A Message to our Customers
Over the past year, we have fielded questions regarding future plans and our relationship with the Fluke Calibration group.
Our Past History
During the past 15 years, we have provided products and support for the Fluke® MET/CAL® and MET/TRACK® products. We have always been associated with special add-ons for MET/TRACK, and over the years, we have built applications that enhance the capabilities of the MET/TRACK Database. In late 1990's, Fluke Management had worked with us and even sold some of our products for twelve (12) years.
Changes in the OTS/Fluke Relationship
Due to recent decisions within Fluke, we have decided not to work with their latest metrology database software. Fluke has created a new MET/TRACK® replacement product known as MET/TEAM and we wish them success with this product. Our decision to not go forward with MET/TEAM is based on the underlying architecture Fluke has chosen and the vast differences between it and MET/TRACK®. Being based on Microsoft SQL Server, it is significantly different from existing MET/TRACK with respect to the database schema, configurability, and business work flow. We have always configured our products (and MET/TRACK) to meet our customers' needs in working within existing business rules and work-flows. We have assessed MET/TEAM and determined that the majority of our customers' configurations are too highly customized and would be cost prohibitive to move to MET/TEAM. We have some customers with hundreds of Crystal Reports® and moving to MET/TEAM would be like starting over. History has shown that innovation comes from multiple sources. On Time Support is known for creating unique solutions for metrology and beyond.
We Pledge Continued MET/TRACK® Support
Rest assured, we are not going to abandon MET/TRACK support. We have significant innovative solutions for metrology in planning and development. We are actively updating our current suite of applications to support MET/TRACK (version 7.1 through current revision), and new applications are coming soon which operate on multiple database platforms. We are committed to support you and we will provide MET/TRACK support for years to come. We still offer our expertise to help you upgrade MET/TRACK installations. We also still provide both MET/CAL and MET/TRACK training.
We are convinced that existing MET/TRACK - using Sybase iAnywhere version 11 - remains an excellent solution and can meet your metrology tracking needs well into the future.
We Plan to Support New Automated Cal
A METDaemon interface to National Instruments LabVIEW will be developed for those customers that would like to create automated procedures, operating in Linux or Microsoft Windows, using that environment.
New Opportunities Make Our Future Bright
On Time Support is now working with new partners and we will announce sales and support for some new innovative solutions. A new METDaemon will be released during Q3 2013 with support for multiple databases including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, and others. Our METDaemon technology will operate on Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. In the next METDaemon release, Email Notification and METDaemon Report Viewer are examples of products that support Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and any database supported by METDaemon. We are vetting applications that are running on mobile devices, including tablets and phones, using Android operating systems. BC Mobile is an example of an application that runs well on an Android Tablet.
We have always been committed to developing partnerships with our customers. In this spirit, we will publish an Application Programming Interface (API) to empower users interested in developing applications and take advantage of the powerful features available in METDaemon. Using the METDaemon API can significantly reduce the time and effort required to complete a custom metrology software application.
To further provide assistance new developers, we are working towards creating a METDaemon Developer Network (MDN). The MDN will provide demonstration and coding examples to guide new users working on their own applications. We will offer the METDaemon Development Kit (MDK) for interested developers to license later in this year.
If you have any questions about our products or services, please contact us.
Best regards,
The On Time Support Team!