IceBreak convinced Tjenestemændenes Låneforening to go for an IBM i™ solution

Tjenestemændenes Låneforening was confronted with the fact that their current fiscal system was obsolete. The solution to their problems was buying an IBM i™ based loan application system. However, they needed it to be truly Web enabled, not screen scraped.

Tjenestemændenes Låneforening (TL) is a cooperative Bank for Danish Civil Servants. Their financial system was based on an application that could only handle considerations, not calculate loans or the collection of the loans.

Needing a new system capable of handling loans, TL invited tenders from two vendors. One offer was declined due to high annual maintenance costs and outsourcing issues. The other was declined because of a lack of insight into the banking business. This offer would have been reconsidered if the vendor had been able to demonstrate greater competence.

An IBM i™ based solution provided what was needed

TL was then introduced to a fully operational IBM i-based loan application developed by Lån & Spar Bank (LSB), a medium-sized Danish Bank.

The loan application represented years of banking experience and fit perfectly into the business logics of TL. The only problem was the RPG-based 5250 user interface; LSB did not have the resources to rewrite their loan application in Java. TL could not accept a solution based on 5250-based panels; neither could they accept a Web solution based on screen scraping. At the same time, TL insisted on being operative by second quarter 2005.

IceBreak fulfilled their needs

TL and LSB decided to try to convert the loan application from a 5250-based environment into a browser-based Web application using IceBreak. The conversion project began in September 2004. The first step was to purchase a IBM i™ 520-7450 and install the loan application.

The second step made use of the IceBreak development framework to convert the application to a browser-based system. The conversion was completed in December 2004 and the remaining project time was used to test the system, train users, and implement TL-related amendments.

The loan system was fully Web-enabled with IceBreak and operative in May 2005. 90 percent of the original loan system was reused. It took only two person-months to develop the user interface. The new user interface of the loan application matches the LBS Web layout in general.

RPG developers can still update the application

This project proved that IceBreak can be used, quite successfully, to convert existing 5250-based business systems into fully browser-based applications. And just as important - the RPG developers of the business application are still able to upgrade their product and provide a full support service to their users.