Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA has released a new version of its Integrated Business Information System, IBIsys, in the UK. IBIsys integrates a variety of applications at both client and server level enabling transparent communication via a Unix host. The system combines either LSX 5000 or LSX 3000 servers with any MS-DOS or OS/2 personal computer. The LSX 5000 runs the Olivetti Unix V.4.0 operating system and the LSX 3000 runs the X/OS implementation of Unix System V. The base product provides object-oriented filing, electronic mail, diary and administration services such as printing and word processing. Additional modules can then be added to customise the system in accordance with an organisation’s requirements. The present upgraded Release 4 features two enhancements: image processing via two new components, enabling users to manipulate images with text, voice, graphics and data files; and workflow tracking which seeks to break down paper-driven procedures into a sequence of automated steps. Release 5 of the office system is expected next year. IBIsys has been available for four years and has around 15,000 customers scattered across Italy, Europe, Canada, South Africa and Australia. Olivetti envisages that with time, it will be considered more as a brand name for systems integration, adapted for specific customer needs, rather than a rigidly defined product. With this in mind, the company is actively seeking systems partners with specialist knowledge of its target vertical markets – finance, local government, retail and the legal sector. The system in its most basic form costs around UKP900 per user – the greater the number of additional modules, the higher the price – and is available through Olivetti’s newly formed Document Management Division, based in Putney, south west London, as well as from some of its partners.
