IBM goes on 24-hour-a-day cycle to speed Java application development

Highly skilled software developers in China, Belarus, India and Latvia in virtual team to create JavaBeans

Stuttgart, Germany -- February 18, 1997 -- It's 7 p.m. in Beijing. At China's renowned Tsinghua University, a team of highly skilled programmers is putting the finishing touches on software written in Java**, the hot Internet programming technology. They will end the day by sending their work electronically to an IBM programming facility in the U.S. for further development during the US working day. This scenario will soon be repeated daily in Belarus, India, and Latvia, where some of the the world's top programmers are involved in an IBM initiative to develop Java components, literally around the clock.

IBM will spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few years to incorporate Java technology into its enterprise products. The goal is to help customers more effectively harness the power of the Internet and network computing to conduct electronic business. Twenty-four-hour- a-day virtual development teams tap the resources of top high-tech organizations in emerging markets to speed the development of JavaBeans** for IBM's award-winning VisualAge* application development environment.

"Java holds the promise of applications that can be written once and run in any operating environment," said Steve Mills, general manager, IBM Software Solutions Division. "A seamless, networked computing environment where even mission-critical applications can be moved around the organization helps customers do business on the Web by increasing speed and efficiency."

Around-the-Clock Development

IBM is pioneering the innovative 24-hour-a-day development cycle of Java components through joint ventures with Tsinghua University in China, Belarus' Institute of Computer Science, India's Tata Group, and an alliance with Latvia's Software House Group. Each team will work on various JavaBeans, the building blocks of Internet applications, ranging from human resource management and multimedia training to market research and skills management applets.

The teams will collaborate with an IBM development team in Seattle, Washington, via the Internet, using Lotus Domino**, the industry-leading internet collaboration server. In addition to complementary development, the Seattle workgroup will do quality assurance and usability testing, and ensure a consistent look and feel among the various JavaBeans. IBM's advanced TeamConnection* software will manage the development cycles, providing such services as configuration management, version control and problem tracking.

The initiative will result in VisualAge PartPaks, which will be made available later this year. These JavaBeans can be used to develop applications for corporate intranets and the worldwide Internet, and will boost business productivity by addressing functions such as people and skills management. For example, with such an application human resources departments will be able to quickly and easily manage compensation and benefits, forecast personnel demands or assess the gap between current and required skill levels.

For more information about VisualAge PartPaks, visit the World Wide Web at http://www.software.ibm.com/ad/vajavabeans/.

Additional Information

IBM, the world's largest software provider, creates, develops and manufactures the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. IBM offers complete information about the company, its products, services and technologies through the World Wide Web. The fastest, easiest way to get information about IBM Software is to go to the IBM Software home page at http://www.software.ibm.com/.

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* Indicates trademark or registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. ** Indicates trademark or registered trademark of respective companies.