Solutions Overview

Software development today is more complex than at any time in the relatively brief history of computing. New technologies mature faster, product delivery cycles are shorter, teams are working in parallel in multiple locations, and customers are more demanding. Building quality software at reasonable cost requires a balance between hiring and retaining talented engineers, gathering meaningful product requirements from customers, choosing a development toolset, and orchestrating the engineering activities via the software development process. Central to the software development process are the interactions between software engineers and the tools that most affect their production of quality source code. These tools include:

  • Software Configuration Management (SCM), Issue Tracking (ITS), and Build Management (including continuous integration and unit test)
  • Agile project management (where applicable)

Solutions ScreenshotTogether these tools enable development organizations to automate their software processes and provide a developer-centric view of the development process, with several key benefits:

  • Improved communication and collaboration among developers engaged in globally distributed development
  • Reduced costs from the elimination of manual processes
  • Improved software quality due to reduced errors associated with highly automated software development practices such as continuous integration
  • Better project management metrics that emerge naturally from the automated processes
  • Improved ability to execute multiple projects in parallel with limited engineering resources

The Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) suite vendors (e.g., IBM, Borland, etc.) often focus on Requirements Management or Quality Management and provide few direct benefits to software developers. In contrast, AccuRev provides a platform that is the basis for designing, implementing and enforcing the software development process. AccuRev helps development organizations implement effective agile processes, including continuous integration, and improves the execution of parallel development with both local and geographically distributed teams. As a best-of-breed provider, AccuRev also maintains key partnerships with vendors in the Agile PM, Change Management, Build and Test areas, so that organizations can use AccuRev SCM as their primary development platform while leveraging the benefits of best-of-breed tools in these other important areas.  Additionally, AccuRev fully integrates with ALM solutions through AccuBridge integrations.

Below are examples of solutions built on AccuRev and links to additional information:

  • Agile Development

    Many software development organizations are considering moving to an Agile development methodology in order to increase product quality, decrease costs, and respond more quickly to market needs. Since Agile processes rely on fast moving requirements, rapid code changes, and shorter development cycles, the demands on SCM and other tools are different than for traditional methods such as Waterfall. AccuRev enables development teams to implement and manage Agile development processes. » more

  • Continuous Integration

    By extending the idea of a nightly build, where code changes are built and tested nightly, continuous integration helps reduce integration problems and identify and resolve problems more quickly. AccuRev enables continuous integration through several innovative features. » more

  • Geographically Distributed Development

    AccuRev provides innovative solutions to assist companies in managing globally distributed development, whether it is between wholly owned locations of one company, or between company sites and independent offshore consulting sites. Several key AccuRev features combine to address the performance, security and other issues that arise when software development spans multiple locations. » more

  • Parallel Development

    Parallel development occurs whenever a software development project requires separate development efforts on related code bases. For example, when a software product is shipped to customers, a product development team may begin working on a new major feature release of the product, while a product maintenance team may work on defect corrections and customer patch releases of the shipped product. AccuRev provides several features to enable parallel development. » more