Peterborough, NH, 13 September 2017 – ARCAD Software, leading vendor in DevOps and Enterprise Modernization solutions for IBM i, today announced the inclusion of their DevOps technology within IBM’s product offering, distributed under the name ARCAD Pack for i.

This latest addition to the IBM portfolio follows the recent inclusion of two of ARCAD’s IBM i modernization solutions within the IBM eConfig (AAS) ordering system.

IBM’s ARCAD Pack for i (*) is distributed by IBM through Passport Advantage.  In addition to its modernization features, ARCAD Pack for i extends DevOps and agile methods across the entire software cycle including the phases of build and deploy.  Being highly modular the solution is attractive for both development and operations teams and is compatible with any of the traditional change management tools on IBM i.  ARCAD Pack for i targets IBM i shops seeking to shorten delivery timescales, attract young developer talent and future-proof their investment on the platform.

New with ARCAD Pack for i is the inclusion of ARCAD’s build and continuous deployment functionality for IBM i as plugins to IBM UrbanCode Deploy:

  • Automated and seamless deployment to test or production of IBM i applications
  • Automated build of IBM i applications
  • Automated change management of IBM i configuration data (application settings, critical data, etc.)
  • Automated integration and roll-out of changes in IBM i third-party vendor package software
  • Deployment of high volume data with minimum downtime (“While Active Promoter” or WAP option)

Philippe Magne, ARCAD Software CEO, outlined the strategy behind this new integration:  “The strength of the ARCAD technology lies in our open architecture and our multi-platform approach.  This means that we can easily encapsulate our technology as plugins to any industry standard tool on the market.  IBM have adopted our unique analysis, build, deploy and rollback features for IBM i to allow customers to modernize and manage their IBM i applications using the same tools as for other platforms.  This is the same multi-platform strategy that we have taken in our own product range.  We are excited to bring our 25 years of experience of IBM i needs to UrbanCode Deploy”.

Another significant inclusion in ARCAD Pack for i is ARCAD’s Data Configuration Management module.  Giving the same level of security and traceability over critical data as for software artifacts, this feature is particularly relevant in sectors where applications are highly parameter driven, such as banking and insurance.  The greater control over parameter data and their automated transfer to production minimizes the risk of application downtime.

ARCAD Pack for i also adds support for customers of 3rd party vendor packages with little or no in-house development.  The pack automates the impact analysis of a new release on local code and pinpoints potential conflicts down to the source line or field level.

In line with the same compatibility strategy, ARCAD Software are actively driving the adoption of the open source Git tool on IBM i, and have recently initiated a partnership with GitHub to widen the IBM i developer community and encourage the use of industry standard tooling on the platform.

(*) The ARCAD Pack for i name replaces the previous product name ARCAD Pack for Rational.

About ARCAD Software

ARCAD Software group is leading international vendor of DevOps and Modernization solutions, supporting multiple platforms including IBM i, UNIX, Linux, Windows and z/OS.  Since 1992, ARCAD has built on its specialist IBM i expertise to develop an integrated and multi-platform solution range for Application Lifecycle Management, Enterprise Modernization, Release Management, DevOps, Test Automation and Data Masking.  The company operates through headquarters in Europe and subsidiaries in US and Asia, and ARCAD technology is distributed by IBM worldwide.  ARCAD solutions integrate with Rational Developer for i (RDi), Rational Team Concert (RTC), GitHub, JIRA, and also open source tools Git, SVN, and Jenkins.

IBM United States Software Announcement 217-378

Contact: Olenka Van Schendel, VP Strategic Marketing & Business Development – ovanschendel@arcadsoftware.com