Borland helps customers advance software processes, quality assurance agendas

Borland Software Corporation, a global leader for software delivery optimisation solutions, today announced that its Process Optimisation Practice signed several new customers this quarter and continues to gain significant momentum by helping customers align people, process and technology within the software delivery lifecycle.

During this calendar quarter Certegy Check Services, INDUS Corporation, Scientific Games International and over a dozen other companies chose Borland/TeraQuest to help them drive process improvement initiatives within their organisations.

This news comes on the heels of Borland`s January acquisition of TeraQuest (see related Borland announcement from 18 January) and creation of its new Process Optimisation Practice, which adds world-class process consulting services and assets focused on helping customers improve their software processes by leveraging industry standard models like CMMI, PMBOK, PSM and Agile methodologies. Today also marks the beginning of the Software Engineering Process Group`s (SEPG) Conference, where Borland executives will speak on topics such as measurement, governance and enterprise risk management.

"As our customer wins from this quarter show, we`ve hit the ground running and are making great progress integrating TeraQuest`s offerings with Borland`s. This represents a good opportunity for Borland`s existing client base now able to leverage these offerings," said Mike Epner, former president of TeraQuest and vice president of Borland`s Process Optimization Practice. "We`re excited to reconnect with many of our partners and customers at SEPG as part of the Borland team, and look forward to further advancing Borland`s joint technology and services offerings."

"Our use of IT products and services sits at the core of our business, making quality assurance a critical initiative for Certegy," said Mark Andrews, senior vice-president and CIO of the Check Services division of Certegy, a leading provider of credit, debit and merchant card processing, e-banking, check risk management and check cashing services.

"Thanks to our initial work with TeraQuest in 2002, Certegy has enjoyed numerous benefits from our process improvement initiatives including increased productivity, better estimation and improved on-time delivery rates. We decided to reengage with Borland/TeraQuest to optimise our development processes even further as we move to CMM Level 3, and look forward to the gains we expect that will yield."

INDUS Corp (www.induscorp.com), an IT services provider for state and federal agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA), also engaged with Borland`s Process Optimisation Practice following its previous success with TeraQuest. According to INDUS, the processes and procedures TeraQuest helped develop to support CMM have contributed to the company`s high award fee rating by helping manage requirements, track project financial status, and adhere to agreed-upon schedules.

"INDUS customers rely on our software solutions to operate their business and make strategic decisions," said INDUS CEO Shiv Krishnan. "Many federal IT customers expect or require CMM Level 3 software development and maintenance practices. Our assessment at CMM Level 3 has validated our position as a leading IT solutions provider focused on quality, and assures our customers that INDUS will deliver high quality services based on industry best practices."

Scientific Games International, a market leader in the gaming industry, recently engaged with Borland`s Process Optimisation Practice as part of a continuous process improvement initiative. Like many organisations today, Scientific Games has custom development processes that are implemented by large development teams across the organisation.

"Borland is helping us ensure our custom processes are the right ones for our business, helping us mitigate the pain points in our software delivery practices, as well as expedite our measurement and analysis efforts," said Mike Murphy, director of process management for Scientific Games. "We have had a great experience thus far with Borland, and were especially pleased to see the company add a chief process officer to its executive staff. This shows their understanding of just how important process is to software delivery today."

The Software Engineering Process Group (SEPG) Conference, which begins today in Seattle, is the world`s leading annual conference and exhibit showcase for process improvement. The four-day event is geared toward process professionals who champion the systematic improvement of people, process and technology at their organisations. Borland has several speaking engagements at SEPG this year, as follows:

* David Quinn - "Engineering Your Process Improvement Initiative", 7 March at 8.30am.
* Dr Joyce Statz - "Best Practices in Measurement for Process Improvement", 9 March at 11.20am.
* Dr Bill Curtis - "Integrating CMMI with ITIL and COBIT for Improving IT Organisation", 10 March at 8.30am.

Visit the SEI Web site at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sepg/main.htm for the complete agenda.