MKS Updates Integrity SCM Solution With Open API
By Jennifer deJong
March 1, 2004 —
In an ongoing effort to extend its software configuration management tool across the enterprise, MKS Inc., in Waterloo, Ontario, was expected to announce this month the availability of version 4.6 of its MKS Integrity Solution.
New to 4.6 is support for an open API, which makes it easier to connect a software configuration management repository with help-desk and call-center applications; a change package review feature, which lets development managers accept or reject code changes before committing them to the repository; and the ability to integrate Integrity Solution with IBM zSeries mainframes that run Computer Associates' change management tool AllFusion Endevor, said Dave Martin, MKS' vice president of product management.
He noted that these features further enable developers to manage all development projects across the enterprise from a single vantage point. "When many developers collaborate, and information is stored in more than one repository, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing," he said.
Version 4.6 also includes an updated, Outlook-style drag-and-drop interface and two process templates that map out the workflow for two popular development models, waterfall and iterative.
API support saves developers from writing custom code to link help-desk or call-center applications to the software configuration management repository. This is important because help-desk applications and repositories often need to share information pertaining to software bugs and fixes.
The ability to accept or reject code changes enables development managers to enforce a standard review process. "For example, a manager might discover that a programmer snuck in a feature that wasn't planned for," said Martin. When a manager rejects a change, the system alerts the programmer by e-mail, he added. "The programmer can then go back into the system to see why."
MKS Integrity Solution includes MKS Source Integrity Enterprise and MKS Integrity Manager. Sold separately, each costs US$1,000 per named user. MKS Integrity Solution costs $1,800 per named user.
The 4.6 upgrade is available free of charge to customers on current maintenance plans. Maintenance plans typically cost 20 percent of the software list price. MKS Integrity Solution requires MKS Integrity Server, which costs $8,000.
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