GCOS 7 Gets Relational

A major theme of this year’s Summit 2008 conference was “Designing the Future” and how Bull is helping customers implement new technologies. For many users, successful implementation of new technologies can also depend on using data from their legacy systems. In the case of GCOS 7, that means sharing data between GCOS 7 and tools from the Open World. That's where Bull’s SQL XT (eXtended Technology) for GCOS 7 Users comes into play, which was an important part of this year’s Summit track for GCOS 7 users.

Bull’s SQL XT allows applications to access and manipulate data from relational databases and supports either Oracle or SQL Server databases. At Summit, attendees heard first-hand about the benefits of SQL XT from an international Bull customer, Carpimko, which has recently implemented this solution.

Claude Dossmann, IT Director of Carpimko, a GCOS 7 user from Europe spoke on Carpimko’s experiences following the implementation of SQL XT. Carpimko is a Pension Fund for self-employed medical workers that is part of the French Social Security System. Carpimko was first established in 1947 and today manages the pension contributions and funds for nearly 170,000 individuals.

Carpimko’s has a Bull DPS7000 XTA42 system that processes 80,000 transactions per day and over 450,000 transactional I/O per day. For Carpimko, the major issue was the need to automate their mail management system which receives over 290,000 pieces of hard copy mail annually that is processed on their GCOS 7 system and stored on MS SQL.

Much of this mail is received in different formats, covering varied subjects, and often hand-written.

Using SQL XT, Carpinko has “revolutionized” their mail management system allowing them to share this data, with open software tools to create an environment where they can instantaneously generate and track communications with their members. As a result, Carpimko has vastly improved their member services by enabling their Call Centers to provide online access to all member information and inquiries.