2. 1
Industrialize and Revolutionize
Release Management
Overview
These days, companies demand more from their IT
departments. Databases are being flooded with enormous
volumes of critical data, and organizations must find
effective ways to collect, use, and archive this information.
Software development and deployment takes place
faster than ever, in response to customers who expect to
DEV QA/OPS
Develop programs
Analyze impact
Create test batch
Check the RFC document
Create the components
described by the DEV team
Add technical information
Adapt, deliver and test in
each target environment
Update the technical
documentation
Common Problems in the Release Cycle
Figure 1: In companies without a release-management tool, there are problems typically found in the
release process. There is often a lack of collaboration between the engineers developing a component and those
implementing it. Projects can be sent back and forth between teams numerous times, leading to broken code and
substantial delays.
connect to services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Every error that occurs costs valuable time and money. Yet
information-system managers often face these challenges
with fewer skilled personnel, with team members located
overseas, or without strong collaboration between their
development and operations teams.
Fact sheet:
E-GEN release-management solution
About International Software Company
International Software Company (ISC) is a European leader in designing innovative solutions
for IT Operations. Companies around the globe rely on our products to increase the
efficiency and decrease the costs of their IT production. For 25 years, we have specialized
in automating the change-management process, and in providing tools that help software
engineers understand the complexities of their information systems.
ISC is a privately held company with offices in Belgium and France.
As business operations become overwhelmingly complex, our solutions keep IT simple.
3. 2 3
The Solution
E-GEN effectively eliminates many of the roadblocks
preventing successful, on-time releases. By completely
industrializing the production process, our solution greatly
speeds up and simplifies deployments.The software
requires only a minimum of user input in order to
automatically generate batch and operations components.
Its end-to-end enforcement of norms and standards
ensures the stability of the IT infrastructure. Confusion
between development and operations teams is no longer
an issue, nor is the accidental introduction of redundancies
or contradictory information into the database.Technical
errors simply don’t exist.
Our solution automatically generates all of the necessary
documentation, meaning that everything from RFCs
to run books are always up-to-date. In addition, these
technical documents typically require 90 percent less time
to create. With E-GEN, your company achieves maximum
efficiency in the management of its information systems.
Aids during test cycle by generating materials (test JCL, DOC, XML, ...)
Allows DEV engineers to focus on developing/maintaining applications
Keeps control of production resources (disk space, volumes, ...)
Centralizes functional updates required by Operations teams
Development
Quality Assurance
Operations
Checks and validates release-management packages sent by Development
Produces customized materials needed to validate in QA
Checks and updates all components impacted by an update
A tool that controls and automates the release-management lifecycle
Generates the exact materials required for each targeted production
environment
Become“people independent”
Ensures that materials and tools definitions are error-free
Manages and centralizes Operations standards and the tools used
Plans update processes in production
Keeps run books and other documentation up-to-date
E-GEN’s End-to-End Benefits
How E-GEN Works
A secure, central repository is the backbone of our change-
management tool. During installation, your company’s
existing production data is structured and archived into
this repository. Afterward, the software uses functional
descriptions and predefined rules to automatically
generate any type of script, scheduler input, JCL or
RFC document, creating rapid, error-free deployments.
E-GEN works from the staging environment to manage
your production workload and assure the integrity of
Generation and deployment
of changes for each stage of
the lifecycle
Update E-GEN repository
From Operations?
From Development?
Change
Apply all required updates at the right production
level for each impacted component
-JCL, Scripts, .bat, XML
-SCHEDULER
-Documentation
Figure 2: From requested change to automated change management. E-GEN manipulates and deploys JCL, scripts,
scheduling descriptions (TWS, Control-M, etc.), Flux (CFT, Pelican, etc.) and multiformat generators (HTML,
XML, CSV, etc.)
An Automated Application Release
every change. It enforces norms and standards throughout
the lifecycle and allows only one version of a component
to exist, effectively eliminating the possibility of
inconsistencies between different systems, platforms
and environments. Each change is thoroughly tracked,
including who created it, who modified it and who
accepted/promoted it. When the component is delivered
to the final phase of the lifecycle, E-GEN verifies that it
exactly matches the specifications given in the original
change request.
