Our products are recognised internationally as leaders within their fields of functionality.

 Application Modernisation

Our products are recognised as the leaders in their respective fields. 

looksoftware

Dynamic application modernization and integration solutions for customers and application vendors.

Our on-the-fly architecture automates the modernization process, requiring no changes to your back-end System i, AS/400, iSeries and System z applications.
 
Front-end modernisation supporting:

• rich, thin and mobile multi-channel GUIs
• integration with virtually any desktop, web and back-end application
• delivery of core applications in popular UIs like Outlook® and Google™
• integration with most portals
• offline support

Back-end modernisation supporting

• creation of SOA compliant Web services from unchanged back-end applications
• two-way Web services support
• DDM, ADO, RPC, 5250, 3270 support

looksoftware is a privately held technology company, and has been trading since 1995. Our core purpose is to provide our customers with rapid return on investment (ROI) by using our innovative software solutions and 'on-the-fly' architecture, which delivers market leading ease of use and productivity.

Our head office is located in Melbourne, Australia. We have direct representation in the US, UK and Asia
and, from our network of 120+ Partners, we provide global coverage and support to over 1500 customers.

The company is owned and managed by founding shareholders and has achieved healthy revenue growth since inception.
      
Our experience and knowledge of the software industry has taught us that the keys to success are easy-to-use, powerful tools that deliver rapid ROI by reusing, extending and integrating existing IT assets.

Our customers use our products to deliver rapid ROI through non-intrusive enterprise modernization.

Our products support real-time, dynamic use, eliminating batch-based, multi-step, error-prone processes. Our functionality includes the rapid application development capability required for composite applications. Our experience with smart, thin and mobile UIs provides a complete UI framework for new and existing applications. Our support for standards such as Web Services and XML provide our customers with a practical, evolutionary path to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).
 
We invest more than 30% our revenues into product development and market research to maintain and extend our leadership position.

looksoftware products are widely recognized as the easiest to use, most productive solutions available.

All our products share our dynamic architecture, which simplifies and automates the modernization process,  delivering repeated successful implementations from our customers and application vendor partners.

When asked why they purchased looksoftware products, over 70% of customers refer to ease-of-use and productivity as the #1 reason when comparing looksoftware products with the alternatives.

"Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy.
There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple."
Edward de Bono

What our software do for you:

• Rapid reuse of legacy applications
• Rapid web-enablement
• Application extension
• Application refacing
• Application integration
• Composite applications
• User Interface framework support for Smart, Thin and Mobile Clients
• SOA compliant, Web Services provision and consumption
• DDM database support for DB2 access
• ADO database support for Oracle, SQL Server, Access etc
• .NET and J2EE integration
• 5250/3270 emulation and web-to-host connectivity
• SSL, FTP and Printer support
• Integrate with leading application servers, web servers and portals
• Modernize 5250 workloads to eliminate 5250 OLTP requirements

Business Benefits

• Improve business agility by creating easily reusable components from existing applications
• Improve ROI by delivering new composite application solutions which leverage existing IT assets
• Improve business communications and customer service by providing a single, unified user interface to multiple information sources
• Improve workflow efficiency by streamlining applications and automating business processes
• Reduce errors, costs and improve productivity through business process automation
• Improve decision-making with access to real-time information
• Reduce costs by delivering self-service applications to employees, customers and partners
• Improve service by providing anywhere, anytime application access
• Reduce risk, costs and time to market using non-intrusive modernization
• Reduce risk by delivering secured access to information
• Reduce risk by improving audit tracking of existing applications
• Reduce costs by modernizing 5250 applications to support the System i Standard Edition

Some of our customers include:
adidas, Alexandra, ACS, Bostik Findley, Cargill, Clear Technologies, CSI, Datel, DataEast, De Beers, DST, EugénioBranco, FiServ, FLEX, 4S, Fressnapf, Goering, GAN Insurance, IBM, Inform'Aid, Innovative Computing Corporation, Komtek Systems Corporation, KMR Systems, Merret, Nex-Tech, Pegasus, PEPSI, REHAU, Simon Williams (Founder of Synon), Software Systems Unlimited, sterling commerce, Systexce, Tecsys, Thiess Services, Trioplast, vic roads, Volvo and Wyeth, to name a few.

