Zend Announces Zend Server 6 for IBM i

AUSTIN, Texas, April 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Today, at the COMMON 2013 annual meeting and exposition in Austin, Texas, Zend is announcing the latest version of Zend Server for IBM i. Zend Server 6 enables enterprises with IBM i systems to create, publish and manage mobile applications on their IBM i system, while leveraging the value of existing back-end programs, applications and business logic.  

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"This new mobile support provides significant benefits to IBM i clients," said Andi Gutmans, Zend CEO and & co-founder. "Businesses recognize that they must take a mobile-first approach to unlock new business opportunities.  Applications must be designed to leverage both the contextual information on a mobile device, and the business logic and data that reside on back end systems. This requires integration with existing systems, support of multiple mobile device types, and a more rapid and iterative development and deployment approach.  Zend is proud to provide a complete end-to-end solution to this challenge."

Modern Applications on IBM i

Zend Server runs natively on the IBM i. It provides a fully supported platform for creating modern web and mobile applications that access the RPG/COBOL code, as well as business logic and the DB2/400 database that resides on the IBM i. This means that IBM i clients can avoid the significant risk and cost of rewriting their legacy business logic in order to launch new modern applications. Instead, IBM i users can focus their resources on unlocking new opportunities. 

"What matters to us is providing state-of–the-art web processing to the agents that sell our products," said Andrew Borts, Webmaster for United Automobile Insurance Corporation (UAIC), one of the largest privately held property and casualty insurance companies in America. "Using PHP and Zend Server, we've been able to create a wealth of new web application capabilities for our agency portal that utilize the back-end data from IBM DB2 on the IBM i. We have already implemented apps using RESTful web services in PHP that were deployed very quickly. With Zend Server 6, I am interested in the application deployment capabilities that will make rolling out new versions of our web apps easier, and the mobile functionality that  fits right with the sweet spot of developing new mobile applications for our agents ".

Using Zend Server 6 together with Zend Studio 10, IBM i clients can create, test and deploy mobile applications that run across multiple mobile operating systems such as Apple's iOS, Android and Windows. Zend Studio provides a powerful visual environment where a developer can simultaneously create and associate the front end of the mobile application and the back-end web service APIs (RPC-style or RESTful services) that run on Zend Server. This streamlines the process of creating, testing and deploying mobile applications, enabling developers with no prior experience to quickly become successful. In addition, rather than developing native apps for each mobile platform, whether iOS, Android or Windows Phone, developers can create apps powered by Apache Cordova (also known as PhoneGap) that run across multiple mobile devices, leveraging open-standards such as HTML5 & JavaScript.

A Rapid Start to New Mobile Projects

Zend is also announcing a new Mobile Smart Start for IBM i offering. This is a fixed-price training and consulting engagement designed to provide everything a team needs to deliver their first mobile application project on the IBM i. The offering includes the design of a pilot project or specific piece of mobile application functionality, installation assistance, focused and tailored training provided either onsite or online, and hands-on coaching by Zend consultants through the development and deployment of the pilot mobile project. Frequently, Zend is able to work with clients to complete their first pilot in a two week timeframe.

Support Faster Mobile Development Cycles

Zend Server 6 also provides a number of features to support the more frequent release cycles and real-time troubleshooting required by modern web and mobile applications. This includes automated deployment capabilities, which enable faster and safer application releases, and the ability to roll back to a previous version of the application if required. Zend Server's troubleshooting capabilities provide direct insight into root cause of any application issues, and include a recorded method-by-method snapshot of the underlying code execution, enabling developers to more rapidly solve any problems.

Ensure Quality Delivery of Mobile and Web Apps

In addition, Zend Server provides advanced application monitoring, where an administrator can deploy and manage rules application by application, including setting separate thresholds to proactively manage each application's performance. The new Zend Server dashboards provide a full view of an application's health at a glance, as well as a clear view of every change to system configurations (a full system audit trail that gives visibility into who changed which settings and when).

Zend Server: Standard with IBM i

Zend Server currently ships as part of the standard media for IBM i and this latest version is on track to be part of IBM's next distribution refresh. Zend Server 6 is available for download from Zend at this location http://www.zend.com/downloads/

Clients with Zend Server subscriptions receive enterprise-level support for Zend Server and PHP, which includes web and phone support with options up to 24x7x365, software updates, bug and security hotfixes.

For a complete list of details about the new Zend Server for IBM i Version 6, please visit:

http://www.zend.com/server-ibm-i

About Zend Technologies
Zend partners with businesses to rapidly deliver modern apps across mobile and cloud. Zend helped establish the PHP language, which today powers over 200 million applications and web sites. Zend's flagship offering, Zend Server, is the leading Application Platform for developing, deploying and managing business-critical applications in PHP. Zend solutions are deployed at more than 40,000 companies, including NYSE Euronext, BNP Paribas, Bell Helicopter, France Telecom and other leading brands worldwide. Learn more at www.zend.com .

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SOURCE Zend Technologies