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We've heard this assertion, and on a superficial level, it's true. The logic goes that because service-oriented architecture (SOA) blows applications apart into a sea of services, the concept of an application goes away. However, IT still needs some way to manage groups of SOA assets that work together to support a business process in development, deployment, and production management.
In truth, SOA changes the definition of an application, but it doesn't eliminate the concept entirely: It creates multiple definitions of applications as more dynamic combinations of interactions and business services. Composite applications bring the pieces together, leveraging business process definitions to increase the flexibility and agility of enterprise applications.
Selecting metrics for project managers and AD organizations remains a challenge for most IT shops. To ensure successful project delivery, project managers must have insight into a variety of project factors, including those that measure quality, productivity, cost management, user satisfaction, and business value.
The goal-question-metric (GQM) method has long been the industry standard for guiding managers in choosing appropriate metrics. Given the increased pressures that IT groups face to quantify the value that they deliver, this technique must remain the cornerstone of any metrics program.
Tailoring the IBM Rational Unified Process (RUP) to meet individual projects' needs may involve very simple or very complex activities, depending on the nature of the project. For complex projects, creating and customizing new processes within the RUP environment can be challenging, and the existing RUP tools don't make it easy for project managers or methodology authors.
The good news: The next release of the RUP includes new tools that are a significant improvement over the current tool set. You'll have a far easier time using the RUP as the core of your development and life-cycle management methodologies. And more importantly, IBM partners and customers will have an easier time enhancing RUP content and sharing it among the user community. For RUP to remain a leading methodology framework, IBM and its partners must continue to enhance the content to address topics like vertical industry solutions, SOA, and integration projects. The new tools coming in 2006 will help IBM keep the RUP ecosystem strong.
During the past two years, the need for database-level encryption has grown significantly, mainly because of regulatory requirements and enterprises taking stronger measures to protect data as more intrusions occur across the globe. To assess the state of the database encryption market and see how the vendors stack up against each other, Forrester evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of top database encryption vendors across 100 criteria. Vendors included: Application Security, Ingrian Networks, nCipher, NetLib, Oracle, Protegrity, and Sybase.
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Greetings,
This edition of the ADI First Look brings our research for application development (AD) management front and center, from policies for open source and software quality to trends in metrics, process, and configuration management. At the same time that policies and processes are evolving, the endpoint is also changing, as indicated by evolving definitions of a software application that result from SOA. Change is now a constant, and much of what is new in AD is focused on enabling change to become a systemic, managed part of everyday reality. Making change a constant is also fundamental to SOA, so innovation in policy and process is essential to enable architectural innovation to deliver its ultimate value as business flexibility.
Mike Gilpin
Vice President, Research Director
mikegilpin@forrester.com
Maximize Open Source Benefits With Sound Policy
You can avoid many potential problems related to using open source software by putting a sound open source policy in place. Policies help your organization to do the right thing and will differ for different categories of open source, from infrastructure to application components. If your strategy must govern the use of open source software in internal development, then you need a policy that provides guidance on how to evaluate, use, and maintain the software. It must address how projects are brought into the company, how they are used in the course of development, and the procedures that developers should follow to minimize risks in maintaining the code and protecting your intellectual property. Before you implement your policy, you should educate employees so that all staff affected by the policy have a sound foundation in the areas, such as licensing and code maintenance, that drove the need for a policy in the first place.
On Top Of Open Source Policy Down Under
Forrester has seen rapidly growing demand for guidance on open source software policies. The Australian government recently released "A Guide To Open Source Software For Australian Government Agencies." This document is a must-read for any organization that wants to educate its staff on open source software and provide clear, concise guidelines for its use. Parts of the report can provide a sound foundation for writing your own set of policies. Most notably, this document leaves the decision regarding whether or not to adopt open source software up to individual agencies, and it addresses policies regarding the use of open source software in the broader context of Australian information and communications technology policy.
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The Expanding Purview Of Software Configuration Management
Standalone software configuration management (SCM) is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. In response to the commoditization of version control tools and even base SCM tools, vendors have transformed their SCM tools into process-centric change management solutions. And in recent years, process-centric SCM solutions have come to serve as the infrastructure of development life-cycle management suites, managing changes to life-cycle artifacts like requirements, models, code, test scripts, and process documentation. Many vendors are still building out these capabilities, but a few are beginning to lay the groundwork for solutions that span both development and operations. Firms must determine what degree of SCM tool support they need and identify the SCM solution segment that offers this level of support before they begin to short-list vendors or vendor offerings.
Software Quality Is Everybody's Business
In the never-ending struggle to further improve the quality of custom-developed applications, many people are revisiting basic organizational questions. Some are pulling testers off of development teams and making them part of centralized testing teams; others are even moving testing out of development and into operations. These are the right moves to make. It can be difficult for testers who are part of development to objectively assess application quality, especially when there's a deadline looming. But there are drawbacks to separating testing from development. Most importantly, centralizing testing can give development the impression that quality is "somebody else's problem." So if you centralize your testing efforts, you must take concrete steps to make sure that quality remains top of mind throughout the development life cycle.
Forrester Teleconferences
Enterprise Database Encryption: Why, When, And How?
Noel Yuhanna
August 29, 2005, 1-2 p.m. Eastern time
Developing A Workable Open Source Policy For Your Enterprise
Michael Goulde
September 8, 2005, 1-2 p.m. Eastern time
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