Forward Migration: Financial planners, VW dealer, school

(For those new to the column, Forward Migration is our term for companies moving from Wintel machines to Macs — or at least adding or increasing the number of Macs they use. A Forward Migration Kit is an overview of Mac OS products for a particular occupation, such as photography, optometry, etc.)

In Australia, financial planners are required to demonstrate their competence in a range of areas proscribed by the regulator the Australian Securities & investment Commission. Adviser Education Services provides an Accreditation Management System that’s used by a number of Australian banks, insurance companies, and dealer groups, most of which are Windows 2000/Windows NT standard operating environments.

However, the kick is, they’re using a WebObjects Application deployed on a Power Mac G3 to track and measure their staff, according to James Ryan, general manager, Adviser Education Services.

“The system includes online assessment and reporting tools and integrates formal qualifications, in-house training and continuing education activities to allow subscribers to demonstrate their staff meet the proscribed competency requirements,” he told MacCentral.

In other Forward Migration news, Manchester Volkswagen in Manchester, NH, has incorporated about 40 iMacs and some iBooks in the Service and Sales departments, according to MacCentral reader Ray Solt.

Meanwhile, Apple continues to rack up educational success stories due with the AirPort technology. The Hawthorn Option School in the Hawthorn School District (Vernon Hills, ILL) has seen the technology used to bring the Internet to a 1920s building whose walls featured more than 20-inches of concrete, plaster, and oriental tile, and whose floors were separated by solid corrugated steel.

The school offers a unique curriculum that allows students to attend classes in the same building for seven years. Approximately half the size of other elementary schools, Hawthorn places a strong emphasis on flexible grouping practices, accelerated learning, and extracurricular activities including the performing arts and community service projects, according to an Apple educational article. While the use of technology in such a school seems a natural progression, there was that nagging problem of retrofitting a building that was “built to last” almost 80 years ago.

“We had cloth insulation on all of the wires, and every piece of conduit was filled to capacity,” Robert Hudson, Hawthorn’s director of technology, told Apple. “The first year, we were sure we wouldn’t have adequate data access when the school opened, with the wiring the way it was. Then Apple rolled out the iBooks and AirPort technology, and we saw the solution as ‘life support’ for us.”

However, by placing six AirPort Base Stations around the building, Hudson and his team were able to create “zones” in which teachers could instantly access the Internet. The result: 14 iBooks could be moved throughout the building and used as needed.

“Our productivity and efficiency with the AirPort technology and iBooks has really blown our previous systems out of the water,” Principal John Ahlemeyer told Apple. “The iBook allows any idea you have to become a product; it really supports the immediacy and spontaneity of the learning environment.”

Have a forward migration story? Send it to us ( dsellers@maccentral.com ).

Requests for help

Now it’s time for our weekly requests for help from folks who need your advice and/or assistance in forward migrating — or at least being able to keep the Mac platform alive and thriving in their businesses. Contact the requesters directly at their e-mail addresses.

Joey Wei ( mascot@netpci.com ): “I am looking around for POS software for my auto parts shop that can also do price checks. If anyone knows of any Mac software that can do the job, please let me know.”

Kerry Cartier ( gyroguy@mail.com ): “We are building a new two-story home, and I need to network Macs in two different rooms and the shop. The plan is to use Ethernet cabling, probably 10-base-T because it works with older Macs. What would someone recommend that would allow use by older Macs and into the future? Hub needed? Sources for cable, etc?”

Larry Herrmann ( larryh@namm.com ): “Does anyone have any solution for mapping FileMaker data on the Mac? I have had no luck with getting old MapInfo or Geoquery versions to work.”