Version 1.1 - Updated September 14th, 2004

Road map for conversion to Version 8.0 of Intelec

In September 2004, Quantrax will complete work on a new base version of Intelec. This will be called Intelec Version 8.0. Quantrax has been willing to look at major data base revisions as a part of this version, the first such endeavour since Intelec was originally released in 1991. The data base changes will allow us to enhance the package in new and creative ways. New functionality will continue to be delivered as a part of regular updates. As with other updates, there will be an installation process, but this one will be a little more complex than the usual changes for Intelec. The major change (compared to other updates) will be a long installation process. Large files such as the account and note files will be changed. Changing the files on your system will take several hours. This document discusses several issues relating to the transition to the new release. Please review it carefully.


Hardware requirements

• Your iSeries or AS/400 must be at Release 5.1 or higher of the IBM operating system.
  
  
• Memory/ Storage – This update will take additional disk space. An accurate estimate is impossible, but you could expect disk utilization to go up by 5%. We expect you to be at or less than about 65% disk utilization prior to installing the new version. It is strongly recommended that you try to stay "fairly current" with IBM hardware and the operating system. Quantrax's policy of trying to support up to 2 prior versions of the IBM operating system has not changed. But we will be more aggressive in our development of new code, and will be compelled to use features on the newer operating systems quicker than we have in the past. Although you will not be forced to utilize any specific features of Intelec, we will be creating features that are more processor-intensive than in the past. Recent hardware will therefore be an advantage.

Intelec software

• You must be on Version 7.1 or 7.2 of Intelec.
  
  

• Quantrax will send you CD’s with the new software, as well as installation instructions.

Changes to licensing

• We will be adding licensing validation for the new release (Number of concurrent users who can use the software).
  
  
• We will be adding serial number security to the application to make sure that the application is only run on a licensed system. This protects Quantrax as well as our users.

Preprocessing required

As with other releases we do not expect you to have to "prepare" for the update other than for reviewing the documentation of the changes. We expect to publish that prior to final release of the code as we have been doing in the recent past. We would probably be asking you to install the update after work has been completed on a Friday or Saturday, prior to nightly processing being run. Nightly processing would be started after the new update has been installed.

Backups required

You would be expected to have a recent backup of the Intelec data and programs. We will be asking you to take a backup of the data prior to installing the update.

Installing the new version

As with other updates, you will be required to have the password for QSECOFR available. In addition,

• We would require a dedicated system for the major portion of the installation process.
  
  
• After installing the new software, you would start an "Installation process". This would make all of the data base changes required.
  
  
• You will be expected to delete any logical files that are not a part of the base system for SCACCT, SCPAYM and SCNOTE, prior to the installation process being started. You will have to rebuild those logical after the conversion has completed.
  
  
• We expect the conversion process (creating new files and changing existing files) to take many hours. There may also be programs that run against the data base and calculate or create new fields. The time taken will depend on the size of the account, notes and payment history files, as well as your processor. A total conversion time of in excess of 16 hours may not be unusual for a larger system.
  
  
• After the conversion of the data, nightly processing should be run.

Data base changes

As with other updates you can expect several new files to be created. We will also be changing existing files and fields.

Some of the major changes we have made are the following. These have a high impact on the application and will impact any custom work you may have done for the system.

• We will use the 8-character User ID for all operations (The iSeries uses a 10-character User ID, but we have opted to not expand the Intelec field to use all 10 characters).
  
  
• The major implication of the above will be changes required to every electronic load program. Quantrax will take care of these changes for all of the custom work it has done.
  
  
• On notes, we will leave existing notes with the original shorter User ID. We will provide a utility program that can be run to update existing notes if required.
  
  
• We have created a new field to store the 25-character client account number in a single field.
  
  
• We have created separate fields for each description code.
  
  
• In the above changes, we have also retained the original fields for client account number and description codes. These will be used in programs. All programs must update both sets of fields.
  
  
• Interest balance has been increased to allow up to $9,999,999.99.
  
  
• Interest rate has been increased to 9 with 7 decimals.
  
  
• Collector, worker and split collector codes have been increased to 4 character fields.
  
  
• There is a new field for "Secondary close code". This is a new 2-character field that will have its own System Control file. The 2-character code will be associated with a close code. E.g. If close code 2 is returned to client, you may have secondary close codes of 01 and 02 for close code 2, to mean, "Error" and "Recalled by client" respectively. For close code 4, bankruptcy, you may have secondary codes 01 and 02 to mean "Chapter 7" and "Chapter 11" respectively.
  
  
• Guarantor extra address will increased from 20 to 30 characters.
  
  
• Guarantor street address will increase from 25 to 30 characters.
  
  
• We have not changed the number of secondary balances on an account, but will allow you to set up different descriptions for each secondary balance based on client. The behavior of a specific balance type will be based on the "Standard" balance types system control file. Presently you are able to define a different distribution order for each balance types based on client. We will allow you to also use a different description for the balance types, in a similar manner. However, the payment-related characteristics of a balance type will not be defined at the client level. This will make overall system management and auditability more simple, but you will need to do some planning as you change the meaning of balance types for different clients. E.g. For a certain client, balance type 9 may be legal costs. For another client, if you were to make balance type 9 "Equipment costs", you would need to make sure that both balance types are identical in terms of the options such as reportable on statement, commission taken, credit to collector etc.
  
