 April 9, 2008 AMS/InStar R&D Report
It seems an appropriate time to write a brief R&D report in an FAQ format that might answer lingering questions that people might have about the recent conversion of InStar from the OMNIS Classic platform to OMNIS Studio. What is Studio?
Studio is the current development platform from OMNIS (Raining Data Corporation). It is basically the most current set of development tools available from the same firm that developed the OMNIS Classic platform that InStar has been on from the beginning.
ace Why did the R&D Committee, the NIUG Board, and AMS/InStar decide to support a conversion to Studio in the first place? Studio is much more stable and supports many functions that have become industry standards since the time that the
OMNIS products were initially launched. This brings added stability and longevity to the InStar platform and helps the development team work efficiently. What are some of the strengths of Studio? Studio is classified as a RAD — a Rapid
Application Development tool, which means that it streamlines the development and implementation of programming changes. As a RAD, it allows standardization of things like windows, buttons, and all kinds of things that go on in the background handling
data.
Why am I being asked to pay a Studio upgrade fee in addition to my monthly support fees? Studio is licensed from OMNIS and the fee pays for the licensing costs they require for their libraries and programs... this is not an AMS/InStar generated
fee. We paid OMNIS a fee about 6 years ago when the newest Classic version was deployed with full Windows '98 support and, similarly, this product provides significant added value into the future.
What are some of the specific enhancements that were implemented in the first Studio release? The Studio version 9.1 was intended to be a straight conversion of the 8.2.7 Classic product; substituting Studio capabilities where it was necessary or
more efficient in the conversion process. Altogether, tens of thousands of routines needed to be reviewed for Studio compatibility and when adjustments were needed, the programming team used their best judgment whether it was better to adopt the native
Studio methods or to re-write old code to make it compatible. The biggest change that you will see is that windows and buttons not only have a new look, but they are much more uniform. Studio is also capable of having more than one record open at a
time, so you are now able to open multiple client files at once... this multi-record capability may be expanded in future releases to other types of data files, like multiple policies or multiple general ledger items or similar areas... for now, the only area
is in the client window itself. How is losing the Rolodex function an enhancement? One of the long-range goals of the R&D Committee has been to strengthen the Contact database introduced a few years ago and get rid of the duplicate databases
in InStar. For instance, many agents keep Insurance Company information in Contacts, in the Company Addresses, in the Rolodex and in other areas. When an underwriter or fax number or mailing address would change, they would have to make changes in
multiple places resulting in inconsistent and conflicting information. In the 9.1 Studio release, the Contact database was strengthened by adding a remarks area and allowing Contacts to be indexed by 'Employer' (or Company) names even if there was no
individual name — this made the Rolodex redundant, particularly when the Contact database can house unlimited phone, fax, e-mail, and similar entries and the Rolodex could hold only one of each of these. We hope to eventually merge other duplicate
contact databases into the Contact Manager in future releases to further streamline your operations. BTW - the Rolodex conversion imports the entries into the Contact Manager and you can still use the familiar F6 shortcut to find all contacts or see only
the ones imported from Rolodex — a win-win for everyone. What can you tell me about the new Word Processor? One of the limitations of the Classic version was the letter editing (which didn't support any modern WP functions). The 9.1
release incorporates a brand-new Word Processor that handles changes to color, font, size, bold, italics, and many other features (like an on-the-fly spellchecker). For many agencies, this allows significantly enhanced WP capabilities without complex set-up
issues or the need to buy and maintain 3rd-party products. Are there any other changes related to the word processor? Additional Word Processor enhancements are already on the drawing board including storing user defaults, tighter
integration with legacy functions and enhanced merge capabilities in form letters... specifics of these developments will be announced by AMS/InStar and the R&D committee when the development schedule allows their implementation and integration. What
are eForms+ and how are they different? One of the biggest challenges to running a software vendor in the insurance industry is the plethora of ACORD forms and the frequent changes that have to be integrated to keep current. eForms+ is a joint
venture between ACORD and IBM (and others) to eliminate much of this redundant form maintenance and take ACORD forms to a whole new level. AMS/InStar is proud to be the first commercial vendor to incorporate eForms+ into their management system.
This is a 'proof of concept' stage that involves using certain eForms+ in the printing process initially. You can be proud that AMS and AMS/InStar is on the cutting edge of this exciting field as the industry clarifies what role eForms+ will play in the
long term. Is it true that Studio is slower some places and faster in others? The simple answer is 'yes'... and for most users, the initial perception is that it is generally somewhat slower. Keep in mind that the 9.1 Studio product
was generally a straight conversion and some functions were added. Part of the future plans includes incorporating some of Studio's enhanced data-handling capabilities by replacing outdated search and sort routines with more efficient models that take
better advantage of Studio. These changes will come gradually and the goal is to enhance the performance issues where they are most evident.
How long did the Studio conversion take and when is it available? The Studio conversion was approved in concept in the Spring of 2007 and development was in full swing by late summer. The formal testing process began in August in a highly
cooperative joint effort of the development team and a group of volunteers working with the R&D Committee. Altogether, 12 different libraries were deployed to this dedicated group of testers and bi-weekly meetings were held from August through December.
The final 9.1 product was deployed in late December and is in general release. As of 3/1, all back orders for Studio have been filled by AMS/InStar. What about add-on products — will they be compatible? Many of the add-on products were
tested during the testing process, including download, SetWrite integration, etc. DocStar integration has recently been tested at InStar and is now scheduled for field testing. Transformation Station is no longer supported in 9.1 because there were
support issues related to this product and TransactNow is both readily available and broadly adopted. One of the purposes of Studio conversion is to allow broader and tighter integration with additional AMS add-on products now and into the future.
Where will Studio take us in the future? As mentioned earlier, the principal purpose of Studio integration was to adopt a stable and reliable current development platform. We see the Studio extension strategies discussed above as the
primary focus of the R&D committee going forward, including enhanced workflows, better integration, and opportunities for improvements in efficiency. Is there a conflict between Studio development and other AMS products? Not in the least.
Studio is very robust and actually provides increased compatibility with other AMS platforms. In addition, through its native capabilities to support both OMNIS proprietary and industry-standard database environments, it not only allows better
integration with other AMS products and industry standards; it also opens up avenues for even better upgrade paths to other core AMS products using those industry standards (like AMS360). Sincerely,
Bill Mitchell
R&D Committee Chair
National InStar Users Group | 
