IBM Rational – ALM, Defect Tracking, and QA Testing Solutions

World-class IT leader International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) develops and manufactures information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices, and microelectronics worldwide.

IBM’s Global Technology Services segment offers IT infrastructure and business process services, such as strategic outsourcing, business transformation outsourcing, integrated technology, and maintenance.

The company’s Global Business Services segment provides professional services and application outsourcing services, including consulting and systems integration and application management. Its Systems and Technology segment offers computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, semiconductor technology and products, packaging solutions, engineering and technology services, and retail store solutions.

IBM’s software segment primarily offers middleware and operating systems software comprising information management software for database, content management, and information integration; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and social networking; Tivoli software for infrastructure management, including security and storage management; Websphere software for Web-enabled applications; and Rational Software, a process automation tool.

IBM Rational software helps organizations automate, integrate, and govern the core business process of software and systems delivery via the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform. Functionality includes:

• Architecture management: model, design, and rapidly build resilient architectures for SOAs, systems, and applications.
• Change and release management: improve software delivery and lifecycle traceability, from requirements through deployment.
• Integrated requirements management: define and manage requirements, and provide traceability and alignment with business processes.
• Process and portfolio management: align business goals, best practices, and projects for improved productivity and predictability.
• Quality management: ensure software functionality, reliability, and performance throughout development and production.
• Targeted solutions: solve lifecycle management and governance challenges for industries, SOA, systems and more.

IBM serves banking, insurance, education, government, healthcare, life sciences, aerospace and defense, automotive, chemical and petroleum, electronics, distribution, and communication markets. The company was founded in 1910 as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM is based in Armonk, New York.

IBM Key Strengths

• IBM’s business model is based on innovation — the invention and commercialization of technology, combined with deep insight into the performance and processes of business and industries — with the goals of helping its clients transform their enterprises for competitive advantage and providing long-term value to its shareholders.
• IBM ALM solution, IBM Rational, provides a full range of offerings to meet the needs of small and mid-size business. Rational ensures software and system delivery success through practical, reliable, and extensible components.
• Rational provides flexible time saving technologies designed for day-one productivity, high-fidelity results, and costs savings.
• Rational allows users to achieve consistent delivery of assets to meet and exceed business commitments. Whether working as an individual contributor or as a member of team, Rational’s offerings match a customer’s environmental preferences with powerful technologies optimized for competitive success.
• To support a customer’s need for quick investment returns, Rational’s reliable and extensible solutions are designed to bolster productivity and deliver consistent, high-quality results and cost savings from day one.
• Plus, IBM Application Services can supplement an organization’s staff, co-manage applications or even manage its entire set of applications. IBM’s breadth and depth of experience addresses virtually every type of application, from legacy mainframe systems to Web-based and custom applications, plus off-the-shelf packaged solutions from leading vendors such as PeopleSoft, SAP and Siebel Systems.
• In addition, the IBM global testing organization provides access to cutting-edge test centers that offer a full range of software testing solutions and services to help maintain stability, reduce cost, and increase productivity.

IBM Rational TestManager Key Strengths

• Rational TestManager is IBM’s central console product for test activity management, execution and reporting. Built for extensibility, it supports everything from pure manual test approaches to various automated paradigms including unit testing, functional regression testing, and performance testing.
• Rational TestManager is a solution designed to help project teams manage testing – from initial test case planning, to test development, execution of the tests and analysis of the results. Rational TestManager is meant to be accessed by all members of a project team, ensuring the high visibility of test coverage information, defect trends, and application readiness.
• Rational TestManager is freely available to all users of IBM Rational Functional Tester, Rational Manual Tester and IBM Rational Robot. And because of its value to development teams, it is also included in the IBM Rational Team Unifying Platform.
• To improve productivity by consistently leveraging best practices, efficiently communicating information across the team, and analyzing and managing the impact of change as you track product defects and issues, IBM has assembled the Rational Lifecycle Package. This bundle includes IBM Rational ClearQuest, IBM Rational Method Composer and IBM Rational RequisitePro software.

IBM Rational ClearQuest Key Strengths

• IBM Rational ClearQuest offers comprehensive software change management solution. The company’s robust solution suite provides defect and change tracking, process automation, reporting and lifecycle traceability for better visibility and control of the software development lifecycle.
• Disparate systems and processes can create serious coordination problems, making it tough for teams to collaborate on what should be inherently connected processes. Rational ClearQuest software allows you to customize and enforce consistent development processes and achieve an integrated, consolidated view across the project, which facilitates defect tracking and change management across the enterprise.
• What’s more, IBM Rational ClearQuest change management software is designed to help you manage the software lifecycle more effectively. It gives you access to the information you need to make better decisions about issues you’re tracking. It helps you more effectively manage tasks and schedules, and respond rapidly to customer needs. Rational ClearQuest automated workflows can help you control and enforce development processes—from requirements definition through production—and help improve team communication, productivity and quality.
• To help your business improve productivity by consistently leveraging best practices, efficiently communicating information across the team, and analyzing and managing the impact of change as you track product defects and issues, IBM has assembled the Rational Lifecycle Package. This bundle includes IBM Rational ClearQuest, IBM Rational Method Composer and IBM Rational RequisitePro software, and it supports enterprises large and small.