THE RATIONAL UNIFIED PROCESS AS AS A PRODUCT

Many organizations have slowly become aware of the importance of a well-defined and well-documented software development process to the success of their software projects. Over the years , they have collected their knowledge and shared it with their developers. This collective know-how often grows out of methods , published textbooks , training programs, and small how-to notes amassed over several projects. Unfortunately, these practices often end up gathering dust in nice binders on a developer's shelf ”rarely updated, rapidly becoming obsolete, and almost never followed.

"Software processes are software, too," wrote Lee Osterweil. ^[1] In contrast with the dusty -binder approach, the Rational Unified Process is designed, developed, delivered, and maintained like any software tool. The Rational Unified Process shares many characteristics with software products:

^[1] Lee Osterweil, "Software Processes Are Software Too," Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 2 “13, Mar. 30 “Apr. 2, 1987, Monterey, CA.

Rational Software releases regular upgrades.
It is delivered online using Web technology, so it is literally at the fingertips of the developers.
It can be tailored and configured to suit the specific needs of a development organization.
It is integrated with many of the software development tools in the Rational suite so that developers can access process guidance within the tool they are using.

This approach of treating the process as a software product provides the following benefits:

The process is never obsolete; companies get new releases at regular intervals, with improvements and up-to-date techniques.
All project members can access the latest version of the process on an intranet.
Java applets, such as a process browser and a built-in search engine, allow developers to reach instantaneously process guidance or policies, including the latest document templates they should use.
Hyperlinks provide navigation from one part of the process to another, eventually branching out to a software development tool or to an external reference or guideline document.
Local, project or company-specific process improvements or special procedures are included easily.
Each project or department can manage its own version or variant of the process.

This online Rational Unified Process product gives you benefits that are difficult to achieve with a process that is available only in the form of a book or binder.

Organization of the Process Product

The product consists of the following:

An online version of the Rational Unified Process, delivered on a CD-ROM or over the Internet, which is the electronic coach, or e-coach, for the RUP: a fully hyperlinked Web site description of the process in HTML
An introduction book, which you are currently reading.

The e-coach may be used with any of the popular Web browsers, such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer . Information is easy to find, thanks to

Extensive hyperlinking
Graphical navigation (Most graphical elements are hyperlinked to the process elements they depict.)
A hierarchical tree browser
An exhaustive index
A built-in search engine
An exhaustive site map

You can locate these facilities as shown in Figure 2-1, which is a snapshot of an e-coach page.

Figure 02fig01. The Rational Unified Process online

In this process e-coach, you will find not only a complete description of the process itself, but also the following:

Tool mentors, which provide additional guidance when you're working with any of the software development tools offered by Rational Software, such as Rational Rose for visual modeling and ClearCase for configuration management
Templates for all major process artifacts, for example:
- Microsoft Word templates and Adobe FrameMaker templates for most plain documents and reports
- Rational SoDA templates, to automate the assembly of documents from multiple sources
- RequisitePro templates to help manage requirements
- Microsoft Project templates, to help plan an iterative project based on the RUP
- HTML templates for extending the online process itself
Examples of artifacts for a simple project

Starting with the RUP 2000 release, the e-coach contains multiple variants of the Unified Process. The e-coach contains the generic, standard RUP, which can serve as a starting point for a wide range of software development, but also contains preconfigured variants for certain classes of software development, with additional or more specialized guidance. The RUP for e-business is one of these variants. This introduction book, however, describes the aspects of the Unified process that are common to all variants and does not go into the details of any variant.

Who Is Using the Rational Unified Process?

More than a thousand companies were using the Rational Unified Process at the end of 1999. They were using it in various domains of applications, and for large and small projects. This shows the versatility and wide applicability of the Rational Unified Process. Here are some examples from various sectors of the industry, and from around the world:

Telecommunications: Ericsson, Alcatel, MCI
Transportation, aerospace, defense: Lockheed-Martin, British Aerospace
Manufacturing: Xerox, Volvo, Intel
Finances: Visa, Merrill Lynch, Schwab
System integrators: Ernst & Young, Oracle, Deloitte & Touche

More than 50% of these users are using the Rational Unified Process for e-business, or planning to do so in the near future. This is a sign of change in our industry: as the time-to-market pressure increases , as well as the demand for quality, companies are looking at learning from others' experience, and are ready to adopt proven best practices.

The way these organizations use the Rational Unified Process varies greatly: some use it very formally ; they have evolved their own company process from the Rational Unified Process, which they follow with great care. Others have a more informal usage, taking the Rational Unified Process as a repository of advice, templates, and guidance, which they use as they go along, a sort of electronic coach on software engineering.