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First Option Inc. was founded in 1995 in order to provide contract and custom programming services with expertise in the IBM i (including iSeries, AS400 and System i) market. A strong team of consultants with vast experience in application development and project management were assembled to provide services ranging from high level consultative engagements through full project ownership. Since 1995, First Option has enhanced its product offerings in order to provide our customers IBM hardware and software solutions, IBM i Hosting and IBM i monitoring services. The additional offerings transitioned First Option into a full service IT vendor.
In 1996, First Option became an IBM business partner with a Value Added Reseller (VAR) program to provide new and used iSeries equipment as well as hardware and software maintenance contracts. As of December 2009, our XIV certified sales consultants are now able to provide IBM XIV Storage solutions which are an exciting new SAN technology. We are also authorized to sell IBM xSeries equipment which includes the IBM blade technology.
In 1999, First Option discovered that some of their customers and prospects would rather “rent space” and have their applications hosted in a secure data center rather than own equipment. The WSP division was created and First Option teamed up with a large data center in New England to provide hosting and co-location services.
In 2001, the consulting division began working with customers to Web enable their RPG applications by creating java based applications and deploying them on a variety of HTTP and application servers. These projects ranged from basic XML document interfaces to more complex web services and eventually to feature rich applications presented on the web. In some cases, the RPG legacy code was leveraged and other cases it was a replacement of the existing software.
Some of these projects used First Option on a full time basis while others used the resources to complete short term goals as legacy systems were integrated or phased out. Says Paul Fuller, President of First Option, “Our customers use our resources/services to enhance their in-house skill depth in order to get their software to market as soon as possible. Because we are constantly enhancing our skill sets, we are able to provide experienced top quality consulting services.”
In 2006, First Option formed a strategic partnership with a state of the art data center located in the Northeast and moved their hosted application customers to this 24/7x365 SAS 70 Type II compliant secure facility. First Option offers customers the ability to “rent space” on their iSeries equipment in either a shared or dedicated environment. A 24/7x365 help desk staff with highly trained individuals perform a number of support roles and responsibilities outlined by service level agreements. (SLA’s) Co-location and managed hosting services are also offered.
2008 saw the development of two new Software as a Service (SAS) applications, iSeries Watchdog by First Option and Webcheck by First Option.
IBM i Watchdog is a monitoring solution that collects key health indicators of System i Servers and displays the results on a color coded GUI interface. Various message alerts can be customized to each individual customer’s needs.
WebCheck by First Option is an internet based software service that allows employees to view up to two years of pay check information on line. With WebCheck by First Option employees can log on to a secure internal website to view and/or print their check information. WebCheck by First Option was designed for the iSeries but can run on any platform.
In 2011 First Option bought the rights to an AS400 Acounting Software Suite and began the task of modernizing it using a Power i solution. With this new solution First Option was able to create a robust GUI based product that integrates desktop capabilities.The iseries software, which was originally created by Daprex, now has a modern interface that most customers are looking for along with the ability to download data to excel and consume web services. The software is available in the Cloud and also runs on an IBM Power i, a successful and enduring business computing platform with a reputation for reliability and proven ability to deliver rich business applications.
In 2013 We released the new GUI financial software to the existing customer base and started working on our second release of new features. In the meantime the consulting side of the business has steadily grown with customers ranging from law firms, large manufacturing companies, non profits and restaurant chains.
All of our systems are housed in data centers that provide a secure environment and 24/7 infrastructure.
Our help desk is staffed with highly trained individuals who perform a number of roles and responsibilities outlined in our service level agreements.
We have gained a deep knowledge of the requirements and challenges facing small to mid–sized businesses in the following industries:
- Application Service Providers (ASP’s)
- Software
- Financial
- Telecom
- Non Profit
- Asset Management
- Textile Manufacturing
- Retail and Distribution
- Law Firms
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