It doesn’t matter if you call it IBM i. Or AS400, iSeries or System i. By partnering with Proximity, you’ll never worry about resourcing your IBM i applications again as we have the IBM i specialists to support your development, support and maintenance needs.
And we’ve been doing it since 2009.
We’ve worked with organisations both large and small across the UK, Europe and further afield to design, develop, manage, support and maintain innovative and scalable business critical IBM i applications.
By partnering with us, you can take advantage of many years of knowledge, insight and experience helping businesses across multiple industry sectors improve efficiency, drive operational performance and reduce costs.
Our team of 40-plus UK-based IBM i specialists provide day-to-day application management, support, maintenance, managed services, consultancy, analysis and development expertise.
Added together, we help you to retain all that is good about the IBM i now – and into the future.
You’ll be in very good company with us
Over the year’s we have partnered with a host of companies including:
- Four of the top global logistics companies – DB Schenker, Gebruder Weiss, Agility Logistics and Kuehne + Nagel
- Deliver services to some of the world’s best-known retailers and manufacturers including the GB Agencies, Draper Tools, AB World Foods, Sanofi and Debenhams.
Help with your IBM i applications
- Many years experience working with complex applications, specialising in IBM i
- Team of over 40 UK-based developers
- Access to a network of leading IBM i vendors with tools covering everything from Fresche Solutions & Remain Software to Raz-Lee, Maxava, Ivanti & StayLinked.
We're here to deliver flexible IBM i application services & resources
Working in partnership with you, we can either provide developers to work as part of your existing team, create entire applications for you, maintain and develop existing applications, develop a proof of concept or kick start a particular project.
Regardless of whether it is PHP, Java, RPG, DB2, HTML, JavaScript, jQuery, AJAX, JSON, CSS, web services or COBOL we understand what technologies will deliver the very best possible solution for your business, whatever the challenge.
Not only have we got the specialist developers in-house, we are also partner with some of the world’s leading IBM i vendors including Fresche Solutions, Remain Software, Infor, Zend, Maxava and Raz-Lee Security.
Get in touch
Supporting & maintaining your IBM i applications
Are your IBM i applications no longer supported? IT staff responsible for your IBM i nearing retirement?
Do you have bespoke applications developed in-house or by third-parties that you can no longer maintain? Or maybe you’ve got a plan to ‘retire your IBM i’ in the next few years, but need help to support your applications in the meantime.
With a team of over 40 UK-based IBM i developers and specialists we can provide you with flexible support and maintenance options to meet your businesses needs; extend the life of your IBM i applications; mitigate the risks associated with unsupported applications; and ensure business continuity.
Our IBM i specialists can provide anything from a technical help desk to system monitoring, additional staff resources to a fully managed service – and everything in between.
We can carry out services at your premises, remotely or a combination of the two.
Regardless of whether your IBM i is part of your long term strategic plan or not, we can ensure that the ‘lights are kept on’ and the applications running on it keep supporting your business.
Useful guides to download
Download guides and whitepapers from Proximity and our partners to learn more about developing, protecting and transforming your IBM i.
View the guides
Transforming your IBM i applications
“They are brilliant systems but look dated and green screen or DOS like. we need to make it easier for new users to use the system.”
“The applications running on our IBM i are absolutely critical to our business. We need to be able to access them in a web browser – and they need to be easy to use for all our staff.”
Sound familiar?
Whether you are looking for the right IBM i development tools, some additional resources to help kick start or complete a project, or want Proximity to manage the whole project, we have unrivalled experience in developing and transforming IBM i applications.
Bespoke business applications: IBM i & multi-platform application development
Whatever the challenge, Proximity can design and build business critical IBM i or multi-platform business applications using technologies such as PHP, Java, JavaScript, jQuery, AJAX, HTML, JSON, CSS or RPG.
Application maintenance can either be managed by your programmers, or Proximity can handle that as well.
Mobile business applications: mobile App & responsive web applications
With the proliferation of mobile devices, it is increasingly important to provide access to business applications regardless of location or device.
We have experience of developing mobile applications, responsive web applications or creating web-enabled green screen applications that are also mobile-optimised.
Web GUI for green screens: web-based GUI for 5250 green screens
Proximity can help you bring your existing 5250 green screen applications to the web.
We can modernise existing RPG and COBOL applications to deliver a modern web-based GUI while at the same time customise emulated screens to include advanced functionality.
With PHP on the IBM i, we can develop new functions or rewrite existing ones which are blended with the 5250 functions which all run in a single browser session with no tabbing, launching or navigating required.
