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IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform

Software Delivery Platform development principles


Rational software - Software and system development

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From a technical management perspective, the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform embodies four key principles that promote the creation of consistently high-quality software.

Develop iteratively   Focus on architecture
Continuously ensure quality   Manage change and assets



Develop iteratively

At the core of the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform is the IBM Rational Unified Process, or RUP. It enables companies to establish an iterative business process for software and systems delivery that is based on harvested best practices. Each iteration includes a mix of analysis, design, construction and testing. And each iteration results in a demonstrable, incrementally improved version of the software that teams can validate and refine.

All team members have a common understanding of both the software and the process and tools they are using to create it. Using an iterative approach helps to reduce the risk of project failure and promotes consistency, predictability, productivity, and efficiency across the organization.


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Focus on architecture

Both RUP and its complementary product solutions in the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform promote a model-driven architecture (MDA) approach for solution-building. This entails designing and testing to ensure a sound architecture before you begin serious code generation. A properly designed architecture ensures that an application will meet business needs, perform acceptably, and be adaptable over time. IBM Rational solutions encourage the adoption of service-oriented architectures that allow teams to selectively combine and expose functionality without compromising overall system integrity. For more information about this approach, see:


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Continuously ensure quality

Too often, software development organizations do not test for software quality until late in the project lifecycle. The IBM Rational approach to software quality spans development, testing, and operations teams to forge a united, quality-aware organization. In such an environment, all teams work toward consistently delivering high-quality code that results in greater application availability and reliabiity, and lower cycle times. To read more about this approach, see:

  • Quality governance for software organizations Describes how the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform helps companies create a quality governance framework to achieve organizational transformation and support technological advances.
  • The Business Value of Software Quality (PDF, 224KB)
    Explores quality practices and technologies that can help organizations achieve business differentiation.
  • Testing - The RUP Philosophy (PDF, 116KB)
    Describes a cross-discipline approach to testing.
  • Achieving Quality by Design
    Examines how to employ Unified Modeling Language to achieve Quality by Design.

Part I: Best Practices and Industry Challenges (228KB)

Part II: Using UML (192KB)


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Manage change and assets

IBM Rational solutions help organizations implement a managed approach to change that provides traceability and visibility to team members throughout the enterprise while guarding against corruption of assets. With their outstanding support for team collaboration and parallel development, these solutions enable virtual and distributed teams to operate efficiently and productively, despite differences in time and location. To learn more about these solutions, see:


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