A technology company with a number of big bank clients has released software designed to help personal computer-equipped customer service representatives reach into a myriad of information stored on mainframes.
The software, from Early, Cloud & Co., Newport, R.I., is designed for banks, insurance companies, and other companies with large customer-support staffs that need to access information running on mainframes, but also want to introduce networks of PCs - called client-server computing - to users.
Early Cloud's software is already used by a number of big banks, including Banc One Corp., NationsBank, and First Bank Systems Inc., in the telephone customer service areas.
The new software, being tested at First Bank Systems in Minneapolis, differs from Early Cloud's earlier products in that it can be used for a variety of customer services functions, including by branch staff who need to be connected to a number of mainframe-based applications, said Kevin Kelley, Early, Cloud's chief executive.
The software, called Message-Driven Processor, runs on International Business Machines Corp. mainframes running the CICS transaction switching software.
