By Sandy King, Product Manager

In our last issue, we introduced the new TurnOver 5.4 Eclipse-based client and provided details on its most significant new features. In this article, we’ll give you a perspective on its evolution – and also offer insight to ensure your smooth transition to the new client. This information will be particularly useful for those of you who are currently using one or more of our TurnOver Client/Server applications.

Evolution

The original set of client/server applications (Helpdesk, Helpdesk Lite, TurnOver Projects, and eCM) were developed more than five years ago using a development tool called AllFusion Plex. Over the next couple of years, we added two more client/server applications: Administrator and Operator. All of these client/server applications were part of TurnOver Release 5.3.

When Eclipse was introduced, our developers began experimenting with it. They realized, with growing enthusiasm, that the Eclipse framework would let us offer more advanced functionality faster than any other technology they had tried. Because IBM had just chosen Eclipse as the basis for its newest Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), leveraging the Eclipse frameworks would ensure optimum interoperability with those IDEs while retaining TurnOver’s complete consistency with the iSeries Developer's Roadmap.

Consequently, with the release of TurnOver 5.4 last spring, we introduced two Eclipse-based clients: Administrator and Team Member.

We spent the rest of last year converting all remaining client/server interfaces over to Eclipse and streamlining the installation process for our customers. The result is that we have replaced the original individual clients with a new, single TurnOver Client, into which you can install any combination of a set of role-based components. The components are modeled after the older clients, and can also be installed in any combination into any Eclipse 3.0-based IDE (such as Rational Web Developer or WDSC 6.0).

You should realize that RPG and COBOL developers must use the new Eclipse-based TurnOver components as plug-ins to WDSC to get full support throughout the development cycle. Just as TurnOver's 5250 version draws on SEU functionality, its Eclipse version draws on WDSC's LPEX editor and other functionality to provide a full-featured development environment.

Table 1 maps the older client/server applications to a set of pre-defined user roles that the TurnOver Client installer refers to as “change management profiles”:

    Table 1: Mapping of Client/Server Applications to TurnOver Client

We recommend that Helpdesk Lite users migrate to ExpressDesk's browser-based module, or install the TurnOver Client with access to only Tasks and Wisedesk. Remember that if your job function encompasses multiple roles, you can select as many components as necessary when you install the TurnOver Client. That’s the beauty of this new application – you get everything you need, all in one place!

Making the Transition Easy

Regardless of user interface – 5250, client/server, or Eclipse-based – TurnOver runs over a single database that resides on the iSeries. As a result, transitioning to the new TurnOver Client is not an all or nothing proposition. You can begin to use the new Client and, if you need to jump back into something more familiar, simply fire up your client/server applications or revert back to your 5250 interface. However, it won’t take long for you to realize that the new Client is intuitive, easy to use, and offers more functionality than the other UIs. In short order, the TurnOver Client will likely become your preferred UI.

Simplified Licensing

In the past, each of the individual client/server applications was sold on a per-seat basis and required a separate license. To further simplify TurnOver for our customers, the new TurnOver Client is included with your TurnOver Development license on an unlimited user basis. The only exception is the Helpdesk component, which continues to be separately licensed and includes unlimited users.

If you have previously licensed a discrete number of client/server Helpdesk seats, the same number of users will be able to concurrently access the Helpdesk component within the new TurnOver Client. For instance, if you’d previously purchased eight Helpdesk client/server seats, the same license also includes access to Helpdesk via the new TurnOver Client for eight concurrent users. Those eight seats can be used in any combination of concurrent usage so people can transition at their own pace. For example, at any one time you can have three users running client/server Helpdesk and five in the new Client, four in client/server Helpdesk and four in the new Client, and so on.

Free Webinars

If you’re not ready to jump in head first and try it yourself, go to our customer support site and sign up for one of our TurnOver 5.4 Eclipse Client webinar sessions. The one-hour session walks you through the install and shows you how to get started. We cover all of the major components of the new Client, and we always leave plenty of time at the end of the webinar to address any questions you may have.

If you currently use TurnOver eCM, we recommend that you sign up for the webinar entitled Using TurnOver to Manage PC Applications.

Transition Now

Don’t wait a minute longer! If you’re not already running the new Client, order or download the TurnOver 5.4 March CDs to experience the benefits of our new user interface first hand!

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