Rational to Aid IA-64 Developers
Rational Software Corp. had some good news last month, not the least of which was that it succeeded analysts' expectations for third quarter earnings by three cents per share. The company also announced that it signed an agreement with Intel Corp. (
www.intel.com) to expand support of Rational's (
www.rational.com) development products for Intel's anticipated IA-64 architecture.
Rational's income results stem from Internet-driven business momentum, explains Paul Levy, chairman of Rational Software. "[Eighty] percent of our usefulness today relates to the Internet," Levy explains. "Many customers in this market area are focused on developing B-to-B Internet applications."
Intel and Rational are collaborating to port Rational's point products -- all editions of Rational Suite, and Rational ClearCase -- to the Intel IA-64 architecture for Linux64, Monterey64, and Windows 2000.
As a result of the partnership, Rational hopes to help Internet software developers quickly and more reliably build next-generation applications that take advantage of Intel's 64-bit chips. Part of that evolution is the Linux operating system, Levy says.
Rational currently has products that support the development of software for Linux, including its software configuration management tool Rational ClearCase 4.0 and its UML modeling tool Rational Rose Real-Time. Through the agreement with Intel, Rational will expand Linux support to the IA-64 platform.
"Rational will be positioned to lead the market as customers begin developing software for the Internet, harnessing the IA-64 processing line and Linux," Levy explains. "It's a chance to leverage and reuse the investments we've already made. The market has moved right ahead of where we were heading."
Levy also announced that he was named CEO of Catapulse (www.catapulse.com), a business-to-business Internet spin-off of Rational Software. Levy says he will continue his duties as Rational's chairman.