 

Define dynamic iSeries webfacing, smart, thin and mobile UIs quickly and easily!

User Interface (UI) Frameworks

Emulation, mobile, thin and smart client UIs, each have a role to play and are generated instantly using
newlook's dynamic generation capabilities.

Multi-Channel User Interfaces

Diverse audiences demand flexible user interface support. Knowledge workers and users of heavy
transaction-based applications need the responsive, productive experiences offered by smart or rich
clients. Global partners and customers may be better suited to zero-deployment, pure web-based
interfaces, while a sales force may need to access business applications via phones, PDAs and other
mobile devices. For those that demand it, emulation access is also available. newlook is the single
development tool that supports these varied UI's.

newlook reuses your existing applications and dynamically generates multi-channel UIs for both new
and existing applications.

And it does it easily!
Need proof? Here's what our customers have to say.

Eliminate 5250 OLTP and save

All looksoftware UI's support lookdirect, instantly enabling ALL your 5250 workloads to utilize the
batch CPW capabilities of the POWER5 System i5, significantly reducing hardware costs.

Composite Applications

Composed primarily of pre-existing functionality, composite applications deliver streamlined business
processes, rapid ROI and a rich user experience. Use newlook's comprehensive set of UI controls including DataGrid, TreeView and many more. Use centric to consume web services or connect directly to server-based application logic including RPG, Cobol or Java. Connect directly to DB2 and other databases like SQL Server, Oracle and Access. Connect to 5250 sessions with zero 5250 OLTP requirement.

Smart Clients

Also known as rich clients, smart clients provide the reach of the web with the rich experience of desktop applications. They are preferred by information workers who need built-in integration, rich UI controls and the best performance. Also suited to transaction based users who need the extended keyboard and 'type ahead' support, not offered by thin client UIs.

Thin Clients

Zero deployment UIs are best suited to external users like partners and customers. Support for most popular browsers running Linux, Mac or Windows makes thin clients an easy option for instant global access.

Mobile and Wireless

Phones and PDAs are increasingly popular choices for application access. Reuse existing UI designs or design new forms optimized for the ever-changing mobile marketplace.

Seeing is believing

You can review our customers' and partners' experiences and learn why newlook is #1 for user interface support.

The real proof is seeing newlook work with your applications. Contact Us to see how fast the looksoftware 'Dynamic Environment' really is.

newlook features summary

• Rules-based dynamic environment for fast UI generation and easy maintenance
• Integrated support for emulation, mobile clients, zero deployment UIs and Smart Client UIs
• lookdirect enables ALL 5250 applications to be supported by i5 Standard Edition
• 'Designer' provides drag and drop support for re-facing and new UIs for composite applications
• Create reusable components from 5250/3270 applications for Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Integrated de-bugging and error handling
  Multiple APIs for seamless desktop integration
• SSL and VPN support for flexible security
• Integrated printer emulation, multi-session and file transfer support
• A single toolset and repository to support all user interface requirements
• Use point and click macros for easy integration and extension

Learn more about looksoftware's 'Dynamic Environment'

Download now and get started immediately

 

iSeries application integration made easy

centric provides direct access to the presentation, application and database layers of your applications
to give you maximum flexibility when reusing, extending and integrating your applications. Streamlining
business processes requires flexible heterogeneous access. Broad support for interoperability allows you
to rapidly integrate them with other platforms and technologies including .NET, Java, Windows, zSeries and Linux.
 
Web Services and SOA

centric's programmatic integration support allows you to create reusable modules from your existing applications. The modules you create can integrate and span multiple screens, programs, applications and even databases. They can interface directly with other applications, where headless integration is required. You determine the scope of your service modules and create web services where required using looksoftware's soarchitect.

Composite applications

Assemble new solutions by reusing existing components and use newlook's multi-channel support to deliver smart, thin and mobile UIs to support your new composite applications.

