Hewlett-Packard launched its latest software suite, ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) 11, which automates application modernization-from requirements management through quality and performance.
BARCELONA, Spain-Hewlett-Packard is making a
serious, concentrated push into the software business-perhaps its most serious
to date-by capitalizing on its strengths while reaching out to all players in
the software development life cycle. At its HP Universe conference here, the
systems, software and services company launched its latest software suite, ALM
(Application Lifecycle Management) 11, which represents more than two years of
R&D, according to Bill Veghte, executive vice president of HP's Software
and Solutions organization.
"The need for innovation and agility is key for applications
today, and we think the releases we are doing-from Quality Center to ALM 11-are the right way,"
Veghte told eWEEK. "Our new ALM solution is platform- and IDE [integrated development
environment]-agnostic."
Veghte, who spent nearly 20 years at Microsoft as a top
executive in the Windows organization, said ALM 11 delivers an architecture designed
to accelerate the reliable, secure delivery of applications and services. The
platform automates application modernization- from requirements management
through quality and performance, he added.
"The competition in the ALM space has started to heat up
over the last year," said Dave West, an analyst with Forrester Research. "This
HP release is essentially an announcement around the Mercury tools that came
into HP through an acquisition four years ago."
HP acquired Mercury Software in 2006 for $4.5 billion in a
deal designed to bring together the strength of HP's OpenView systems, network
and IT service management software with Mercury's strength in application
management, application delivery, IT governance and service-oriented
architecture governance. Another goal at that time was to increase HP's
software business to more than $2 billion in annual revenue.
But HP has far exceeded both goals. Under Veghte, HP's
Software and Solutions unit is a $3.6 billion business, and the new ALM 11
solution is evidence of HP's maturity in the software field.
"As organizations begin to depend more on software, the
ability to create and deliver it effectively is a key differentiator," said
Forrester's West.
West cited a recent Forrester study commissioned
by HP that showed that 69 percent of IT decision-makers have earmarked 25
percent of their annual IT budget for application modernization, while 30
percent said they will dedicate more than 50 percent.
"Historically,
people haven't done a great job with ALM; it used to be these huge offerings," he
said.
However, West
added, "Most organizations have aspired to an ALM discipline but haven't been
able to implement it because of the need to support lots of different teams and
development processes on complex projects.
"One interesting thing about this announcement
from HP is the broadness of the offering. It's not just SDLC [software
development life cycle], but it includes operations and management and other
disciplines."
Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.
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