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Xerox PeopleNet - Creating IT/HR Synergies

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Developing Xerox PeopleNet Contd...

The version included applications pertaining to personal employee data, the HR policy manual, employee salary data and fund balances. Screens and queries were designed to help keep the network traffic low. The second phase of the launch included letting the employees change their name, home address and phone number. To build the software, developers initially considered various vendors offering proprietary APIs¹⁰ available, which enabled the use of PeopleNet's own proprietary interface. However, these APIs locked the software to specific databases and middleware. Xerox then decided to go for Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)¹¹, because it was supported by almost every client application and database.

Several ODBC drivers were evaluated including InterSolv's DataDirect ODBC Pack, Oracle' ODBC Driver, Microsoft's ODBC Desktop Database Driver and Intersolv's DataDirect SequeLink. Xerox finally selected OpenLink Software's Object Broker as it was reportedly very easy to install and it supported both TCP/IP and Novell's IPX/SPX protocols12 equally well. Many other ODBC drivers tested (or the middleware on which they ran) worked better with TCP/IP, but not IPX/SPX. Those that supported the latter were quite slow. Most importantly, OpenLink worked out to be much more cost-effective than the other drivers available. The server software, based on Oracle 7 Database, ran under Sun Solaris 2.4 on SPARCServer 1000s, with 512 MB of RAM and 10-GB disk arrays.

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10] API refers to Application Program Interface, which is a set of routines, protocols and tools for building software applications. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks. Most operating environments, such as MS-Windows, provide an API so that programmers can write applications consistent with the operating environment. Although APIs are designed for programmers, they are ultimately good for users because they guarantee that all programs using a common API will have similar interfaces. This makes it easier for users to learn new programs.

11] ODBC is a standard database access method, which makes it possible to access any data from any software application, regardless of the database management system handling the data. ODBC manages this by inserting a middle layer, called a database driver, between an application and the DBMS. The purpose of this layer is to translate the application's data queries into commands that the DBMS understands.

12] Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) stands for a suite of communication protocols, acting as the de facto standard for transmitting data over networks. The two main protocols under TCP/IP are TCP and IP. The IPX/SPX is a protocol used in Novell Netware networks. Together, IPX/SPX provide connection services similar to TCP/IP.