Ovum's Rotibi said IBM Rational might leverage components of the WebSphere Asset Analyzer to add relevant functions to the IBM Software Development Platform but admitted that executives "haven't filled the strategy out with very much substance yet."
Still, she said asset management should go a long way in helping make software development more efficient. "The problem is not necessarily in what is development but in understanding what you already have," Rotibi said. "One of the key things is understanding your assets, dependencies and associations with each other. You can't go forward unless you understand where you're coming from."
In other news at the conference Monday, IBM introduced a new toolset for IBM Workplace, an IBM Lotus group-driven initiative to build a secure, rich client interface that allows for the componentization and reuse of legacy applications.
Workplace is widely seen as IBM's answer to Longhorn, the next version of Microsoft Windows. In the Workplace tools suite, IBM unveiled WebSphere Studio Device Developer 5.7, which helps developers extend applications from the desktop onto a range of devices, including laptops, mobile clients and the like, said Gary Cohen, IBM's general manager of pervasive computing.
Also in the package of new tools is Workplace Builder, which is designed for line-of-business users with limited application development experience, he said. Workplace Builder assembles reusable IT components into applications for the Workplace platform.
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