Open source applications on the IBM i
Since IBM and Zend first introduced PHP to the IBM i in 2006 the open source language has become the most popular choice for web and mobile development on the IBM i platform. The introduction of Node.js in 2014 has added another powerful language to the open source stable on the IBM i.
Not only do Proximity design, build and maintain innovative and scalable business-critical web applications for organisations large and small across Europe and beyond, we also provide a number of tools to help developers working on the IBM i to create powerful open source applications.
Business Intelligence: visualise data & make better business decisions
Having access to relevant business KPI’s can help organisations of any size make better decisions. Whether it is identifying and exploiting opportunities for growth, mitigating risks or managing day-to-day operations business intelligence (BI) tools can be invaluable.
Confronted with screen after screen of data, it can be difficult for businesses to sift through and find the meaningful and actionable. Dashboards, web reports and queries can provide organisations with real-time, web-based visual picture of your business.
Developed so that they can be accessed from a browser on any device (desktop, tablet or mobile), we design BI tools so you can view a quick snapshot and drill down into specific data sets.
Helpful videos to watch
Watch videos from Proximity and our partners to learn more about developing, protecting and transforming your IBM i.
Watch the videos
Helping you get the most from your IBM i applications. Now and into the future
We’ve worked with lots of companies whose IBM i and the applications they run on it are absolutely part of their long term IT strategy. They simply work and reliably ‘do the job’ for them.
Over the years, their developers have changed bits of code on their ERP system, added a bit of functionality to their warehouse management system, or tweaked how the application deals with sales orders so that they fitted the unique nature of the business.
However, as the code has grown and the amount of data stored has increased, the task of accessing that information to drive better business decisions, or further develop those applications into the future become more difficult.
Our IBM i specialists can help you make the most of your IBM i so you can leverage that investment to ensure maximum business advantage.
By providing an opportunity for external assessment of your IBM i applications we can help improve the effectiveness of your IT ecosystem. We can help you match IT and software functions to changes in your business requirements and strategy.
Working with you and your key stakeholders, we’ll deliver documented findings covering:
- The current state of your business, identify business drivers and explore current IT and IBM i strategy
- Scope future plans around your IBM i, PHP, Cloud based strategies and beyond etc.
- An inventory of current code base by type and application area (if applicable)
- Analysis of databases and application interfaces
- A technology road map
- Areas for better system and software operation
- Scope for enhancements in your IBM i ecosystem.
Providing extra IBM i staff resources when you need them
Finding the right staff with the right skills to maintain, support and develop your IBM i applications can be difficult.
According to the results from various surveys into the state of the IBM i Marketplace over the past few years, the lack of staff with IBM i development skills is ranked amongst companies top concerns.
When skilled IBM i developers retire, or move onto another company, they take their technical knowledge with them, leaving organisation’s business-critical applications at risk. The lack of skilled resources can also mean that critical IBM i development and modernisation projects are delayed, or, in some cases postponed or cancelled.
Proximity can provide highly skilled and experienced IBM i specialists to help you bridge those skills gaps.
We can tailor our service to meet your needs – everything from supplementing your existing IT team; providing additional resources to kick start or complete a development or transformation project; or providing support on a contract basis.
How can we help with your IBM i?
Giving advice on the best IBM i strategy approaches to take
- Modernisation
- Digital transformation
- Development
- Web & mobile access
- Platform transition
- Training, coaching & supporting existing developers.
Taking a multi-platform application approach
- Development of new & existing IBM i applications
- Support, maintenance & ongoing management of existing IBM i applications
- Windows CE to Android migration
- Terminal emulation of green screen applications.
Providing expertise across multiple languages
- PHP
- Node.js
- Java
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- AJAX
- HTML
- JSON
- RPG
- DB2
- COBOL
- CSS.
Connecting your IBM i applications
- Integrate with other platforms such as Unix, Linux, MS Servers etc.
- Web services
- Public & private API development
- Connect with AWS, Google Cloud & Azure etc.
- Firewall, security & networking set-up.
Enabling GUI, Web & mobile transformations
- Native mobile applications
- Responsive web applications
- Web-enabled green screen applications, which are also mobile-optimised
- Modernise existing RPG and COBOL applications to deliver a modern web-based GUI.
How we've helped other IBM i companies
Over the years we have been able to work with a range of IBM i companies just like you to manage the ongoing delivery of ‘Business-as-Usual’ through their IBM i applications – and in many cases so much more. They’ve all been faced with the challenges associated with digital disruption and the new opportunities that provides; an ageing workforce; and the impact legacy technologies are having across their business. Read the case studies below to see how we are helping to make the best use of their IBM i.
Draper Tools
View case studyDB Schenker
View case study
