SmarTerm Caters To Multiple Hosts
Focusing its efforts on PC-to-legacy host system connectivity, Persoft Inc. released SmarTerm 3270/5250 for Windows 95/NT software, specifically for mainframe and midrange environments.
Part of Persoft’s SmarTerm Version 8.0 PC-to-host connectivity software product line, 3270/5250 for Windows 95/NT is designed specifically for dual host environments and adds another option to Persoft’s Essential single-host and Office multi-host offerings.
Of all Persoft’s multi-host customers, between 25 and 50 percent use a combination of AS/400 and mainframe only, explains Kristin Zurovitch, SmarTerm product manager for Persoft (Madison, Wis.). "SmarTerm has always conformed to the user’s preferred environment, but there had been a lot of midrange and mainframe users who fell between Persoft’s traditional single-host and multiple-host offerings," she says. "Customers are telling us they want something specific to their environment."
SmarTerm offers "productivity-enhancing" tools whose purpose is to take 3270 and 5250 emulation and make it easier for users, while still keeping management simple for network administrators, Zurovitch says.
One of the key features introduced with Version 8.0 of SmarTerm is that administrators can install any of the Essential, 3270/5250 or Office products centrally, Zurovitch points out. An administrator can accomplish this, for example, by creating an icon on the user desktop that can be used to download the SmarTerm 8.0. This central installation is expected to be particularly useful for 3270/5250 customers, since they typically have the largest number of desktops within their networks, she says.
Though Web-to-host connectivity has gained much popularity, Persoft has no plans to neglect its PC-to-host customers in favor of the newer technology, according to Zurovitch. "Web-to-host is not taking over PC-to-host," she says. "Web-to-host does not fit everyone’s needs. Locally-installed applications provide better performance for heavy users, and PC-to-host is also the best place for customizing applications."
Version 8.0 of SmarTerm includes performance enhancements such as dialogue view, hot spots and light-pen field support.
SmarTerm 3270/5250, which began shipping in mid-July, will be offered at a cost of $99 per user license through Dec. 31, 1998. Beginning next year, the cost will be $295 per user license.