Amalgamated Software of North America (ASNA) has been developing visual programming and systems software for the midrange community since 1982 and recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.

ASNA President Anne Ferguson and her team took a brief reprise upon their anniversary to look back on their 25 years of servicing the System i market.

"Reflecting for a moment, I am amazed at how far we have come as an organization and an industry," said Ferguson. "We began our efforts 25 years ago focused on finding ways to address the needs of the software development community; helping them become more productive. By focusing on the needs of both the developer and the enterprise, we've been very fortunate in our ability to anticipate changes in the industry and the evolving needs of companies using the System i. Of course, when we started there was no System i; our focus was IBM System 34/36, which evolved to the AS/400, iSeries, and now the System i. Everything has changed, even the name! I can't wait to see what the next 25 years brings," she remarked.

To survive and grow for 25 years in the software development market, a company must continually innovate and take risk ahead of market demand. During its 25 years, ASNA has repeatedly lead the charge of innovation, earned more than 20 awards for its software development solutions, and received several patents. The highlights of the company's product innovation include:

• First patented performance enhancements for the IBM System 34
• First interactive source level debugger for RPG and Cobol
• First "C" compiler for the AS/400
• First visual programming language environment for the AS/400
• First cross-database platform integration between AS/400 iSeries and the Microsoft SQL Server platform
• First visual programming environment compliant with the Microsoft .NET platform for the iSeries
• ASNA Monarch, the first solution in the market for automatically transforming RPG programs or entire applications to the Microsoft .NET platform

Tony Canty, vice president of information technology and accounting for Labatt Food Service said, "We have worked with various ASNA products for 20 years. From our initial purchase of Acceler8 36 where we extended the life of the system 36 for two years until IBM released the AS400, to purchasing DataGate for fast i-Series database web access in the late 1990s, their products have always installed easily and worked flawlessly with minimal, if any, ongoing support needs. ASNA has also always been an innovator in anticipating unmet development tool needs for its customers. We are looking forward to being a part of their next 25 years."

Product innovation is rarely enough by itself to succeed in this industry; a company must also innovate with industry partners. ASNA is unique in this segment of the industry supporting strong, healthy relationships with industry partners.

ASNA ù
• Is a founding member of Midrange Alliance Program (MAP) with Microsoft and several other companies
• Is an Advanced Tier Member of the IBM PartnerWorld for Developers
• Is a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner in three competencies
• Has products that are IBM ServerProven
• Has products that appear on the IBM System i Innovation Developer Roadmap
• Believes that customers are looking for software solutions that make a real difference, support future needs, and come from a trusted name with an unblemished reputation for support and service.

"For 25 years, ASNA has been a leader in the market with innovative solutions from the early days on the System/34 to the current System i platform," said Spyros Sakellariadis, director, Midrange Alliance Program at Microsoft Corp. "ASNA's unique approach of adapting the RPG language to .NET and building Monarch to automate the migration process ensures companies have a clear path to the Windows platform. We wish ASNA continued success for the next 25 years."

Before returning to the demands of running a software business, Ferguson remarked, "It's really our people here at ASNA that make us successful; the developers who create brilliant solutions, the support team who takes such good care of our customers; everyone in this company plays an important role in our success. These 25 years would not be possible without our great team."

About ASNA