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Linoma Software’s Transfer Anywhere
Makes Encryption a Breeze
COMPANY BACKGROUND
Service Group is an insurance and financial services company, comprised of Service Life and Service Lloyds. They stand at the forefront of the insurance industry, offering the most comprehensive programs and innovative solutions available. They have been a LinomaSoftware (linomasoftware.com) customer for several years. The company has used RPG Toolbox, an RPG modernization tool, and Surveyor/400, a productivity suite and file editor for the System i, with great success and has been extremely pleased with the products’ functionality and Linoma’s friendly and knowledgeable customer support, says Bob Newton, senior VP of IT atService Group.
THE CHALLENGE
One of the banks that Service Group does business with insisted on using secure FTP (SFTP)_ encryption for transfers.
THE SOLUTION: Transfer Anywhere
Linoma had a ready solution to Service Group’s problem: Its Transfer Anywhere product, a centralized solution that automates data retrieval, translation, encryption, decryption, compression, and distribution for the enterprise, was exactly what Service Group needed to meet all of its encryption needs.
Transfer Anywhere automates transfers of data with other computer systems and trading partners, simplifies and automates FTP processes, and connects to SFTP servers, which lets companies create encrypted tunnels for transferring data over the Internet. Users can encrypt files using Open PGP, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and Secure Shell (SSH) encryption standards and compress files using ZIP technology, which helps minimize transmission times and reduce disk space. The automation of the encryption process has been a huge time saver for Service Group’s IT staff, Newton says.
The most impressive feature of the Transfer Anywhere product is its intuitive, user-friendly graphical user interface, which helps users easily set up, control, and monitor transfers from a centralized application, Newton says. Since no custom programming is required, even users with no technical knowledge can define the encrypted transfers. In addition, once a
transfer is defined using the graphical wizard, the transfer can be executed at any time, placed into a CL program, or even scheduled to run automatically on the System i.
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Transfer Anywhere includes native System i backup and restore commands for encrypting and decrypting libraries, objects, and IFS files. These backups can either be targeted to media such as tape or stored on the IFS file system for electronic transfer to other backup computer systems. Transfer Anywhere can establish connections to DB2, SQL Server, Oracle, Informix, Sybase and MySQL database servers; convert database records into Excel, XML, delimited text, and fixed-width file formats; send and retrieve files via e-mail; accept transfer requests from a variety of sources, including the System i and Windows; and produce complete transfer logging reports.
Service Group’s IT staff has also been impressed by Linoma’s ongoing assistance and phenomenal product support, Newton says. Linoma’s knowledgeable support team is extremely responsive to questions and is very patient when walking Service Group staff through an issue. Service Group was able to use Transfer Anywhere’s intuitive interface and extensive functionality to easily streamline data transfers and protect the information that is being transmitted. Like Linoma’s other products, Transfer Anywhere is a simple, useful product that has made it dramatically easier for Service Group to encrypt files, Newton says.
Linoma Software has recently announced a new product called Crypto Complete which will make encrypting fields much easier. Crypto Complete performs automatic field encryption without field expansion. Service Group is looking forward to bringing Crypto Complete in-house too so they can secure their 'sensitive data' including credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc. "Crypto Complete looks like it's going to be a great way to secure our data without spending weeks modifying our source and trying to figure out a good key management program. We'll be loading it up soon and are confident it will meet our field encryption needs." commented Newton.
Automated Installment Systems easily encrypts
and sends ACH files with Transfer Anywhere
COMPANY BACKGROUND
 Automated Installment Systems Inc, (AIS) (www.automatedinstallment.com) pioneered the concept of outsourced services for premium financing in the 80's. They were the first company in the country to offer insurance professionals a truly full-service premium finance management system designed specifically for them. Today, they continue to set the gold standard - helping clients nationwide significantly increase profitability and the level of service their clients can provide to their own customers. AIS is located in St. Louis, MO, with a branch office in Anaheim, CA.
THE CHALLENGE
AIS needed to find a more efficient, yet affordable, way of sending ACH files to their bank for processing. Previously, these files were sent from the iSeries to the PC, manually encrypted, and sent to the bank using Hyperterminal to make the connection. This method was time consuming, required manual intervention throughout the process, and didn't provide adequate logging of the transfers.