  
• The medical insurance related files will be significantly changed. Fields will be accessible unlike with the present data base.
  
  
• Based on the changes to the account master and insurance files, there will be corresponding changes to the related transaction files for new business.
  
  
• We will be adding a field called "next processing date" to the direct checks file to indicate the date when the next check should be presented from the list of up to 12 checks set up on the system. This will be maintained by our programs and will speed up the processing of direct checks.
  
  
• We will allow the use of a Smart Code override with the Smart Codes file (SCTRAC). This means that for external jobs, a Smart Code override can be specified at the time of applying the Smart Code to SCTRAC. This will greatly reduce the number of different Smart Codes needed by a user.

Please make a note of the following comments.

• We have made some decisions that may not be the best or most accepted solutions when true relational data base design is considered. However, we have a large user base and have several thousand programs that are impacted by any potential data base changes. As we made our decisions considered not only good design, but risk, time, impact on the work required, testing and usability.
  
  
• We have retained several dates without a century.
  
  
• Quantrax will make the transition to the new release as simple as possible. Some examples. If fields have been increased (e.g. addresses) we will make existing merge codes behave as they presently do. We will create new merge codes for the longer fields. If you send a file to a letter service, we will not change the format of that file. If you need the new fields added to the file, our recommendation will be to add the data at the end of the files. You can then discuss the changes with the letter service and have them use the new fields. In general you should be able to convert to the new system and start using the changes without ANY changes to procedures or interfaces with third parties (applies to Quantrax-supported code only).
  
  

Client responsibilities for system changes made by the client

The new files and changes to existing files will support new functionality, and as with prior updates you will in general, not need to be aware of the technical details of the data base changes. However, we will be making some major changes to some key files. If Quantrax provides all of your technical support, you do not need to know the details of these changes. Quantrax will review and modify all custom programs they have written as a part of the new version. If you have non-Quantrax personnel who do custom code for you, they will need to learn and understand the changes that have been made. Quantrax is not obliged to provide any detailed information on internal changes or any or all of the data base changes made or the implications of those changes. We believe that we are taking a position that is consistent and accepted in the software industry. When a user chooses to modify a system, they are not only taking responsibility for those changes but also the future maintenance of those changes. We have always made that very clear and stated that any changes made by Quantrax will be maintained by Quantrax though release updates. Other changes are a client's responsibility. We will however provide some guidelines and will be available for assistance if required (may be billable). It is very likely that you will incur significant costs if you have your own technical people. Any changes made will have to be reviewed program by program - this can be tedious and time-consuming.


Potential risks

As with any change to software, there will be risks associated with this update. This is a very complex change since almost every key file will be changed. If Quantrax is responsible for all of your code you will have a single point of contact for all technical support. If work was done by non-Quantrax technical persons, the challenges are different. You have to take complete responsibility for that code and the consequences of any problems that could relate from the use of that code. In some ways, this change is no different from other updates to Intelec where :

• Quantrax decides to make several functional changes
  
  
• Some of those changes will require changes to the data base
  
  
• Quantrax makes the required changes to base programs as well as any custom modifications they are responsible for
  
  
• The new code is sent to clients who install the programs and then run a "conversion" program that changes the data base as required
  
  
• The client uses the new software

Why is this release different? In the past, you have been able to install new updates without having to change or recompile existing programs. With this release, every program will need to be reviewed and recompiled. Some programs will require changes. These should be done before the new software is used. The consequences of errors can be very serious, specially if data is corrupted by a program. Quantrax will not be responsible for any problem even it was only related only in a small way to a change that a 3rd party could have made.

Will you have problems if you are totally supported by Quantrax? We have an excellent record of software updates with little or no serious problems. We expect this update to be similar if we control the environment. We will be installing the new software at several client sites before general release and we plan to manage the deployment and support as responsibly as we have with other updates. Any problems will be addressed quickly and with as little negative impact to you as possible.

Proposed roll-out plan

The proposed roll-out of the new version is as follows.

• We expect a base version of Version 8.0 to be completed by 9/30/2004.
  
  
• At that time we will release information on the data base changes. The new file layouts will be made available to clients on request.
  
  
• We will add new functionality that will be a part of first release of the Version 8. The proposed changes have been listed in a separate document.
  
  
• We expect the new release to be installed in one or two production sites by the end of October 2004.
  
  
• By the end of November 2004, we expect to have 3 - 5 clients on the new release.
  
  
• We expect to have the final version of Release 8.0 available for general release in December 2004.
  
  
• We expect to send out quarterly updates to the product in 2005.
  
  
• We would like to have all clients converted to Version 8.0 by the end of June 2005.
  
  
• We will continue to ship Version 7.2 until Version 8.0 is available for general release.

© Quantrax Corporation, Inc. Please sent comments to ranjan@quantrax.com