E6 - z/OS support for EDI over TCP/IP
The Need for E6Businesses are increasingly looking to migrate away from SNA to TCP/IP. IBM’s SNA is a successful legacy data communications protocol. But corporate networks are now dominated by TCP/IP – supported by almost all applications and computers. SNA skills are now relatively rare. SNA networks are difficult to configure for redundancy and backup. TCP/IP was invented to cope with disasters.
EDI VAN’s are introducing TCP/IP and migrating their users to it. E6 allows z/OS EDI installations to remain current, reduce costs and increase quality.
The initial release of LSL’s software package, E6, enables z/OS EDI users, including Intercept-MVS and Trada-MVS, to send EDI data over the GXS TCP/IP network using the TIP protocol.
E6 Benefits
E6 for z/OS:
- Increases network resilience by moving to TCP/IP
- Decreases cost of EDI by removing 37x5
- Administered via web client
- Without changes to EDI software
E6 Return on Investment
E6 can have a Return on Investment measured in months. Running EDI over SNA requires an IBM 3745 or equivalent, NCP software licences, the cost of housing the configuration and supporting it. Conservatively, this is over £35K per annum.
If EDI is the last application running across SNA, saving money whilst gaining network resilience is an irresistible proposition.
The Future of E6
The E6 roadmap will be refined in line with client demand. The current plan includes:
- Other VAN's
- GXS' TSP EDI protocol
- Generic SNA to TCP/IP conversion