Microsoft is planning to build a lifecycle management
tool called Visual Studio 2005 Team System to help IT directors
streamline software development.
A component of its Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI) application
management model, the product is expected to be available in the
first half of next year as part of the Visual Studio 2005 product
suite. It will offer integrated design, development and testing to
allow software architects and testers to collaborate in the design
and development of service-oriented applications.
To date, the Microsoft Visual Studio .net development suite has
aimed to improve the productivity of individual programmers by
offering design wizards, templates and debugging tools.
However, Microsoft said users were finding it increasingly
challenging to manage the lifecycle of software development, as
software teams become more specialised and geographically
distributed.
Steve Ballmer, chief executive at Microsoft, said, "In order to
take advantage of new business opportunities and effectively manage
up-front and lifetime IT costs, it is important for customers to
look at the entire IT lifecycle - from application development to
operations and management - and to choose a software platform that
provides strong tools, ecosystem partnerships, security and
support."
Microsoft said the Team System is designed to increase the
predictability of the software development process, shorten the
development lifecycle, and allow IT departments to deliver greater
business value.
Mark Quirk, head of technology in Microsoft's developer and
platform group, said, "We are not trying to solve every single
problem: it is an extensible system, so users and third-party
suppliers can add functionality."
Commenting on Team System, Michael Azoss, senior research analyst
at Butler Group, said, "This is a very good move on the part of
Microsoft, and it is very useful for .net developers."
Butler examined Microsoft's lifecycle tools in a report published
in November and found them lacking, said Azoss.
"There is a huge gap between Microsoft Project Manager and Visual
Studio .net. But now, Microsoft has a complete lifecycle vision, in
the same way that IBM and Compuware have," he said. Azoss added
that Team System will raise the quality bar for lifecycle
management, which will benefit users.
Bola Rotiba, senior analyst for software development strategy at
Ovum, said Team System should increase the level of predictability
of software architecture and associated testing times, and add the
ability to trace software artefacts. "The question is whether they
can deliver, and what they will deliver," she said.
In a research paper earlier this year, Gartner said the Microsoft
Team System would have a significant impact on the complete
distributed application lifecycle. "Ultimately, more focus on the
software development lifecycle will benefit the customer," said
analyst Theresa Lanowitz.
New tools from Microsoft
Microsoft is planning to develop a Visual Studio .net add-on,
called Web Services Enhancements 2.0, for building secure web
services. It has also released a technical beta of the Microsoft
Office Information Bridge Framework, a set of tools to rapidly
build metadata-driven smart-client software.
Choice of tools for integrated software
development
The main alternative to Microsoft in the software development
lifecycle market comes from the increasingly popular open source
Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE). This Java-based
environment is backed by suppliers including Hewlett-Packard, IBM,
Intel and SAP, and it has a strong support community.
Another popular choice is the Netbeans IDE open source software
development tool from Sun Microsystems. Both open source
environments compete with Microsoft's .net infrastructure.
At the high-end of the lifecycle management market are tools
such as IBM's Rational Unified Process. IBM completed its £1.2bn
acquisition of Rational in February 2003, and it has integrated
Rational's application development tools into Websphere.
Borland's J Builder, Optimal J from Compuware, and Mercury
Interactive's Mercury Application Management are other lifecycle
management options.
Serena, which agreed to acquire competitor Merant in March, is
an option for users who need change management. Its version control
system will plug into Microsoft's IDE.
Analyst firm Gartner said, "Whereas, historically, Microsoft's
product and marketing focus has been on the developer, the approach
taken by Microsoft in its new tools will enable all parties
involved in a project to think in a more holistic versus
code-centric fashion.
"The myth of 'you aren't working if you aren't coding' will be
shattered as IT organisations begin to think and work in integrated
environments."