Quest Technology Group began
the project by working with our client to define the report criteria that
would return the most
immediate benefit to the agents. Since this server environment had proven
tremendously cost-effective in terms of application distribution and management
over the years, Quest introduced a web application architecture for this
project. This eliminated the need for any distributed applications, and
the maintenance burden associated with them.
Web pages were designed by Quest with easy-to-follow steps for report selection.
The majority of the 1,500+ users had little or no experience with Web applications
so ease of use was essential. The reports were generated by Unix query scripts
invoked by CGI scripts, eliminating the need for any client investment in
new software. Throughout the 20-year life of the agency applications, Quest
had developed not only a complete data access layer to C-ISAM but also many
database utility programs. These tools enabled Quest to easily extract the
data based on specific user criteria just as if this were a true relational
database.
To enable these web applications, Quest developed a completely unattended
installation of the Netscape FastTrack Server that is packaged with SCO Open
Server. Since there were no system administrators at any agency, all Unix
and Windows administration tasks were always accomplished through unattended
programs.The result was Agency Place Reports™, a component of Agency Place™.
Here agency and home office users throughout the organization gained access
to point-in-time data that enabled them to evaluate, manage and develop profitable
books of business. |
