Technology
QAD’s IT Architecture Strategy
QAD’s business application architecture combines the flexibility and embedded capabilities manufacturing companies need to cope with emerging and ever changing business requirements. This underlying architecture enables them to fill in “blind spots” in supply chain communications and improves their capability to interoperate across multiple levels, departments or locations. QAD embraces a philosophy of “open” standards and components, giving customers a choice in how they deploy their applications as well as integrate with other systems. Additionally, QAD focuses on developing applications that are simple and intuitive to use, require minimal training and deliver high functionality. In recent years, QAD has invested heavily in the development of our user interface technology, harnessing common functions such as reporting and inquiries as well as simple navigation and visual process maps.
QAD’s business application architecture supports our market vision for the Perfect Lean Market. In pursuit of this goal, we keep the following three key attributes in mind when developing QAD Enterprise Applications.
The first is clarity in the way data is communicated and the way the supply chain connects. Open standards for technology help create a foundation for virtually frictionless conditions by enabling seamless supply chain communication. The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), for example, is making strides toward such clarity. AIAG is working hard to establish standards for inventory visibility and other functions, such as engineering, quality and warranty and recall.
The second attribute is agility. At the foundation of QAD Enterprise Applications is QAD’s Domain architecture. This architecture allows global customers greater flexibility in how they deploy their systems, permitting them to select centralized, decentralized or hybrid—central and local—computing architectures. Using QAD’s Domain architecture, customers have the ability to configure their systems to support dynamic business models, as well as change their system to reflect modifications in their business structure with minimal configuration. QAD’s Domain architecture has been designed to enable customers to rapidly deploy their systems across a global enterprise and allows them to reconfigure their systems easily if changes occur, such as divestment or acquisitions.
Unity is the third attribute of QAD’s architecture for achieving a Perfect Lean Market. Companies like to be able to respond to marketplace events more quickly and competitively. Getting information to the right place at the right time fuels this kind of unity. And as manufacturers continue to pair low-cost overseas production with domestic final assembly, this kind of unity will become essential. In recent years, QAD has transitioned its application architecture to a Services Oriented Architecture (SOA), enabling components of QAD Enterprise Applications to communicate with one another though industry-standard messaging techniques.
QAD Enterprise Applications 2008
In the continuous effort to help manufacturing companies move toward the Perfect Lean Market, QAD Enterprise Applications 2008 manifests the values of clarity, agility and unity, as well as usability. We’ve made tremendous investments in new and enhanced functionality, in particular with QAD 2008 Enterprise Financials, in order to meet our ongoing commitment to be the leading software provider within our industries.
QAD 2008 includes a vast array of other improvements in structure, application features and delivery models, such as:
- Enhanced integration and connectivity
- Native Windows .NET client implementation
- Enhancements in the user experience and efficiency
- Workflow and document embedding
- Process maps for easier navigation, and many more
We are carrying on with our mission of investing in our core offering and drive real business value for our customers.
The Bottom Line
Our application architecture allows organizations to be creative and responsive in how they deploy, optimize, integrate and extend their core processes while safeguarding integrity, security and control. They are also able to integrate QAD Enterprise Applications processes and business functions with other specific vertical applications inside their organization, and extend them to external sources to create true business value through a comprehensive, managed view.
We strongly believe that our flexible business platform will help our customers be more efficient, cost effective and competitive by infusing clarity, agility and unity into their business models.
