OpenMake Software Announces Innovative Build Forensics Solution for Determining Binary’s DNA and Fingerprints

Meister Build Services offers maximum protection from failed releases with improved traceability, impact analysis and audit control

SANTA CLARA, CA, SD West–March 19, 2007–OpenMake Software today released OpenMake Meister, an innovative seventh-generation build-to-release management solution and community-developed build-to-release knowledgebase. Through its innovative Build Services and Build Forensics features, Meister links development efforts to production results while reducing script redundancies and build errors. Build Services provides a layer of virtualization from ad-hoc scripting, enabling build best practices and build project management. In addition, Meister extends the OpenMake Mojo build-process automation solution by going beyond simple workflow management and process automation to support software construction in more than 200 languages and environments.

Today’s rapid and often complex development methodologies, such as agile and continuous integration, demand better centralized collaborative management of build elements that can change a great deal from release to release. By relying on a dynamically rendered roadmap that generates complex build-control elements, Meister’s unique method-based Build Services helps protect development teams from failed builds. Meister consolidates build script usage, centralizes critical build metadata and exposes the Build Forensics needed to link production binaries back to their original source.

Since many software objects exist outside of traditional source-code management (SCM) systems, Meister documents its activities without relying upon SCM reporting tools. As it proceeds, Meister assembles Build Forensics that illuminate what’s happening within the build, making the complex process of building software auditable. Like DNA and fingerprint evidence, Build Forensics helps an investigator determine the exact source code used to construct program binaries under the control of Meister's generated build scripts.

According to one respected industry observer, “The build-automation market will reach a $1 billion market in three years.” It is increasingly imperative that enterprises adopt build-to-release best practices and build project management to support agile development and meet IT compliance requirements.

“Meister enhances agile and continuous development methodologies by minimizing redundant scripting tasks and supporting a self-documented build-to-release process that is community developed. Tasks such as code re-factoring become as easy outside of the IDE as inside the IDE,” said Steve Taylor, CTO of OpenMake Software. “Agile developers will find that Meister's Build Methods will enable them to develop builds that are as adaptable and agile as their development processes.”

Meister Technology from OpenMake
Meister technology actively manages software builds, going well beyond executing ad-hoc scripts and process automation. Meister lets an organization build upon and share build best practices throughout the enterprise by refining build definitions and execution processes through extendable Build Methods. Meister eliminates redundant, repetitive manual work by actively adapting, generating and tuning build-control elements and doing deep dependency scanning for thorough component discovery.

Build managers and developers construct and extend Meister Build Methods through an advanced user interface based upon the Eclipse RCP. Meister ships with a large library of immediately usable Build Methods that incorporate 13-plus years of OpenMake’s applied experience in build support for more than 35,000 users at 400 installations. Like other Eclipse based development tools, Meister is extendable and participates in the open Eclipse ecosystem.

Meister builds components by consistently managing parameters, directories, source code and build-object characteristics across all of the dissimilar languages, development tools and target-execution environments that a complex project

embraces. Where others stop at a single language like Java or a single closed-deployment environment, Meister extends the development team’s reach to consistently build and manage new technologies as they appear. This saves time and money as it allows developers to focus on function and component quality instead of the repetitive mechanics of just making software builds succeed.

Price & Availability
Meister will be offered for general availability May 1. It is priced at $875 per named seat and $3,000 per concurrent seat. Education and integration services are available immediately through OpenMake Software Professional Services. More information on Meister is available at http://www.openmakesoftware.com.

About OpenMake Software
OpenMake Software has been the innovator of Build-to-Release Project Management and Best Practices solutions for global 2000 organizations since 1995. By revealing the mysteries of the build to release process, Openmake Software enables IT teams to increase collaboration, adaptability and speed. Through its innovative Build Services and Build Forensics, OpenMake links development efforts to production results, while consolidating error prone redundancies normally found in ad hoc scripts. With more than 35,000 users worldwide and over 400 installations, OpenMake bridges the gap between development efforts and production results. OpenMake Software is a member of the Eclipse Foundation, and CA, Serena Software and MKS are among their OEM and Reseller partners.