Midrange Stuff, OS/400 Edition

A&H Associates, a Hanover, Massachusetts, software and services firm, has shipped an updated version of its Employee Manager Self Service (EMSS) application, a Java-based portal that allows employees and managers to use Web browsers to check and update information related to human resources and payroll operations. The latest release, EMSS 4.2C, features an enhanced GUI and new time and attendance functionality.

EMSS was first released in 2000 to serve A&H Associates' consulting customers who used OS/400 financial applications from Infinium Software. A&H had built a healthy practice installing, maintaining, and customizing Infinium applications for clients, and the company had been partners with the Infinium organization since 1995, when Infinium was known as Software 2000.

Infinium offered its own employee self-service module, an application called eBEAM, which became available in January 2000. However, eBEAM was based on Lotus Domino technology, which didn't appeal to all of its customers. "Some people don't want to go down the Domino route," said Jim Anderson, A&H's chief executive and chief technology officer. "It's completely external to their system."

So A&H decided to use its knowledge of Infinium's applications to develop its own self-service applications for employees and managers, written in the cross-platform language Java. Infinium eventually saw the wisdom in developing in Java, and this August it announced three new Web-based self-service applications written in Java 2 Enterprise Edition. In the meantime, A&H has racked up more than a dozen Infinium accounts, and today more than 80,000 employees at Infinium shops--such as Viacom, the Mohican Sun Casino, and Ball Corp.--are accessing company information using EMSS.

EMSS is split into two components: an employee self-service system, which most customers start with, and a management self-service system, which adds more complicated workflow processes behind the scenes and is more difficult to set up.

The employee self-service component allows workers to use standard Web browsers to access and change a wide variety of common employment documents, such as W-4 forms, medical benefits enrollment forms, direct deposit applications, electronic pay stubs, and 401k allotments. The component for managers adds additional features and processes, such as access to job candidate forms, new hire forms, and performance review processes. In both cases, the software is designed to eliminate manual processes--like writing, printing, faxing, and reentering information into the system--as well as make it more convenient for workers to fill out the forms. The software may also allow a company to eliminate office clerk positions.

"This software is designed for people who don't use the HR, payroll, or financial system every day, to let them go in and do electronic benefit enrollment," Anderson said. "Now, wherever you are, you can log on to the Web and choose your medical benefits. You can make your decisions at night with your spouse."

EMSS runs on top of a Java-based application server, like IBM WebSphere (preferably Version 4), BEA Systems WebLogic, or the Tomcat open-source Web application server from Apache Software Foundation. Deployments of EMSS are split between OS/400 and Windows NT servers. In either case, there is little or no programming required to configure and integrate EMSS with Infinium HR or Payroll, Anderson said.

While A&H has a very strong practice based on the Infinium applications, the company would like to expand its EMSS capabilities into new areas. In particular, the company is looking to hook EMSS into financial applications from J.D. Edwards and Lawson Software.

"We've focused on the AS/400 since literally the day it came out, and we want to stay focused on the iSeries customers," Anderson said. "Right now, we're looking for J.D. Edwards or Lawson customers who would be interested in free software in exchange for working with us to develop the back-end hooks."

Standard pricing for EMSS is $15 per user (any user in a department that has access to the system is considered a user, whether or not they actually use the software). The standard installation fee for EMSS is $7,000, which includes WebSphere installation, one day of training, and one day of project planning. For more information, go to www.anhassociates.com.