Telelogic Keeps Software Development on Target with Tau 3.0
Product Coverage

What SAP is to business processes, Telelogic Tau 3.0 is to software development. As SAP optimizes business operations through rules that enforce best business practices, Telelogic Tau optimizes software development and keeps it on track with business objectives.

Traditionally software developers have worked in isolation, with a lot of the code in their heads and little or no documentation, according to Scott McKorkle, Telelogic’s director of product marketing. The developers have no idea if the code will operate properly—or if it will accomplish the business objectives it was tasked to accomplish—until the end of the process, when components from different teams are pieced together and run for the first time, he says.

Tau 3.0, the capstone of two versions released earlier this year, aims to change all that with a structure to keep software development on target with business objectives and a simulation modeling capability that enables developers to test each stage iteratively so they know that it actually works as the work is progressing. In addition, the software process is self-documenting and maintains its own audit trail, with the original specifications right in the source code, McKorkle says.

“Tau gives you the ability to put together a working software model that can execute,” McKorkle explains. “You can push a button and it will run all the way through, and you can track the progress and make sure it does what it’s supposed to do.”

In addition, Tau can be used as a standalone tool or with Eclipse or Microsoft’s .NET, McKorkle says. And it is useful in any phase of a project, especially with SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), to provide a snapshot of current services and pinpoint what additional services or components are needed, he adds.

Differentiators from previous versions and from its competitors include the simulation modeling that tests the software against 1,000 rules in real time. Other improvements include more support for SOA, Java and C++ programming, notes McKorkle.

“The world doesn’t know much about model-driven development, but I think it’s going to be big in the next couple of years,” he predicts.

Telelogic Tau’s competitors include Borland and RSA. Its customers include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Nokia, Ericsson, General Electric and General Motors.

The cost is $1,495 for a single-seat license. One-year subscription rentals are also available.

Dec2006, Software Magazine