Systematic makes accreditation of IRIS on classified systems simpler

IRIS products have been embedded in military command and control (C2) and messaging systems for a number of years. The IRIS Forms product has just been updated to make it simpler to achieve security accreditation when used on classified systems.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

The IRIS products are the defacto market leaders when it comes to support of interoperability needs. IRIS handles formatted messages used for international interoperability by units deployed on international missions as well as routine national message formats used within a nation.

With the introduction of the server based IRIS WebForms in 2011, and to ensure that end users would not notice a difference between the traditional client based IRIS Forms, JavaScript was employed in both products to generate the user interfaces. IRIS WebForms has the same capabilities as IRIS Forms, but allows zero-administration desktops as the client runs inside a web browser.

However, when IRIS Forms is deployed on classified systems, Java Script may not be allowed. Therefore Systematic has produced a new version of IRIS Forms that has all JavaScript compiled in, so no one can tamper with the application once it is deployed. This enhancement has just been released with IRIS Forms 4.5 and all customers with a valid maintenance contract in place are able to upgrade to the improved version.

One more change is planned in the next release due in autumn 2014: which will provide the ability to safely customize the layout of data entry forms. Systematic is developing a new, simplified method of customizing forms using simple XML files which will replace the old custom views which was based on the use of XSLT and JavaScript.

Additional information describing the new customization APIs will be available from Systematic upon request. If you are already using IRIS Forms with custom views, please contact Systematic, and we can explain how you may migrate to use the new simplified custom views.