BlueSeries has handled native communications on IBM i since before email became a central part of business. From email and SMS to FTP and XML invoicing, the solution brings your company’s communication channels together directly on IBM i - without middleware between your applications and the outside world.

Today, BlueSeries has taken the next natural step and become one of the four high-performance engines that power Sitemule.

If you have heard of BlueSeries, or have been using BlueSeries express’it, BlueSeries Fax, BlueSeries Mail, BlueSeries FTP/XML, or BlueSeries Web Client for many years, you have come to the right place.

We are System & Metode A/S, the Danish software company that has developed and supported BlueSeries from the very beginning. Today, the technology sits at the heart of Sitemule - our complete modernization ecosystem that runs natively on IBM i.

How we got here

BlueSeries was developed to solve a challenge that remains relevant today: How do you enable an IBM i application to send a document, an alert, or an invoice to a recipient outside the system - without separate mail servers, FTP hosts, or middleware that require additional operations and maintenance?

In the 1990s, BlueSeries first solved this challenge through fax, which at the time was one of the most important channels for purchase orders, invoices, and other business documents.

As business needs changed, BlueSeries evolved with them. Email, SMS, FTP, XML conversion, the Danish NemHandel, OIOXML, OIOUBL, and, most recently, PEPPOL became part of the solution. New channels were added while the existing ones remained available.

The principle has remained the same through every version: Communication should be handled directly on IBM i. The message is generated, the document is formatted, the transmission is completed, and the event is logged in the same environment that already contains your data and business logic.

BlueSeries today

BlueSeries has not disappeared, and development has not stopped.

Together with the three other engines in Sitemule, BlueSeries now plays an expanded role:

• IceBreak powers web applications and service-oriented architecture

• IceCap modernizes screens and workflows

• BlueSeries handles business communications

• BlueNote monitors systems and operations

BlueSeries serves as a communications engine across the Sitemule platform. Its functions can be called directly from RPG, COBOL, and CL using native IBM i commands, or automatically triggered by output queues.

Your existing solution continues

Nothing you depend on is going away. BlueSeries will continue to be available for installation and use as a standalone product. It will continue to be maintained and supported, exactly as you know it today. Your current installation can therefore continue unchanged, while giving you the option to take the next step with Sitemule.

From BlueSeries to Sitemule

Because BlueSeries is now an integrated engine in the platform, upgrading becomes a natural next step - not a major migration project.

Sitemule brings together web applications, service-oriented architecture, screen transformation, communications, messaging, and monitoring into a single browser-based Workspace that runs natively on your IBM i. So when you read about native, high-performance communications in Sitemule, you are reading about the continued evolution of BlueSeries.

More than a fax and email solution

BlueSeries is no longer simply a solution for a single communication channel. As the communications engine in Sitemule, BlueSeries acts as a unified communications layer across the IBM i platform.

With BlueSeries, you can:

• Send and receive email via SMTP, POP, and IMAP

• Transfer files via FTP and FTPS

• Convert and exchange XML documents

• Support NemHandel, OIOXML, OIOUBL, and PEPPOL

• Call functions directly from RPG, COBOL, and CL

• Automate transmissions from output queues

• Capture, format, attach, and send spool files without additional programming

• Generate documents in formats including PDF, TIFF, CSV, and TXT

• Monitor and resend communications through BlueSeries Web Client

Everything runs natively on IBM i and builds on the IceBreak engine. There are no separate FTP hosts, no external mail servers, and no middleware between the application and the communication layer.

Two ways forward

• You already use BlueSeries. Nothing changes in your day-to-day operations. Support and maintenance continue to be provided directly by us, exactly as before. At the same time, your existing BlueSeries installation means that a significant part of the foundation for further modernization is already in place. Contact us to learn more about the special upgrade offer for existing customers.
• You want to see the full platform. BlueSeries is one of the four engines in Sitemule. Explore how BlueSeries works together with IceBreak, IceCap, and BlueNote, and discover the modules built on top of the engines.