It may not surprise an American Graffiti fan to see an old car cruising down the road, or to learn that what's underneath the hood roars with the muscle of a 500 horsepower Chevy Stroker engine. The same could be said, of course, about older System i boxes.

Arkona, headquartered in South Jordon (see Figure 1), Utah, provides web-based management systems to some of the largest car dealership groups in the United States. Arkona Dealer Management Solutions (DMS) offers tools for accounting, payroll, parts, service, and analysis. Still, the company felt the System i backdrop for its solutions was technologically advanced but lacking a modern-day look and feel. Arkona thought its software's green screen radiated the image of a beaten-down Pontiac Trans Am rather than that of a sporty Corvette.

"Our main problem was that the host applications were perceived as outdated," says Dave Jenkins, marketing director for Arkona. "Although the IBM iSeries platform under the covers is state of the art, many users still think it's old technology because of the look of the green screens. The younger generation of users demands modern applications."

So, with no official funding or budget, Arkona set out to get rid of the green-screen look but maintain the high performance of the System i. With 160 full-time employees and more than 900 automobile dealerships depending on its DMS software every day, Arkona knew that enhancing the software's appearance should not change its inner workings.

In fall 2006, looksoftware pulled into Arkona's shop. As Jenkins puts it, "looksoftware's focus on reuse rather than redevelopment with new languages means we can continue to use our preferred RPG language."

Modern Machine

Arkona uses two IBM 570s, both equipped with V5R3. In total, the company has 1,600 connected clients and System i users. To keep everything functioning properly, Arkona's IT department comprises 17 engineers and seven IT personnel. With such a widespread system, Arkona wanted to modernize the look of its applications without having to change much of anything else about them, something looksoftware offered. Jenkins describes looksoftware as "the only solution that didn't require migration and gave us the ease of use and performance required."

During its investigation of alternative application modernization solutions, Arkona encountered many providers that had implementation, user performance, and ongoing software maintenance issues — issues looksoftware did not have. "The old problem of double maintenance cropped up throughout the assessment, and looksoftware's ability to modernize non-invasively and with no double maintenance (due to the original underlying code not having to be touched) was what made the decision easy," Jenkins says. With looksoftware's newlook, Arkona was able to change the appearance of its software from passé to modern, and it didn't have to reinvent the wheel.

Ready, Set, Go!

It took eight months of work by a team of two to have nearly 3,000 application screens ready for deployment. With no unforeseen delays and looksoftware being available throughout the whole process (from initial training to consulting and ongoing help-desk support), Arkona successfully launched its modern applications in September 2007.

After the new look was complete, there was very little training involved for customers and employees. Looksoftware enabled the applications to be shown in either text or GUI screens with the ability to instantly change views. Not only did the look of Arkona's software change, but its efficiency did as well: "The installation process at the workstation is much easier and quicker," admits Jenkins, "since we no longer need to install Client Access."

Thanks to looksoftware, Arkona achieved its goal and got even a little more out of the bargain. Arkona's antique-looking vehicle is now as modern on the outside as it is on the inside. And it has even more state-of-the-art features.

"One of our real strengths now is our method of deployment," Jenkins says. "We offer our tools via the Internet so the store does not have to make a substantial investment in hardware or licensing of technology." With its new and shiny-looking applications, it seems Arkona is ready to fully compete in the world of dealer management applications — and possibly win the race.

Cassandra Deemer is an editorial assistant for System iNEWS.

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