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staff, efficient office and affordable cost of operation,
all of which are vital to being profitable in today's
environment.
AIMS’ COMPAS Commander project leader, Carl Paukstis, comments, “We had
several goals for the COMPAS Commander project:
-
"Move to a native Windows
application. There is a widespread familiarity with Windows by users
and programmers. Commander provides easy access for the end-user to
interfaces with mass-market Windows applications, such as Excel and
Crystal Reports.
-
"Develop
Commander from the ground up, with a design embodying AIMS' wealth
of understanding and thirty years' experience in the wholesale
petroleum marketer business.
-
"Own
the software code. AIMS has always had a support policy of 'the buck
stops here' for our clients. When a change is needed, either to
correct a problem or to adapt to a change in the jobber business
environment, AIMS must have the ability to deliver that change
immediately. We can only do that when all the core software is
developed by AIMS, and we have full control and ownership of the
software we provide.
“With these goals in mind, we chose Microsoft Visual Studio as our
development environment, Visual Basic .NET as our development language,
and Microsoft SQL Server as our database. SQL Server is an
established, well-regarded database that’s supported in major enterprise
applications by Microsoft and accessible through all manner of 3rd-party
tools and support.
“We built a ‘2-tier’ client-server application, meaning standalone .EXE
applications communicate directly with the database server. The
robustness of .NET for this type of application has been well borne out
in the industry over the past few years. The 2-tier base architecture
also relieves our clients of the need to run their own web server or
other “middleware.” This means that clients don’t have to hire or train
staff and develop unsustainable sophistication in system administration
and security and other issues—just in order to deal with fuel manifests
and excise taxes and the other accounting tasks of a jobber.
“At the same time, the Windows and SQL Server environment is the
best-known, best-supported platform on the planet. A client’s staff
probably already knows quite a bit about using Windows computers, and
there is a wide choice of training available, both classroom and
self-study, for any additional skills needed. Windows also offers the
widest variety of device support, and the widest variety of additional
3rd-party software available for the entire range of computing needs
from the simple to the very sophisticated.
"Because of the SQL Server database back-end and the .NET Framework
foundation, we leave wide open the path to expand and add more
sophisticated application models where appropriate. For example,
increasing integration with the supply and transportation chain can pay
big dividends for savvy jobbers. We are poised to offer, in future
additions to COMPAS Commander, faster and more varied means of
communicating pick-up, transport and delivery data. With Windows’
emphasis on portable devices and wireless communication, together with
the .NET foundation, we are also planning significant additional
functionality for order-taking, inventory management and customer
service.
“The Windows .NET framework and SQL Server database architecture make
the development of additional interfaces quicker. AIMS will continue
to expand the range of external data that a jobber can quickly and
routinely integrate to the core business and accounting system without
tedious, costly and error-prone manual input. And also vice-versa: with
the COMPAS Commander environment, exporting any needed data is easily
accomplished—whether in XML, .CSV, spreadsheet formats, reports, or via
SOAP Web Services.
“The manager of a company running COMPAS Commander can have confidence
that the information needed to make critical business decisions is
available, in whatever form needed, at the time it is needed, with a
streamlined staff and an affordable cost of operation.”
AIMS’ President, Robert Canterbury, comments, “With COMPAS Commander,
AIMS has said loud and clear to the market that we value our
relationship with it enough to do things the right way. AIMS has
committed unconditionally to the jobber market. Commander will take a
marketer into the 21st century. For as long as you want to do business,
AIMS will give you the tools to do it as efficiently and intelligently
as possible.”
For more information on COMPAS Commander, contact AIMS at (800) 729-2467
or visit the AIMS website at
www.aims1.com/CC/Commander.htm.
ABOUT
AIMS
AIMS
develops, markets and supports a wide array of automated data processing
products and services for the wholesale petroleum distribution industry.
Products include COMPAS, The Complete Oil Marketers Perpetual
Accounting System, which is a complete wholesale/retail accounting
software system; AUTOSEND, a specialized UST fuel inventory management
software system; and AUTOSIR, an in-house SIR system.
Various sub-systems for these main products allow for automating
cardlock processing, payroll, customer bank account drafting, posting of
rack prices from electronic downloads, faxing of critical documents
directly from the computer system, and communicating with on-board
computerized fuel delivery metering systems.
AIMS maintains offices in Monroe, LA and Sacramento, CA.
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