AIS searched for a better method of sending their files that met the following criteria:
1. The transmission process must be automated
2. The files must be encrypted with OpenPGP
3. The software must reside on the iSeries
4. The software must be within budget
THE SOLUTION: Transfer Anywhere
AIS found three products that appeared to meet their criteria. During the testing, however, one product stood out: Transfer Anywhere from Linoma Software (www.linomasoftware.com).
Easiest to Use
AIS found that Transfer Anywhere was clearly the easiest to use. Transfer Anywhere resides on the iSeries and also provides a user-friendly graphical interface to define and configure the transfers. AIS quickly and easily became proficient in using Transfer Anywhere. Since no custom programming is required, even non-technical users are able to define the encrypted transfers. Once a transfer is defined using the graphical wizard, the transfer can be executed at any time, placed into a CL program, or even scheduled to run automatically on the iSeries.
Valuable Extras for No Extra Charge
Although AIS focused on automating their encryption process, they were pleased to see that Transfer Anywhere also includes the ability to compress files using the .ZIP standard, perform direct databaseto- database pumps, and distribute files via email. These are all valuable functions that AIS intends to use in the near future. The other products either didn't have these functions or charged extra for them.
Best Value
AIS found that Transfer Anywhere was the most affordable and provided them (by far) the best value.
Venu Kunala said "The many features available in Transfer Anywhere, along with its very reasonable price, made our decision easy. In addition to automating the encryption and distribution of files to the bank, we've expanded into using Transfer Anywhere to transmit iSeries data files to our clients in the formats they preferred. The logging that Transfer Anywhere provides is exactly what our IT Auditors and management required. Our future projects are to work with the bank in receiving account reconciliation data to the iSeries and securing this process through encryption.
Transfer Anywhere is very secure, reliable and is a great value to our company."
Transfer Anywhere Simplifies Data
Movement for Fortune 500 Company
Company Background
Performance Food Group (PFG) is one of the nation’s largest foodservice distributors with over $6.1 billion in annual sales. Their 44,000 customers include restaurants, convenience stores, schools, cafeterias and healthcare facilities.
 PFG’s success is based on a philosophy of providing their customers with superior service, affordable prices and a broad selection of more than 65,000 foodservice items. Recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the nation’s “Most Admired Companies”, this innovative company has become a leader in their industry.
Problems to Solve
PFG operates over 30 foodservice distribution locations nationwide that serve all 50 states and 40 foreign countries through its Broadline and Customized divisions. Over the last several years, PFG’s Broadline division has accelerated its expansion into new geographic markets through the acquisition of established foodservice operating companies. Each of these Broadline operating companies utilizes their own database system to store their operational and financial data. Most of this data is stored on iSeries systems, but there is also information stored in Informix and SQL Server database systems.
It was very important for PFG to be able to retrieve and consolidate the operational and financial data of their operating companies. By making this data more readily available, PFG could maximize the synergies between these operating companies, reduce costs and better serve their customers. For example, PFG could receive volume discounts and operational efficiencies if the purchase orders from their operating companies were consolidated and sent to the vendors at one time. As another example, more efficient planning of shipments could be made by consolidating logistical data from their operating companies.
In the past, the MIS department at PFG had to build custom programs to extract, convert and load the operational and financial data from its operating companies. This programming effort was becoming very tedious and inefficient as their IT infrastructure and needs continued to grow. A solution was needed to simplify and automate these processes throughout their enterprise.
PFG selects Transfer Anywhere
After researching the available options, PFG selected the Transfer Anywhere product from Linoma Software (www.linomasoftware.com) for addressing their data transfer and consolidation requirements. Transfer Anywhere offered the key features and ease-of-use that PFG was looking for…
- Transfers are defined through intuitive wizards and are centrally stored for enterprise usage.
- Data can be quickly retrieved and shared between multiple database systems, including DB2 on iSeries, SQL Server, Informix and Oracle.
- FTP transmissions can be automated and made more reliable.
- Data can be converted into a variety of formats, including Excel, Text and XML.
- Information can be exchanged with Trading Partners on a scheduled basis.
