Benefits

The Pacific Rim is burning with e-business fever. And businesses throughout the region are looking to strike the metal while it's hot. This involves not only getting online, but building new applications that will enable customers and vendors to conduct business fast and efficiently. It also means using middleware to integrate new Web-based applications with existing back-end processing systems. But not all Web application servers will support legacy transaction processing systems applications without extensive programming--particularly if the legacy systems are written with the double-byte characters used in Asian languages.

IBM Business Partner Uno Systems, a four-year-old software consulting firm based in Seoul, South Korea, has an answer to this problem. Uno's J*Link software features double-byte character support and enables the easy integration of IBM WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition with transaction processing systems such as BEA Tuxedo and TOP END. By enabling customers to choose a WebSphere Application Server solution over other solutions without concern for compatibility with existing systems, Uno is prepared to take the Pacific Rim e-business market by storm.

Currently, U.S.$25-billion Samsung Electronics Corporation, based in Seoul, is using J*Link to connect Glonets legacy system, its unified materials purchasing system built on WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition, to its supply chain management system, which uses BEA TOP END middleware. Glonets automates the procurement process between Samsung and some 5,100 business partners and 150 material shipping companies worldwide using electronic data interchange (EDI). Samsung expects to save millions in its first year as a result of the J*Link solution.

Accessing critical data through WebSphere Application Server
J*Link requires little or no modification to Web applications, giving end users instant access through a standard Web browser. And, its simple design accelerates online transactions. "J*Link has modest resource requirements, saving memory and processing power for other transactions," says Sonny Kang, vice president of international business, Uno Systems. "That enables fast exchange of data between WebSphere Application Server and back-end systems."

J*Link also helps companies migrate to the Application Framework for e-business from competing solutions. Without having to rewrite their entire existing system or change platforms, they can now easily extend their existing systems to any new e-business applications that use WebSphere Application Server.

WebSphere Application Server wins over WebLogic
The deployment of WebSphere Application Server with J*Link represents a significant turning point for Samsung. Without J*Link to connect Glonets to its legacy system, Samsung would have been limited to building its new procurement extranet using BEA WebLogic. But the company realized that WebSphere Application Server offered specific advantages over WebLogic.

"IBM WebSphere Application Server proved outstanding in both performance and price," says Kyu-Don Hwang, a manager at Samsung.

WebSphere Studio provides fast front-end development
To develop the front-end Web interface for Glonets, Uno used IBM WebSphere Studio (now IBM WebSphere Commerce Studio). Says Kang, "Samsung also considered using WebLogic to develop its front-end," notes Kang, "but, found that WebSphere Studio provides a more stable solution for fast development of Web applications, reducing its development cycles by 60 percent."

J*Link integrates WebSphere Application Server with TOP END transaction systems so well that it eliminates the need to develop server applications for the legacy system, shortening time to market and reducing overall development costs. "Fast deployment is key to winning in the fierce e-business arena," says Kang. "With J*Link and WebSphere Application Server, businesses can concentrate their efforts on building effective applications with the assurance that they won't have to jettison their existing investments."

For more information,
please contact your
IBM marketing representative or
IBM Business Partner.

Visit us at:
www.ibm.com/e-business
www.ibm.com/software/websphere

For more information about
Uno Systems and
Samsung Electronics Corporation, visit:
www.samsung.com

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