CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
30 March 2005
Product News
MatrixOne Announces Integration with IBM Rational ClearCase
MatrixOne, Inc. announced that it has developed an integration for the MatrixOne PLM platform with IBM Rational® ClearCase®, a leading software application development tool. This integration will promote a harmonious collaboration environment among software, hardware and electronic design-which is becoming a critical factor in today's product development environment for many industries, as software now constitutes much of the value delivered to the customer. With increased reliance on the software within a product, the potential for failure due to a glitch or development error grows as well. Unless the mechanical, electrical and software designs of a product work together as one unified system, the product is at risk from the start.
"Today's product companies need a coordinated system where software engineering is in sync with all of the other design efforts across the company, wherever those efforts may be taking place," said Sam Zawaideh, senior vice president of products for MatrixOne. "In addition, any coordinated effort must take into consideration the desire and need of a company's different engineers to continue to work with the tools and methods they know best and have been successful with. By offering an integration for the MatrixOne platform with IBM Rational ClearCase, these companies can now ensure that all of their design and engineering efforts are on the same page."
MatrixOne's IBM Rational ClearCase integration reduces the risk of missed product launches and costly re-work by including software engineering within the broader multi-discipline product development process. This integration allows companies to securely distribute IBM Rational ClearCase software builds and documentation throughout the supply chain with the MatrixOne PLM platform, and makes it easier for non-software engineering employees involved with a product to review and work with the file-as they do not need to learn how to use the more complex IBM Rational ClearCase tool. In addition, this integration will allow companies to better define their product needs, requirements and features with software design documentation, and helps companies validate the fulfillment of needed product features with use case and test case documentation.
Features and Capabilities:
• Search for IBM Rational ClearCase Files-Users of the MatrixOne PLM platform are able to search for IBM Rational ClearCase files directly from the MatrixOne PLM platform's user interface. The search can be within a specific IBM Rational ClearCase view that can be navigated to specific folders, and results can be easily filtered with name matching.
• Associate IBM Rational ClearCase Files as MatrixOne Product Planning and Design Documentation-During the product planning and design processes, users must create specifications and reference documents in order to define product requirements, features, use cases, test cases, and parts. If the product has software content, it is quite likely that this documentation originated in IBM Rational ClearCase. If so, the MatrixOne IBM Rational ClearCase integration associates an IBM Rational ClearCase file to the relevant MatrixOne business object so it can be used in the broader PLM business process. The mapping process supports the complex file version branching of IBM Rational ClearCase and business object revision chains of MatrixOne.
• Synchronize the MatrixOne Platform with the Latest IBM Rational ClearCase File Versions-Over time, newer IBM Rational ClearCase file versions will be created after the file is first mapped to a MatrixOne business object. The integration allows a user to easily see if newer versions exist, and then selectively update the MatrixOne business object with only the newer versions.
• Associate IBM Rational ClearCase Builds for MatrixOne Prototypes or Embedded Software Parts-As part of a product's development, software prototypes must be made available for testing, and the final bill-of-material released to manufacturing must include the embedded software. The MatrixOne IBM Rational ClearCase integration allows users to search for all IBM Rational ClearCase files that match a given label baseline. Select files from this baseline can then be associated with the MatrixOne build business objects.
• Distribute and Track IBM Rational ClearCase Files Beyond Software Engineering-Once an IBM Rational ClearCase file has been associated with a MatrixOne business object, it becomes much easier to distribute that file to people outside the software engineering function. The MatrixOne PLM platform provides an intuitive user interface via a Web browser, eliminating the need to learn the more complex way to access software files through IBM Rational ClearCase. In addition, the MatrixOne system easily scales to tens of thousands of users across the wide-area network both inside and outside the firewall.
• Cross-Functionally Review and Collaborate on the IBM Rational ClearCase Files-All IBM Rational ClearCase files that have been mapped to MatrixOne business objects can take advantage of the robust collaboration services available in the MatrixOne PLM platform. Examples of these services include cross-functional approval routes (or workflows), discussion threads, issue identification and resolution, and "where-used" navigation to easily determine how the IBM Rational ClearCase file is being referenced outside of software engineering.
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