CA announced a new software lifecycle management tool that integrates its change management solution, CA Endevor Software Change Manager, with IBM's Rational Developer for System z V7.6 (RDz), the IBM Rational mainframe development environment.
This new integrated offering is intended to provide the ability to link related development and software lifecycle management tasks. Already, CA says, mainframe developers employ both RDz as their integrated development environment (IDE) and CA Endevor SCM for automating software lifecycle management tasks such as code merging, versioning, and change tracking,
"One of the big themes in the mainframe world is the need to help a new generation of technical people move into the mainframe. This is a big step in that direction," Mark Combs, senior vice president and general manager for CA's Mainframe Business Unit, tells 5 Minute Briefing, noting that it aligns with CA's "Mainframe 2.0" strategy. "This integration provides access to this easy web-based development environment so customers can interact with it in a way that is comfortable. They don't have to learn a green screen, they don't have to learn the ins and outs of the 3270 and the architectures that were common 30 years ago. Instead, they can use modern tools and still take advantage of the rich functionality of all of our products. It is another leg of our Mainframe 2.0 strategy."
A programmer using RDz, for example, can extract the elements of an application within CA Endevor SCM that is awaiting modification, perform that modification, and then store the changes back into CA Endevor SCM for acceptance into the next release of the application. The CA Endevor SCM edit environment now includes key RDz functions such as content assist and smart syntax check-along with ISPF look-and-feel. When completed, the changes are placed back into CA Endevor SCM so users can take advantage of all CA Endevor SCM controls and build functionality. This unified approach to coding and release management can now improve productivity, accelerate time-to-delivery, and help with the auditing of programmer activities.
Data center managers could also use CA Mainframe Software Manager to automate the acquisition and installation of CA Endevor SCM.
CA also announced that the common GUI of CA InterTest for CICS r8.5 and CA InterTest Batch r8.5, which is based on the Eclipse Platform, has attained Ready for IBM Rational software validation and Best Practice Compliance status.
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