James Allman | JA Technology Solutions LLC
Insights
Technical perspectives on systems, modernization, integration, and the platforms that businesses depend on.
DDS to SQL: Modernizing IBM i Database Definitions
Most IBM i databases were defined with DDS. Moving that definition to SQL DDL is one of the most concrete, low-risk steps in a modernization effort, and it unlocks capabilities DDS cannot provide.
The Math Behind Inventory Decisions
EOQ, safety stock, and reorder point are standard supply chain formulas. Here is what each calculates, what it assumes, and where real inventory breaks the model.
Warehouse Slotting: Putting the Right SKU in the Right Spot
Most of the labor in an order-pick operation is travel. Slotting controls where each SKU lives in the warehouse, and getting it right means pickers walk less on every order.
Reading DSD Deliveries: DEX, EDI 894, and 895
Direct store delivery hands you the same delivery record two ways: at the dock as DEX, and over the wire as EDI 894/895. Here is what is inside each, and how to read it.
Inventory Valuation: Where the Numbers in Your ERP Come From
Two companies can buy the same goods, sell the same units, and report different cost of goods sold. The difference is a configuration choice called the cost flow assumption, and most people running reports against it could not say which one their system uses.
What an Imported Case Really Costs
The vendor invoice is the most visible number in an import and the least sufficient one. Between the factory and your shelf sit freight, insurance, duty, brokerage, and a three-letter term that decides who pays for each. The margin you think an item earns depends on getting all of it into the unit cost.
Teaching the AS/400 to Talk to the Outside World
To move files between an AS/400 and the modem-driven, serial world it was never built for, I wrote the protocols, the asynchronous layer beneath them, and a send-and-expect layer to automate the exchange. The same job, connecting systems that were not meant to talk, is most of integration work today.
The AS/400 Machine Interface, and Why IBM i Endures
To build native Xmodem and Ymodem file transfer for the AS/400, I dropped to the machine interface for fast CRC routines, before C was common on the platform. What that low level reveals about why IBM i still runs today.
IBM i: The Platform Decision-Makers Should Understand
A practical overview for business leaders evaluating, maintaining, or modernizing IBM i environments.
ETL: The Invisible Backbone of Enterprise Data
How data actually moves between the systems your business depends on, and what goes wrong when it is not done well.
EDI 101: What Business Leaders Need to Know
A plain-language guide to Electronic Data Interchange: what it is, why it matters, and how to tell when it's not working the way it should.
Linux: The Foundation Your Business Already Depends On
Why the platform that runs most of the internet matters for your business, and what goes wrong when it is not managed well.
Understanding BAI2 Files: A Guide for Treasury and IT Teams
Everything you need to know about the banking industry's standard cash reporting format: from file structure to automation.
HL7 vs FHIR: What You Need to Know
A practical guide to healthcare data exchange standards: what works, what's changing, and how to make smart integration decisions.
RPG: The Language Behind Your Business Logic
What decision-makers need to know about the programming language that powers their IBM i applications.
When Your Spreadsheet Should Have Been a Database
Why the most dangerous application in your organization might be the one nobody thinks of as software.
EBCDIC and ASCII: A Practical Guide to Mainframe Data Conversion
What EBCDIC is, how it differs from ASCII, where conversions go wrong, and how to handle real-world mainframe data with confidence.
POS Item File Sync: Keeping Stores in Sync with the Host
Why multi-store POS item files drift, what automated audit reports reveal, and how synchronization keeps every register accurate.
Automating Enterprise Firewall Deployment: Lessons From the Field
Why mass firewall rollouts need the same rigor as software releases, and what vendor APIs make possible.
ISO 8583 Explained: How Payment Card Messages Work
The international standard behind every card swipe, dip, and tap, and what developers need to know about it.
RPG Modernization: Options Beyond Java Migration
The migration question is more nuanced than vendors suggest. Here are the real options, tradeoffs, and a practical framework for deciding.
Microsoft Access, Excel, and VBA: The Tools Your Finance Team Depends On
What decision-makers need to know about the Microsoft tools that quietly run critical business processes.
Data Migration Testing: Why Record-Level Comparison Matters
Row counts match. Reports look right. But until you compare every record field by field, you don't know what the migration actually did to your data.
