Is it time to upgrade from Query/400?

For over 30 years, Query/400 has been the data access tool to generate reports easily from DB2 data, allowing access to insight like never before. While it continues to be sufficient for basic reporting functionality, most organizations are beginning to be challenged with the need to access and report on larger volumes of data.

With business users asking for easy-to-access dashboards and reports to gain insight more easily, you might need to consider whether it's time to upgrade from Query/400.

Why Invest in a New Data Access Tool?

There's understandable cause for concern that IT will lose control over their data if they move beyond Query/400 and the classic green-screen interface. But a modern data access tool provides significant value over existing or legacy solutions, especially with regard to managing and accessing the volume of data organizations deal with and the multiple portals from which they need to access it.

IT professionals can't always anticipate which information is most important to a user at any given time. Modern data access tools allow IT to remain in control of the information while also providing end users with easy-to-use functions, such as:

• Graphical user interfaces (GUIs)

• Customizable dashboards

• Data visualizations

One modern data access tool, SEQUEL, has dashboards with drill-down functionality that allow users to begin with broad summary data and delve deeper into more specific information, all within the same interface. With the ability to present data easily in diverse formats versus the limitations of the green-screen, the benefits of these modern tools are undeniable.

Allowing IT to Protect and Manage

Although much of the technology industry's focus is on the end user, IT departments still have to keep their organization's objectives in mind. This frequently comes down to three major pain points: security, productivity, and data management.

Getting Data to Your Business Users—Securely

Providing end users with access to data is often at odds with the goal of maintaining secure data. How can organizations give employees the resources they need without putting important assets at risk?

Mobile technology is a good example of the conflict between employee productivity and security. Users equipped with smartphones can access much of the same software they could on the desktop, but the influx of new devices means that IT has a much larger array of endpoints to consider.

Maintaining Balance with Object-Level Control

Newer data access tools provide users with a greater degree of access without eliminating the IT department's control over how information is viewed or which information can be edited. In 2005, the SANS Institute noted that menu-level security was the central focus for data access in the days of IBM System/38, and many organizations still rely on menu-level control. Modern solutions go further by offering object-level authority.

Balancing Data Security with Employee Productivity

The most effective data access solutions are those that offer different levels of security. For example, SEQUEL allows IT to set access policies at the object level (library, file, and field levels), meaning that administrators can enable broad policies for groups of files while being able to restrict access to specific objects.

Managing Cross-Platform Database Access

In addition to a growing number of user access touch-points, organizations have historically struggled to deal with the variety of different systems through which information must flow.

In the case of SEQUEL, it might be hosted on IBM i, but it can access data on multiple platforms with ease.

The Most Important Data Access Metric: Time-to-Insight

There are many considerations that go into a technical deployment or upgrade; it's essential to keep the end goal in mind. Although Query/400 has long served the needs of IBM i operators, it's not the best option for organizations facing expanding data volumes or for users who require access to multiple databases from anywhere.

Tools like SEQUEL help organizations use their data more strategically by allowing all stakeholders—including IT, business units, and executives—secure access to their own business intelligence.

SEQUEL encompasses all of the features that your users have been asking for in a data access and reporting tool. With three different user interfaces, IT will have the power to access their reports in 5250, view them in a graphical interface, or build dynamic executive dashboards that are accessible from the web for management, sales, and more.

See how SEQUEL can help you to empower your business users and take the temperature of your business without IT losing control.

Call us at 800-328-1000 or email info.sequel@helpsystems.com to get more information or request a demo and trial of SEQUEL.

Mike Stegeman is Sr. Data Access Consultant for SEQUEL Software, a Help/Systems company. He can be reached at 847-273-1047, or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..