VIRTEL is a simple, fast, powerful, and cost-effective solution to:

• Instantly extend 3270 applications like CICS or IMS to the Web without any modification
  
• Adapt their presentation, ergonomics, navigation, and workflow to the Web
  
• Reuse time-proven legacy code to develop new Web applications

With VIRTEL there is no need to modify, rewrite, or re-host legacy applications. There is nothing to install or support outside the mainframe. Performance, scalability, and availability are outstanding, thanks to VIRTEL’s two-tier light-client mainframe-based architecture. VIRTEL gives a second life to 3270 applications.

Simple Two-Tier Architecture

• 100% mainframe-based
  
• Light client: nothing to install or support on clients
  
• Simply point the client's Web browser to a pre-defined URL
  
• No intermediate components or layers (no middleware, no applets, no API, no Web browser code additions, no Telnet, no JAVA, no GTG, no CWS, etc) and none of the associated bottlenecks, breakdowns, complexity, and dispersed support
  
• On-the-fly Web-to-3270 protocol converter runs on mainframe next to 3270 applications
  
• Easier to deploy and support than middleware, client-based, rewrite, or re-hosting solutions

Mainframe Strength and Performances

• As fast, robust, secure, scalable, and dependable as the mainframe it runs on
  
• Clever design reduces network traffic, code execution, and resource consumption
  
• Coded in Assembler and executing compiled HTML templates for top performance
  
• Production-proven with up to 15,000 simultaneous users
  
• Combines mainframe and IP security through VIRTEL's own filters and URL controls
  
• Faster, stronger, and more secured than middleware, client-based, rewrite, or re-hosting solutions

Cost Effective Reuse of Legacy Investment

• Quickly and easily opens 3270 applications to the Web without any code modification
  
• Easily developed HTML templates:
  
• Adapt 3270 presentation, ergonomics, navigation and workflow to the Web
  
• Transform 3270 applications into full-featured Web applications
  
• No screen scrapping for easier maintenance
  
• Allows creating new Web applications from time-proven and reliable legacy code
  
• Development, control, and support remain centralized and mainframe-based
  
• Costs less and leads to faster deployment than middleware, client-based, rewrite, or re-hosting solutions

Web-to-Host (W2H)

VIRTEL’s base module extends 3270 applications to the Web almost instantly, in less than 2 hours!  It allows adapting their presentation to the Web (Font, colors, PF keys, etc.), eventually transforming them into full-featured Web applications with the addition of countless Web-specific ergonomics and features such as clickable fields, command buttons, combo boxes, pop-ups, calls to other Web servers, and the likes.  Clients only need a standard JavaScript-capable Web browser, and no additional software.  VIRTEL requires no CICS exit, no middleware, no Java applets, no API, no GCG, no CWS, no Telnet, and doesn’t use screen scraping.  Web-enabling developments require simple HTML, JavaScript, and VIRTEL Script skills.  VIRTEL's mainframe-based Assembler-coded two-tier design cleverly reduces network traffic, code execution, and resource consumption, and it consequently delivers outstanding scalability, performance, and reliability. VIRTEL combines existing mainframe security (RACF, ACF2, TSS) with IP security components (proxy, firewall, SSO gateway, SSL security box) through its filtering rules and URL controls. With W2H, the legacy 3270 code and navigation remain unchanged. 

Host-for-Web (H4W) and Host-Web-Services (HWS)

VIRTEL takes Web-enabling a step further by allowing changes to the legacy 3270 navigation and workflow. For example, ten 3270 screens might be replaced by a more compact navigation with only three or four Web pages.  Or the display of a large table over several 3270 screens might be replaced by the display of a single table on a single Web page with clickable column heads to automatically sort the lines according to a column's content. With H4W, the application code is changed to recognize if a connected user is a 3270 terminals or a Web client, and to take the user through the appropriate navigation. With HWS, similar navigation improvements can be implemented without legacy code changes, but through additional coding (HTML, JavaScript, and VIRTEL script) at the VIRTEL server level.  HWS is deployed when the legacy code cannot be changed because it is frozen, lost, or part of a purchased application. 

Implementation Sample

• Onscreen button lets users toggle between old style green screens or a redesigned Web navigation look and feel
  
• Clickable customer name brings up display of past mail correspondence through access to image database server
  
• Software publisher integrates VIRTEL to its 3270 product for faster go-to-market of a Web-enabled version
  
• VIRTEL becomes a 3270 application server called by other Web servers in a WebSphere-based multi-tier solution to simplify, accelerate, strengthen, and secure the connection to host 3270 applications

Compatibility