ImagePlus as a model for application solution development

An early effort by IBM to use system integration services to assist in solving complex problems for commercial customers involved developing an image system for USAA, a large financial services association. USAA had well-defined and stringent requirements for a policy services application that required enhancements to existing products to provide the necessary function and performance. Key problems solved included managing a storage hierarchy to handle image size objects, the use of optical storage as a low-cost storage medium, and the capability to compress and decompress images rapidly at a workstation to allow high-speed paging through documents. Additionally, the registering and indexing of documents and management of work flow and recovery issues were undertaken. The effort was a good example of the new role of application solution development in that the solution was developed in conjunction with a specific customer, but has developed into a product. The particular solution described in this paper became IBM's ImagePlus™ MVS/ ESA™ product. Although the specific technical issues were different, the same methodology was used to develop ImagePlus for the System/36 and Application System/400®.