is simple and inexpensive. Ideally, users are simply sent an e-mail that includes a Web link. When users click on the link, a download of the emulation software is initiated. Or, users can be directed to a link located on an Intranet Web page to begin the download.
• In many cases, users may lack the skills necessary to install and configure a new emulator; however, the emulation download should be accompanied by a predetermined configuration file. This eliminates the need to tie up technical resources to configure software again and again, user by user. There is nothing required of the user beyond clicking on a hyperlink, which starts the automatic download of a preconfigured client.
#2: Will my users´ productivity be disrupted?
Without the right emulation solution, there are genuine concerns such as lost functionality, compatibility, and learning curve just to name a few. Some organizations feel there is so much risk involved with launching a new emulation solution they limp along for years using older and obsolete emulation technology, only perpetuating the problems of their current solution. The truth is converting to new state-of-the-art emulation technology can uncover dozens of deficiencies that have been dragging down the productivity of your emulation users. Only once your organization has the modern, replacement emulation in place do the advantages of this architecture become realized. The new solution should be designed to be easy to implement, easy to use and highly customizable to support ever-changing business requirements, all while maintaining the functionality and compatibility of your original legacy applications.
#3: Will I have to recreate all my scripts and macros?
When evaluating a new emulation deployment, organizations must assess the solution´s ability to preserve existing automations in the form of custom Macros and Scripts. Many organizations have invested countless hours and effort into tailoring their emulation solutions to match their business needs, so to duplicate the work that took months or even years to complete, is unacceptable. The replacement solution should take the risk out of the transition to a new emulation solution. It must automatically convert your existing scripts and macros to be 100% compatible with the replacement script environment. No recreation necessary.
#4: How will my users overcome the learning curve of a new product?
It is a common concern that employee frustration, high training costs, operation downtime and a significantly delayed ROI could result when deploying a new emulator. That´s why a key part of the replacement strategy is to pre-configure the interface and functionality of the new emulator to duplicate the previous emulator´s settings. Its configuration settings should be set to look and behave virtually identical to what your users have used for years, so the threat of deployment disrupting day-to-day work is minimized. In the correct replacement solution customers should find that very little training is necessary for users already familiar with the previous emulation software.
Concern #5: Keyboard Mapping and Session Settings
A new emulation deployment shouldn´t require you to reinvent standards that you have already determined, such as keyboard mappings and session settings. Technology executives must evaluate an emulation solution´s ability to duplicate standards to avoid complicating or delaying deployment. The administrator must be able pre-configure these settings and then automatically distribute them when deploying the replacement emulation clients.
BlueZone Software´s Terminal Emulator, BlueZone has been extremely successful in accommodating all these techniques and more. In a BlueZone conversion, administrators are able to accommodate virtually every display and printer setting that users require. The sessions come pre-configured and are automatically distributed when deploying the BlueZone client from a web server. There is little or no work required for script conversion as BlueZone incorporates an automatic script conversion utility with the product. As a result, BlueZone allows you to focus on new strategic business initiatives, not duplicate work that has already been done once before.
BlueZone Software
www.bluezonesoftware.com
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