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Case Consult unveils `Evolution Enabling'

Vinson Kurian

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 6

CASE Consult India, an export-oriented subsidiary of Case Consult GmbH, the German software engineering major, has chalked out what it calls an `Evolution Enabling' strategy, through which it promises to ``help clients extend the lifecycle of their exist ing software applications in the modern technology environment''.

The strategy permits existing systems to get integrated with new systems for future applications, since the alternative -- a complete re-development from scratch -- often creates an unaffordable and high risk venture for most companies, according to Mr A jit Nambissan, Managing Director, Case Consult India.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Nambissan said that the strategy had thrown up beneficial spin-offs inasmuch as it precipitated the development of a line-up of products.

These include Q/Auditor, Q/Artisan and Test Coverage Analyser, which combine to ensure dynamic quality assurance in software development and maintenance.

These products have since debuted in both the German and US markets to encouraging response.

A company with German-centred market focus from its inception, it is now looking at consolidating its presence in the US, the tech slowdown notwithstanding.

The opening up of banking and insurance has encouraged it to have a go in the slowly maturing domestic market as well, Mr Nambissan said.

Q/Auditor helps the quality department feed in coding standards which evaluate the programs to check if they follow the specified standards.

The tool will report if the overall quality of the program has either benefited from or suffered due to the incorporation of new fixes or patches over a period of time, which may also have rendered the program unwieldy.

Q/Auditor will also give vital inputs to the quality manager to decide on whether he should retain or eschew some of these patches, as the case may be.

Q/Artisan is a transformation and conversion tool which incorporates the changes that are necessitated after a run of Q/Auditor.

According to Mr Nambissan, it helps the manager to successfully take care of the `bloated egos' of original program writers, who may not be able to digest the prospect of their work being improved upon at the hands of a second programmer.

Test Coverage Analyser seeks to measures the test coverage of Java applications and provides dynamic quality assurance in software development and program maintenance.

Systematic testing of Java classes increases the quality of applications.

This tool ensures that the program is tested for all future eventualities. Often, the testing process is not very organised and lots of diverse bugs are found even after the testing is done with.

This program helps avoid many of the problems which normally occur during production launches of new or altered Java applications. It is also available in the COBOL, PL/I and C platforms.

``If it has been enough for companies to know how often and by whom programs should be tested, it is becoming increasingly vital to know exactly as to which parts of an application or program have been tested and with what test data,'' Mr Nambissan said.

``Tools that provide data on quality of test coverage within a program, such as Analyser, offer a solution in this respect.''

Among main service packages on offer are ReMain, a remote software maintenance system, and Repository Services, which provides tools and services for generation of meta information on customer-specific application systems.

Case Consult India was looking at partnerships with major domestic software companies who catered to the banking and insurance sectors, Mr Nambissan said.

It intends to go in for a public issue after the German parent manages to list itself on either a German or a US bourse, which is scheduled for sometime next year.