- Transfers can be initiated from applications or schedulers on their iSeries machines.
- Logging of all transmissions is centralized and viewable from an easy-to-use console.
PFG has realized many benefits by implementing Transfer Anywhere. Using this flexible solution, PFG was able to consolidate their operational and financial data, including purchase orders, sales orders, financial information, logistical data and much more. Purchase orders are also automatically exchanged with its trading partners using Transfer Anywhere. A great deal of time and money was saved by eliminating the custom programming that had to be performed for this activity in the past.
PFG Implementation of Transfer Anywhere
PFG is now running more than 2,000 transfers every day through Transfer Anywhere. These transfers are automated through a scheduler, eliminating the need for day-to-day administration. Due to the inherent scalability of Transfer Anywhere, PFG is able to execute all of these transfers through just one installation of the product on a single iSeries machine.
Summary
One of PFG’s Systems/Application Integration team members stated “Transfer Anywhere has greatly simplified our data extraction and transfer needs. When we need to gather data from our Operating Companies, I can quickly set up the transfer definition in Transfer Anywhere and then automate it to run natively on the iSeries. This process typically takes minutes where it would have taken hours or even days of programming in the past.”
Transfer Anywhere can become your centralized solution to automate data retrieval, translation, encryption, compression and distribution throughout the enterprise. Visit www.linomasoftware.com for more information on Transfer Anywhere and to request a trial. For sales inquiries, please call toll free at 1-800-949-4696, direct at (402) 944-4242 or email sales@linomasoftware.com.
Western Power Sports Sales Reps are Provided
Timely Information with Transfer Anywhere
Company Background
 Western Power Sports Inc (www.wps-inc.com) of Boise, Idaho is a wholesale distributor of motorcycle, snowmobile, ATV parts and softline accessories such as clothing and helmets. They began operations back in 1959 initially as a snowmobile distributor for the northwest part of the United States.
Problem
While on the road, Western Power Sports’ salespeople require updated inventory and price sheets for their product line.  Since these items can change often, the IT staff at Western Power Sports had to retrieve this data off the AS/400 and send it to their sales representatives frequently. Additionally, dealers and other vendors were also needing a lot of the same inventory and pricing information. In order to provide this data, the IT staff would have to manually retrieve item and pricing information reports off of the AS/400, convert them to a Comma Separated Value format, attach them to an email and send to their salesmen, vendors and dealers every day or when requested. This would entail several hours a week in programming custom queries, retrieving data and emailing this data to those who needed it.
Solution
Western Power Sports had looked into several data transfer and automation tools, but most were either too expensive or took too long to define and execute the transfers.
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| Click here to download this Case Study in PDF format |
They then tried out Transfer Anywhere from Linoma Software. Western Power Sports had good experience with Linoma products in the past and were anxious to see how Linoma’s new Transfer Anywhere product could solve their data conversion and e-mail needs.
The Transfer Anywhere product provided a very user-friendly graphical interface for configuring transfers. After a brief demo from a Linoma representative, the IT staff at Western Power Sports were able to immediately start creating and running new transfers without any custom programming. Once a transfer has been defined using the graphical wizard, this transfer could be executed at any time or placed into a CL program or scheduler on the AS/400 to run automatically.
Since purchasing Transfer Anywhere, Western Power Sports now has their inventory and price schedules automatically converted to Excel and emailed out at a set time every day. This gives their representatives timely access to the information they require and also frees up the IT staff to concentrate on other tasks.
Rody Cummings, MIS Director for Western Power Sports, said “Transfer Anywhere allowed us to automate a manual process that saved us money by allowing resources to focus on other business critical items. It’s been a great value to us.”
Western Power Sports estimates that Transfer Anywhere has saved their IT Staff at least an hour every day, which equates to at least 200 hours every year. They plan to expand their use of Transfer Anywhere for other types of data movement in the future. “It’s nice to know that as other data transferring needs arise such as FTP, pumping data to other database servers, compressing files or encrypting data before transferring it, we can turn to Transfer Anywhere to help us with these tasks. I can see Transfer Anywhere as our core product for doing any type of data conversion and movement.” said Cummings.
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