Building Handheld Scanner Applications That Last a Decade
From Symbol and Motorola to Zebra: what makes a programmable handheld application survive decades of continuous production use.
EDI X12: What's Inside an 850, 810, and 856
A developer-level walkthrough of the three transaction sets at the center of every EDI trading relationship — and the segments that trip people up.
Java: The Enterprise Language That Keeps Delivering
Why the platform that powers enterprise software across every industry remains one of the most practical choices for business applications.
Off-the-Shelf vs Custom Software: When Standard Falls Short
Why the software that works for everyone may not work well enough for the processes that set your business apart.
Retail Shrink: The Operational Controls That Actually Work
Why inventory loss keeps climbing, where the real exposure is, and what practical technology and process changes reduce it.
EDI Compliance Mandates: What Retailers Expect and How to Deliver
The wave of tightened EDI requirements from major retailers, the chargebacks that follow non-compliance, and the practical steps that prevent them.
PCI DSS 4.0: Practical Compliance for Smaller Businesses
The March 2025 deadline has passed. Here is what changed, what matters most, and how smaller businesses can get compliant without enterprise budgets.
AI in Enterprise: Practical Patterns Beyond the Hype
What AI integration actually looks like in business systems, where it delivers real value, and how to tell the difference between substance and spectacle.
Integrating Itasca Magic CGO with a Regional Grocery Chain
What it takes to connect Upshop Inventory 360 to the host merchandising platform, warehouse, and perpetual inventory for a growing multi-store operation.
ENCOR (ISS45) Enhanced Promotions: A Field Guide for Grocery and Retail Technology Leaders
What the platform supports, the promotional patterns it makes possible, and how to bring more of them to life across your fleet.
ENCOR (ISS45) Transaction Log Analytics: Sales, Shrink, and Fraud Detection
What's inside the log, the patterns it reveals when parsed, and how to surface them across your fleet.
Grocery Fresh Departments: The Math That Moves Margin
Six operational tools for meat, produce, deli, bakery, seafood, and floral, and why small percentage shifts in these departments outsize their share of sales.
Comparing Data Files: Choosing the Right Tool
How to pick between record-level and line-level comparison, and get messy spreadsheets into a shape the tools can actually read.
Data Profiling: Know Your Data Before You Move It
What profiling reveals about a dataset, the surprises it catches, and why it is the first step in any migration, integration, or reporting project.
Understanding OFX and QFX Bank Statement Files
Banks export all your accounts into one file. Most accounting and ERP systems import one cash account at a time. Here is what is inside an OFX or QFX file, and why splitting it by account is the step that keeps your books accurate.
Building EDI X12 Documents: A Supplier's Guide
Reading an 850 purchase order is one skill. Building the 855, 856, 810, and 997 that close the loop is another. Here is what outbound EDI looks like from the supplier side, and where it breaks.
Packed Decimal and COMP-3: Reading Mainframe Numbers Correctly
The numeric fields in an IBM i or mainframe flat file look like garbage until you understand that two digits share every byte, the decimal point is nowhere in the file, and the sign lives in the last nibble. Get any of those three things wrong and your ETL produces numbers that are plausible enough to pass a casual inspection.
Reading COBOL Copybooks: The Map Behind Mainframe Record Layouts
A mainframe flat file is just bytes. The COBOL copybook is the map that says where each field is, what type it holds, and how many decimal places the number carries. This article covers the copybook syntax you encounter most often and what it means for an ETL, migration, or integration developer parsing those bytes.
How ACH Payments Work: Inside a NACHA File
Every payroll run, vendor payment, and recurring debit rides the ACH network as a fixed-width 94-character file. Here is what is inside it, how the record hierarchy fits together, and what happens when an entry comes back.
Retail Price Accuracy: Preventing Shelf-vs-Scan Errors
In multi-store retail, three systems must agree on every price: the shelf tag, the POS register, and the host merchandising system. When they drift apart, the consequences land on the customer, the margin, and the inspector.
Multi-Vendor Receiving: From the Dock to Accounts Payable
A store or distribution center takes dozens of vendors a day, each arriving on a different schedule by a different path. Getting the goods in is the easy part. Getting the receipt data into AP and the item file without rekeying it is the integration problem.