Chapter 1. What Infoprint Server Can Do for You

 

Infoprint Server for iSeries (hereafter referred to as Infoprint Server) is a separately

 

orderable program for OS/400 5.1 and higher. Infoprint Server focuses on the

 

network, extending the considerable capabilities of the iSeries beyond printing to

 

the management and dissemination of output. As business applications are

 

re-engineered into e-business applications, the output of those applications might

 

need to change and flow electronically to the consumer of that output.

 

 

For enterprise printing requirements, Infoprint Server delivers improved efficiency,

 

 

improved reliability, and lower overall printing costs. It does this by applying iSeries

 

 

printing management and iSeries-attached printers to the task of handling all of the

 

 

essential printing generated across the network.

 

 

This chapter describes how output and printing requirements are changing. It

 

 

explains how Infoprint Server fits into this changing environment and how

 

 

implementing Infoprint Server can benefit you.

 

 

 

 

How Output Requirements Are Changing

 

 

With the advent of a fully electronic computing environment, which includes local

 

 

area networks and the Internet, standard server-centric business applications are

 

 

being re-engineered into e-business applications. In many cases, this has

 

 

ramifications for the output that those applications produce. For example:

 

 

Companies require more electronic output

 

 

Businesses need to implement business-to-business and

 

 

business-to-customer applications that have electronic output distribution

 

 

instead of paper creation. The traditional output model of print and

 

 

distributeis changing to one of distribute (electronically), then (maybe)

 

 

print. Electronic output reduces costs, decreases cycle time, improves

 

 

competitiveness, and increases customer satisfaction.

 

 

Network-centered printing is inadequately managed and costly

 

 

Many key applications within an iSeries extended environment now reside

 

 

outside the iSeries server. Printing to personal or LAN-attached printers is

 

 

usually far costlier and far less reliable than printing from the iSeries.

 

 

Companies would like to apply iSeries print management and iSeries

 

 

printers to this task. In addition, many new applications that are

 

 

client-server in implementation, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP)

 

 

and Independent Software Vendor (ISV) solutions, create ASCII output

 

 

because it is a common denominator across clients and servers.

 

 

Transforming these data streams to AFPenables robust iSeries print

 

 

management.

 

 

Output applications need to be portable across different systems

 

 

Many line-of-business applications, such as statements, invoices, and

 

 

policies, need to have the flexibility to print on servers other than the server

 

 

where the data resides. In order to do this, the print file needs to be

 

 

packaged with all of the resources, such as fonts, overlays, and images that

 

 

are needed for printing.

 

 

New output formatting on iSeries needs additional printing and viewing

 

 

capabilities

 

 

While the majority of iSeries output applications are formatted with Data

 

 

Description Specifications (DDS), the iSeries also offers an

 

 

application-independent formatting approach: iSeries page definitions and

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2001, 2002

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IBM G544-5774-01 manual What Infoprint Server Can Do for You, How Output Requirements Are Changing