CA supports Microsoft .Net Compact Framework with change management, directory, integration solutions

Computer Associates (CA) today announced broad support for the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework and Microsoft Visual Studio .Net smart device programming features across its Advantage, AllFusion, CleverPath, and eTrust product lines.

This extensive support empowers developers using Web services for mobile and small-footprint devices with integrated change management, directory/security management, legacy database access and business intelligence solutions.

These capabilities are all essential for the successful development, implementation and lifecycle management of Web services in heterogeneous enterprise environments. By providing a complete, integrated portfolio of supporting management and deployment solutions, CA is significantly easing assimilation of the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework by corporate IT departments and helping to ensure both the near- and long-term success of those deployments.

CA`s AllFusion Change Management Suite now supports Microsoft Visual Studio .Net smart device programming features, allowing development teams to effectively track and administer even the largest and most complex code libraries. This is particularly critical for early adopters, since emerging business and technology requirements are likely to drive substantial changes in their applications over time. AllFusion Change Management Suite also provides the unique advantage of allowing source code for mobile and small-footprint devices developed with Microsoft Visual Studio .Net to be managed in the same way as code for other legacy and distributed platforms - including mainframe, Unix and Linux.

CA`s eTrust Directory is being enhanced to provide a secure enterprise UDDI registry that integrates directly with Microsoft Visual Studio .Net to speed the integration of Web services hosted on any platform into new applications built using Microsoft Visual Studio .Net. This registry gives developers a secure, scalable vehicle for managing definitions of new business systems. As the industry`s most scalable LDAP and X.500 directory, eTrust Directory is uniquely capable of managing these new business systems and other applications across the enterprise in an integrated manner with optimum performance.

CA`s Advantage EDBC provides data integration for IMS, DB2 and VSAM. CA`s own databases - Advantage Ingres, Advantage Datacom and Advantage IDMS - will also provide data access for mobile and small-footprint devices applications built using the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework. This real-time data access is essential for XML-based Web services applications.

CA`s CleverPath Aion Business Rules Expert and CleverPath Predictive Analysis Server will also integrate with the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework by delivering XML Web service interfaces that allow unprecedented business intelligence and personalized information tools to be delivered to mobile and small-footprint devices.

As these devices with the .Net Compact Framework are deployed, CA`s Unicenter will optimise reliability, availability and performance of the extended enterprise.

"Large organisations that want to develop and deploy applications for mobile and small-footprint devices that leverage Web services must make sure that these new systems are well-managed, secure, and effectively integrated into their existing information architectures," said David Rasmussen, lead product manager for .Net mobile developer technologies in the Developer Platform and Evangelism Division at Microsoft Corp.

"CA`s broad portfolio of supporting solutions for the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework and Visual Studio .Net will help corporate developers effectively address these concerns, speeding deployments and ensuring maximum ROI on new mobile device initiatives."

CA`s support of the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework and Visual Studio .Net extends its market leadership in the Web services market space and underscores its commitment to Microsoft .Net as a whole.

"The Microsoft .Net Compact Framework and Visual Studio .Net are going to enable our customers around the world to exploit the potential synergies between two of the most value-intensive technologies on the scene today: XML Web services and mobile/pervasive computing," said Don LeClair, vice-president, Office of the CTO at CA. "That`s why we are supporting these technologies with the comprehensive management and integration tools corporate developers need to ensure the success of their Microsoft .Net initiatives."