In order to create the new streamlined process, called the Eclipse Process Framework, IBM is contributing a subset of the company's Rational Unified Process (RUP) product, according to Per Kroll, a manager with IBM Rational Software. RUP is a customizable framework used to manage large software development projects, and Kroll estimates that IBM is contributing about 15 percent of the product to Eclipse.
Fifteen other companies have signed on to contribute code and processes to the proposed framework, including Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Covansys, Number Six Software, Armstrong Process Group, Object Mentor, and Bedarra Research Labs.
Kroll said that providing a more predictable methodology for software development projects will help developers build more reliable applications with more efficiency and less cost.
According to IBM, nearly half of internally developed software projects cost more than expected, 90 percent are completed after their original deadline, and 30 percent end up cancelled. Moreover, 15 percent to 20 percent of all software bugs reach customers, costing the U.S. economy an estimated 0 billion a year, according to the Standish Group.
