TD/OMS

IBM i shops often keep source code in systems that mainstream version control does not reach well, yet they still need to know what changed, who approved it and where it went. TD/OMS, from Remain Software, is a change management product built for that setting. It is an application lifecycle management solution. It works on the IBM i (Power) platform, on Windows and on Unix or Linux, and it covers software changes, development, deployment and modernisation projects.

Tracking and controlling changes

The product lets development teams work together and share information at each stage of the path, from development through test and acceptance to deployment. All versions are archived, so a team can compare and merge sources, find every change to a program and trace the history of an object, including its transfers. When an error turns up in code, changes can be rolled back. Graphical impact analysis and a cross-reference search, called Xref, show dependencies across platforms so that none is missed.

Approval and audit

A feature named Ratification supports peer review, user approval or management approval before a change moves forward. Every component change is recorded in the product's database, which the company says produces audit reports and inquiries that meet SOX requirements. The vendor also lists support for regulatory compliance as a benefit.

Deployment and third-party sources

Deployment can be automated or manual, on IBM i and across other platforms. A feature called Fusion helps teams synchronise third-party sources managed outside their own team. The software integrates with fourth-generation development tools such as Lansa and CA 2E and Plex, and with common tools including Jenkins, Git, GitLab, GitHub and Bitbucket on the code side, plus Jira and ServiceNow for tickets. It supports universal language handling, including double-byte character sets.

Who it is for

Remain describes the product as scalable from small and medium businesses to large enterprises, quick to learn and fast to implement, and it points to fewer bugs, higher quality software and faster time to market as the outcome.