International Software CompanyE-GEN release-management solution
4. 4 5
1 Fully Configurable
Our software significantly decreases the need for manual
input, and the errors that typically go with it.Thanks to E-GEN’s
ability to generate technical materials from functional descriptions,
the complexity of information required to initiate a change is
greatly reduced.The software creates components and all related
documentation with a minimum of manual input—on average, 75
percent less per environment. Only information appropriate to a user’s
level of responsibility is requested, and the roles and responsibilities
of every user are fully configurable—you decide what type of objects
they handle and where they intervene in the lifecycle.
Since the software automatically checks and validates all input, even
users with less technical experience can expertly execute releases,
freeing up more experienced systems developers to complete more
complicated tasks.
2 Effective for Metadata Management
The solution is designed to efficiently manage your data
repository and guarantee the quality of its contents.Through every
environment, E-GEN verifies that only one version of a component
exists, so no duplications are ever created. Every object produced by
E-GEN will match your exact requirements, and will be deployed
according to your specific lifecycle.
E-GEN uses a metadata/informational model of templates,
combining hierarchical (within a single template) and relational
(between templates) database organization. E-GEN repositories
are crafted to automatically manage the information of hundreds
of thousands of programs, scripts, and files.
3 Critical to the Success of DevOps
E-GEN automatically and accurately generates all of the
technical documentation, ensuring that everything from RFC
documents to run books are always up-to-date. It gives your
development and operations teams complete visibility into the
status of a change, so no time is wasted wondering who ordered a
change, what purpose it serves, or when it is scheduled to arrive.
Our software further enables DevOps collaboration by providing
end-to-end enforcement of norms and standards, speeding the
transfer between environments.
Clearly defines the roles and
responsibilities of each user (including
administrators, programmers,
workgroups, etc.)
Compatible with every OS currently
on the market, including z/OS, UNIX,
Linux and Windows
Automatically inserts processes
according to your IT department’s
specific standards (backup, restore,
file transfer, etc.)
Completely automates the release
process (from Development or QA
to Deployment)
End-to-end enforcement of norms and
standards
Generates Batch and Operations
Components (JCL, scripts, AD-TWS,
XML, Control-M, etc.) according
to the rules and standards of each
production or QA environment
Thorough tracking of Requests for
Change, including their current status
and an understanding of their overall
impact
Exports to Microsoft Office andVisio
Efficiently generates reports and
cross-references for impact analysis
Delivers 100% error-free technical
results
Benefits Summary
Advanced request and reporting engine
Key Advantages
4 Confidential and Secure
E-GEN has its own internal security mechanism,
which can be externalized to the System Authorization
Facility (SAF) on a z/OS server, or through a
Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) on an open
server. Since you choose the level of information that your
team members are allowed to access, your database
remains confidential.The privacy of the data rests
intact, a vital feature in an era where security is an ever-
increasing concern.
5 Easy to Use
Our solution features an interface easily used by
anyone who has ever worked on Microsoft Windows.
Each user can personalize the way that they view the
system’s applications and components.The software’s
comprehensive search engine roots out every cross-
reference for impact analysis. Graphs, flowcharts and
other output files are simple to create, and can be
exported to Office and Visio.
6 Suitable for both Agile and Traditional
Software Development
No matter which approach your company takes to
implementing changes and developing systems, E-GEN
is perfectly adapted to help streamline the process. Our
tool is fully customizable and designed to meet the
specifics of each client’s lifecycle. E-GEN can deliver
urgent corrections fast, which allows for critical changes
to be released directly into production. It is equally
effective in a more traditional linear approach to software
development, in which each step is the responsibility of a
different team of engineers.
Options for Release Management
Figure 3: E-GEN is equally effective for rapid corrections as well as for a more traditional approach to software
development.
