Originally Posted by emanon256

Please correct me if I am wrong, I am sure many of you know more about this than I do.

Basically SHARES is a fight management system running on a mainframe using IBM DBMS software developed in 1983. The system has been modified to the point it is no longer supported, so all development and testing must be done in house. SHARES has a user interface, which they have enhanced far beyond what the delivered Green Screen can do, however it does not operate off of any real time database triggers, requires a lot of manual work, and any process/jobs must be scheduled and run on the mainframe during certain maintenance windows.

Most carriers are now using ERP systems, which are running on modern servers, not mainframes, and do not require the system to be borough down for processing windows, and do not require everything to be done by jobs submitted on the ever. Modern ERP systems can manage costumer information and update accounts in real time based on triggers. Several ERPs still use jobs and job sets to schedule certain batches as too many real time processes can effect system performance.

I am under the impression that PMUA uses a modern ERP system, however significant licensing fees are paid to be abel to use this system, while SHARES is no longer supported, and thus has no licensing fees.

Again, this is what I gathered from interviewing with them, they could have been feeding me BS, they may not have been. They never told me any of this information is confidential, so there ya go.