Limitations in the AIC Business Applications

 1. Is AIC Business Applications support adequate?

If you feel like the existing vendor is not providing you the support that your organization requires for this mission-critical application, your organization is faced with a difficult decision: upgrade to the next version, switch to different application, or stay on the existing version and support it yourself.  The changes in the new versions of the application are mostly cosmetic, with no real leap in technology or functionality. Queplix can offer you a fourth alternative�transparently convert from AIC Business Apps to QueWeb�replicating all GUI elements and Business Rules. Regardless of the implementation approach you choose - you are covered with Queplix support structure.

 2. Alternatives are expensive

Whether you are contemplating an upgrade to the latest version of Avaya AIC Bus. Application or a migration to a different CRM vendor, the costs are high. Taking into consideration the costs of license fees, professional services fees, infrastructure and support, costs can run up to several million dollars for several hundred users. Queplix, on the other hand, ensures your original investment by breathing new life into your legacy system and continuing adding new features going forward.

 3. AIC Bus. Applications are based on the older technology

Substantial differences exist between the desktop application’s User Interface and Web User Interface. While stable, AIC Bus. Apps User Interface is limited to the small subset of visual objects and could be substantially improved if desired by using standard QueWeb GUI components:

• Built-in and customizable Search Grids (Browsers)
• All advanced SQL search operators are available in QueWeb in addition to few standard operators supported by AIC Bus. Apps desktop client (directly from the GUI fields)
• Multi-language support with UTF-9 and UNICODE
• Screens can be customized without any limitations
• Permissions are application-controlled, security and fail-over capabilities and scalability provided by the Java Application Server
• Database load is managed by utilizing connection pooling instead of the “data server” tier .

 4. Limited Customization

AIC Bus. Apps customization layer is based on the Visual Basic for application (QScripts) and hence has limited abilities. The AIC Bus. Application client has limited availability of native GUI controls (only few of them supported, such as calendar, edit fields, combo-box.). While Query-By-Example GUI is user-friendly, short supply of visual elements creates challenges during customization process.

Application Design files (used in QDesigner) are not available for collaboration by a team of developers; this prolongs the implementation process and making the version control a challenge.

AIC WebQ system has limited functionality and was designed as a subset of the desktop application’s functions. Today, web-based systems became a necessity for all customers and WebQ does not satisfy most of the requirements.

Upgrades to the newer versions of AIC Bus. Applications require re-implementation of all custom code.

 5. Limited Integration

AIC/Quintus has limited built-in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and is a closed system. 

QueWeb is based on an industry-standard J2EE API and can integrate with most other systems. In addition, QueWeb has additional integration module: QueTask.  Utilizing this module, the system administrator can create and schedule tasks to import and export data from other systems, as well as schedule any external scripts (SQL, PERL, UNIX Shell scripts, Windows BAT, etc.). QueTask will log execution results in the QueWeb logging module.

6. No True-Thin client

The AIC WebQ client is very limited compared to its Desktop version.

Queplix QueWeb is a true thin-client application with no software required on the desktop, other than the Internet browser. QueWeb does not use Java applets or ActiveX controls.

7. AIC Business Apps Research Agent is not stable, not easily implemented

QueWeb utilizes a Full-Text Search (FTS) agent, which automatically scans emails attachments, ticket attachments, catalogs, database BLOBS and CLOBS and any other large data containers; these documents are automatically indexed by the FTS and available for searching from the same GUI, using all standard SQL relational operators as other regular fields. In fact, users can use a combination of regular fields� constraints and Full-Text Search documents in the same query from the GUI. A stand-alone FTS module is also available in QueWeb to allow more advanced search options and indexing.

 8. Scalability and Fail-Over Capabilities

AIC BUs. Applications Web client is based on the older NSAPI technology, which supports fewer concurrent connections and has limited fail-over capabilities. QueWeb utilizes the latest technology to preserve the user session and data  in the event of the system or hardware failure. QueWeb utilizes advanced features from the leading Java Application server vendors (such as Oracle, IBM, BEA and Sun Microsystems): connection pooling, security, scalability and fail-over capabilities. With the last version of QueWeb 2.5 server clustering is supported for the mission-critical and intense-load applications.

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