ARCAD Software, leading vendor in Enterprise Modernization and DevOps solutions for IBM i, announces October 30th GA release of Version 3.0 of ARCAD-Builder, an intelligent IBM i build engine supporting several external source code management (SCM) tools, including Git, Subversion (SVN) and Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS).

Philippe Magne, ARCAD CEO, describes the new offering:  “Our focus at ARCAD is on delivering a complete, multi-platform DevOps solution for IBM i.  Our flagship offering, the ARCAD Pack for DevOps, automates key processes on IBM i such as Application Build (dependency compile), Test, Deploy and Rollback.  Source code management is only a part of the full DevOps cycle.  We are SCM-agnostic and committed to supporting our customer’s preferred tools in this area.  Depending on our customer’s mix of technology and tools, we can recommend either ARCAD-Skipper, IBM Rational Team Concert (RTC), Git, Subversion or TFS”.

Magne goes on to explain the company’s position in regards to open source.  “Integration with open source solutions has become a priority.  Today IBM i is a truly open platform, and the majority of our customers now develop applications across multiple platforms.  This has created a need for a lightweight and portable solution for source code management.  IBM i development is no longer a silo, and developers are sharing skills.  The new generation of programmers coming to IBM i are bringing open source technology with them and using it successfully.  We see Git as the leading tool in this area, thanks to its distributed version control.  IBM now supplies Git as an installable product on IBM i, giving Git users a high level of security for managing Git repositories directly on IBM i.  It’s important to adopt the best-of-breed technology for the task at hand.  For this reason we also integrate with Jenkins for continuous integration.”  

Magne explains why TFS support is also key to ARCAD’s integration strategy.  “Microsoft TFS is a commonly used collaborative tool today, both in the cloud and on premise.  Now with the Eclipse plugins, some use TFS to manage native IBM i sources as well.  Of course it’s every IT manager’s “holy grail” to use a single, common SCM for all platforms:  one repository, one branching system, one way to manage versions.  It’s our role to facilitate this for our customers, whatever their choice of SCM tool”.

“We predicted a major shift in the market away from proprietary version control.  This shift is a natural outcome of IBM i modernization and today’s multi-tier application architecture.  Environments today are so diverse that as a global company we needed to offer our customers a choice.   Even the newer TFS installations use Git by default for source code management.”

ARCAD Software is also open in terms of deployment automation.  The company supplies a home-grown solution, DROPS, for Application Release Automation (ARA) across multiple platforms, including IBM i, Windows, UNIX, Linux, AIX, and mainframe z/OS.  DROPS is distributed worldwide through a wholly owned ARCAD subsidiary, DROPS Software.  ARCAD also supplies ARCAD Pack for UrbanCode, packaging ARCAD’s proven IBM i deployment automation plugins for IBM UrbanCode Deploy.  This solution is distributed by IBM worldwide.

Magne reiterates a whole new focus within the ARCAD Software group.  “With modernization and multi-platform development comes a whole new requirement for customers.  We have restructured our company over the last few years to be the first to deliver a multi-platform DevOps solution perfectly tailored for IBM i applications into the future”.

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Contact: Olenka Van Schendel, VP Business Development, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Founded in 1992, ARCAD Software develops and markets a complete, integrated software suite dedicated to automating and ensuring the reliability and traceability of application changes in multi-platform environments. The ARCAD solutions are modular, covering software configuration and release management, data configuration management, test automation, application modernization and user relationship management. Each solution can either be adopted as part of a package or implemented separately. All solutions are integrated via a shared multi-platform metadata repository, allowing progressive adoption of best practices and regulatory constraints (e.g. ITIL, SOX, CMMi). ARCAD’s product offering has been developed over the last 20 years by the same R&D team and provides functional coverage that is unequalled in the international market. ARCAD has over 1000 licenses deployed in 34 different countries, including internationally-known clients such as IBM, HSBC, NASDAQ OMX, ABN AMRO, GE Capital, etc. Visit our site for more information: www.arcadsoftware.com.