Build Forge

IBM Rational Build Forge provides a flexible build and release management framework that turns disconnected tools and scripts into a cohesive, integrated, production build and release process. As a result, teams are able to collaborate more effectively, create highly scalable build operations, and manage compliance requirements. IBM Rational Build Forge centralizes, automates, and documents the entire build and release process - eliminating manual tasks and human handoffs that lead to build errors, schedule slips, and divisive finger pointing. It integrates with version control, test, and defect tracking systems to provide complete documentation and traceability to answer critical questions such as "what changed from the previous version", "who made changes and why", and, "what defects were resolved" for each release.

PRODUCT FEATURES


Build management that leverages existing development tools and processes
IBM Rational Build Forge provides a management layer on top of your existing build scripts, batch files, and other processes - no new proprietary scripting languages to learn and no throw-away work! As a result, you're up and running in a matter of days. The Build Forge automation framework works with virtually all languages, compilers, scripting languages and build tools so you can automate and standardize hundreds of projects without impacting the way your developers work today. This level of flexibility is critical when supporting multiple projects and development teams with diverse needs.

Supports complex, multi-platform environments and integrates with popular SCM, testing, and development tools
IBM Rational Build Forge provides a single location to setup and execute software builds and releases, regardless of whether they run on UNIX, Windows, .NET, Macintosh, or Linux platforms. The product gives you a real-time status for all of your projects from a web interface that you can access from anywhere. IBM Rational Build Forge integrates seamlessly with other SCM, test automation, and deployment offerings from IBM Rational, Perforce, Computer Associates, Microsoft, Borland, MKS, Serena, Telelogic, Mercury, open source products and others to create a fully automated software delivery chain.

Concurrent processing and server pooling accelerates build cycles
IBM Rational Build Forge provides the first script and language independent build accelerator that speeds build times while leveraging your existing processes. Build Forge allows teams to break down complex build, test, and deployment processes into individual steps with a few mouse clicks, and runs them concurrently for faster processing. Threading is automatically managed by the system, even for builds that run across multiple platforms. Server pooling enables build systems to be utilized efficiently and provides fault tolerance so that builds can be redirected to another available server in the event of a system failure.

End-to-end traceability for fast reproducibility and compliance management
IBM Rational Build Forge captures detailed build information including software components, configurations, resources used, and user activities to create a comprehensive picture of the release. Using customizable permissions settings, teams can establish IT controls to enforce standardized practices and track changes for each release. The system then generates a comprehensive bill-of-materials that allows development and IT organizations to accurately document and reproduce a product release in response to auditor requirements or to quickly diagnose an error that has occurred in production.

Empowering developers for higher productivity and quality
IBM Rational Build Forge provides plug-ins that allow developers to conduct pre-flight builds that follow production CM processes from within their IDE. Administrators can grant developers controlled access to validate changes in the production environment in advance of a group build, allowing problems to be detected and resolved before they disrupt the group and to take routine tasks off of CM's plate. IBM Rational Build Forge monitors and logs build progress step-by-step. When Build Forge identifies a problem, its proactive e-mail capability notifies the responsible developer and links him or her directly to the area of the log where the error occurred. Custom filters can also be established to determine success or failure for the process. As a result, quality measures are established early in the software lifecycle while improving productivity of the entire team.

Increase build and release engineer productivity
IBM Rational Build Forge integrates complex build, test, and deployment activities into a reliable, automated, and repeatable process. Tasks that traditionally required a full day of build or release engineer time become an unattended process. Through the centralized management console, build and release processes can be standardized and shared across multiple projects enabling teams to leverage existing work and share workload across different teams and projects. Customers have reported dramatic increases in staff productivity by automating repetitive tasks so they can focus on process improvements and other mission critical tasks.

Supports multi-site development and offshore team collaboration
IBM Rational Build Forge's web-based management console gives development teams the ability to monitor and execute build and release projects anytime from anywhere. The system allows teams to share common processes and server resources, even if they are across the globe, and get real-time feedback on the results of their work. The common management layer streamlines communication and allows teams to make effective handoffs at the end of each day for follow-the-sun development.

Complete release documentation and traceability for compliance management
Compliance management has become a fact of life for development teams and it is placing greater demands on their systems and processes. Effective compliance requires that development tasks are consistent, documented, and fully reproducible. It also mandates IT controls that limit access and institute segregation of duties for key development tasks. By integrating with version control, testing, and defect tracking systems, IBM Rational Build Forge provides a comprehensive record for a release that prevents teams from having to go to multiple silo'd databases to assemble data on each development phase. The system then generates audit reports that provide compliance evidence on-demand. As a result, IBM Rational Build Forge enables development teams manage compliance and helps achieve new levels of productivity and competitive advantage.

Increase developer productivity and quality without changing the way they work
IBM Rational Build Forge provides a non-invasive management layer over existing build tools and processes that provides reliability and repeatability without changing the way developers work today. Developers can conduct pre-flight builds "on demand" to validate their changes in the production environment, and receive immediate notification of errors for faster problem detection and resolution. This capability helps teams execute iterative development cycles and work more efficiently to help meet demanding project schedules.

Increase release frequency for higher competitiveness and customer satisfaction
IBM Rational Build Forge's threading and server pooling capabilities allow non-dependent build and release tasks to run concurrently, and enables work to be distributed across a group of available servers for optimized processing. Customers achieve faster build times while making efficient use of their hardware resources. Faster iterations allow customers to increase their release frequency for higher competitiveness and customer satisfaction.