CRM and ERP Integration

centric provides the dynamic support required to rapidly connect applications across different platforms so they work together in real-time. For example, on receipt of the ERP order header form, retrieve the SQL server-based CRM record and present the user with a smart client UI.
 
Flexible Integration

centric can access information from multiple sources and applies your custom rules before distributing the information to the required destinations in real-time. In summary centric provides:

• Zero 5250 CPW required
• Direct access to your 5250 and 3270 applications for presentation layer integration
• RPC and web services support providing powerful application layer integration
• Support for IBM's DDM and Microsoft's ADO letting you access databases including DB2, SQL Server, ADO and Sybase on platforms like iSeries, zSeries, Linux and Windows.

centric features summary

• 5250 and 3270 presentation layer integration
• RPC application layer integration
• DDE and DLL application layer support
• DDM database layer integration for DB2
• ADO database layer integration for SQL Server, Oracle, Access etc.
• Web Services integration
• Integrated debugging and error handling
• Objects, Events, Actions provide powerful, easy-to-learn extension support
• Database browser
• Macro, VB, Java scripting support
• Integration with newlook for UI management and presentation layer integration
• lookdirect enables ALL 5250 applications to be supported by i5 Standard Edition

Learn more about looksoftware's 'Dynamic Environment'

iSeries web services and SOA made easy

Any functionality defined or accessed using looksoftware's 'Dynamic Environment' can be accessed as a web service. Use soarchitect, together with newlook and centric to reuse your existing applications and
extend and integrate them to deliver new solutions as composite applications.
 
The business case for Service Oriented Architecture

Gartner estimates that by 2010, 80% of midrange businesses will be deploying SOA to enable them to benefit from compelling business advantages including:

• Improved business agility
• Reduced software development costs
• More efficient, streamlined, business processes

Simpler application integration
 
By programmatically accessing existing applications, including midrange systems written in RPG or Cobol, reusable modules can be created without changing the underlying application code. These reusable modules, or services, can be easily accessed by other applications within your business or indeed by external applications. They can act as building blocks in the delivery of new solutions.

How can soarchitect facilitate application integration?

• By allowing external business partners access to your applications via customized, secure web services
• By building smart client UIs that can access multiple information sources by consuming web services.
• By defining simple service interfaces for modules that may span multiple applications and platforms
• Use built-in MS Office support for web services to integrate existing applications
• A web service insulation layer minimizes disruption when changing applications and platforms
• An intelligent transaction recorder simplifies the process of exposing web services from existing applications

soarchitect developer - an integrated module of the looksoftware 'Dynamic Environment'

soarchitect is a developer component of the looksoftware 'Dynamic Environment'- a single integrated environment for modernizing existing IT assets and delivering the benefits of composite applications.

Dynamic access to the presentation, application and database layers, provides you with the flexibility
to define your service modules to include the required mix of new and existing functionality.

DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT

The Difference is Dynamic

 
Complexity is a common barrier to successful modernization and integration projects. IDC research found, "managing complexity costs 29% of the IT budget." looksoftware's 'Dynamic Environment' reduces complexity by eliminating multi-step batch processes, improving productivity and reducing operational costs.
Source: John Humphreys, IDC, 'Architecting Service Centric Infrastructure'.

The next generation

looksoftware's 'Dynamic Environment' is designed to accommodate change in real-time, so your applications can continue to be enhanced without repeated conversion, collection or re-compilation. Objects are created dynamically, based on the current state of your applications and your custom rules. This just-in-time process allows you to modernize existing applications and compose new applications much more quickly than previous generation batch-based solutions. This results in increased business agility and significantly improved ability to respond to new events.
 
Repository based integrated toolset

The object model supports refacing, web-enablement, new UIs, web services, server access and heterogeneous database access. The 'Dynamic Environment' supports events, allowing your existing application to detect an event and react instantly like, for example, order price override. Common services like de-bugging, error handling, object inspector and expressions are available whether you're refacing a legacy application, consuming a web service or defining new functionality.

The integrated tools and services share the looksoftware 'Dynamic Environment', providing market-leading productivity and ease of use.