Project-definer makes it simpler to identify needs

Compuware releases version 4.1 of its Optimal Trace requirements-capture and project-definition tool for software developers

Software giant Compuware will today release version 4.1 of its Optimal Trace requirements-capture and project-definition tool for software developers.

Many software development projects fail because they do not properly translate business needs into software, according to Compuware. Optimal Trace is designed to solve this problem by capturing the requirements from a user’s perspective.

New features in this release include improved connectivity options for remote staff that enable them to work offline and then synchronise their work when they reconnect to the internet. The new suite also supports remote workers using virtual private network (VPN) connections and intermittent wireless links.

Improved management tools enable security privileges to be assigned to users from remote locations. Other enhancements in this release make the product licensing mechanism more flexible, enabling several configurations to be managed from a central location. Compuware acquired the Optimal Trace tools when it purchased SteelTrace for $20m earlier this year.

The new release comes at a time of major changes in software development. The increased use of service-oriented architectures (SOAs), enterprise service buses and middleware appliances were three of the latest trends highlighted by Roy Schulte, vice-president of analyst company Gartner during his keynote speech at the Gartner Application Integration and Web Services Summit in San Diego in the US last week.

Schulte said, “New forms of middleware, especially enterprise service buses and application platform suites are coming into wider use to support the needs of SOA and electronic design automation [EDA] applications.”

Schulte also highlighted the trend to develop software that responds to external events. He said so-called event processing improves insight into business operations and enables more responsive IT systems, and makes software more flexible by uncoupling relationships among modules.