Operations
Archives
“Normal”
STAGING
“Rapid”
STAGING
“Normal”INPUT
“Rapid”INPUT
“Normal”Cycle (standard release)
“Rapid”Cycle (fast release)Optional
Optional:
Technical Treatments
(ex. backups, housekeeping)
URGENT
Corrections
Staging/Archiving
A typical example
PROMOTE
PROMOTE
PROM
OTE
PROM
OTE
PROMOTE
PROMOTE
REJECT
REJECT
RETRIEVE
RETRIEVE
RETRIEVE
RETRIEVE
GENERATION
GENERATION
TECHNICAL
GENERATION
URGENT
INPUT
TECH
INPUT
Operations
Scripts, JCL, Schedulers, Doc
Technical Staging
Scripts, JCL, Schedulers, Doc
International Software CompanyE-GEN release-management solution
5. 6 7
Requirements phase
$80/defect
Design/Build phase
$240/defect
QA/Testing phase
$960/defect
Released as a product
$7,600/defect
Price
Source: GBS Industry Standard Study
Defect cost is derived by assuming it takes 8 hours to find, fix and repair a defect when found in code and unit test.
Defect FFR cost for other phases calculated by using the multiplier on a blended rate of $80/hr.
Solid Return on Investment
As a project moves through the different stages of the
application development lifecycle, the advantages of using our
solution become increasingly apparent. During the Development
phase, for example, writing the technical documentation requires
about half the time as when not using our tool. During Quality
Assurance, the time needed for adaptation drops an average of
80 percent. In Production, there is a 90 percent reduction in the
amount of data that needs to be manually input.
By automating the release process, E-GEN helps ensure that
your teams enjoy a significant gain in productivity, and that your
infrastructure remains stable and reliable. Our clients typically
experience a complete return on investment within a year of
implementing our solution.
Figure 5: Why automate release management? The price of correcting defects is a compelling reason. By avoiding
errors late in the application lifecycle, the overall expense of developing software is greatly reduced, as shown by this
2008 National Institute of Standards and Technology study.
80% of Development Costs are Spent Identifying
and Correcting Defects
E-GEN vs Manual Input in Various
Phases of the Lifecycle
E-GEN Manual Input
QA: Unit Testing
QA: Integration
Operations
Development
100
80
60
40
20
0
Figure 4: E-GEN increases efficiency during
every development stage, but its benefits are
most apparent during QA and deployment.
Cost projections made on a base of 200
application changes per month at $35/hour.
E-GEN is based on a client-server architecture.The
server is available in Microsoft Windows, Unix, Linux
and z/OS environments, with end users working in a
Windows environment. Only a single E-GEN production
server is necessary, even if the networked computers use
another platform (i.e., an E-GEN Linux server efficiently
produces materials for Windows).
The E-GEN server initiates component deployment,
which then can be completed through any number of
protocols, including FTP, SSH, TCP/IP, and by using
tools such as PuTTY, CFT, and WebSphere MQ,
among others. E-GEN’s data model is fully portable,
and its export/import format allows for the easy
transfer of definitions from one server to another
(i.e. from a backup server to the production server
and vice versa).
The client is a Windows executable that does not require
“installation.” Its autonomous directory can be deployed
according to your preferences, including:
• on each user’s workstation
• in a shared directory
• on a virtual machine
• in Citrix architecture
Multiplatform Architecture
Figure 6: With E-GEN, the interactive client is a Microsoft Windows application. Batch clients are able to run
on any operating system.
E-GEN’s Client-Server Model
z/OS Server
Unix/Linux Server
Windows Server
Windows ClientsCITRIX
TCP/IP
E-GEN release-management solution International Software Company
6. 8 9
Whether your company runs on a mainframe or multiplatform system,
with one or more schedulers, E-GEN easily integrates into your existing IT
infrastructure. Each implementation starts out by structuring and archiving
your existing operations data into a centralized repository, and ends with
E-GEN orchestrating a fast and reliable release process.
Step-by-step Installation
1. Reverse documentation of existing operations information
2. Analysis of existing information: norms and standards
3. Definition of the rules for software releases
• by application
• by environment
• by role/user
• by component
4. Integration into the Operations repository
5. Model generation for target environments
6. Results verified
7. Available for end users
E-GEN Implementation
ISC’s Other Solutions Include:
From Repository to Automated Releases
Figure 7: E-GEN’s repository is optimized thanks to the collection of your existing IT environment
iCAN
Functional
Abstraction
E-GEN
Target
Collection of
your existing
Operations
information
Adaptation and
Standardization
Release
Manangement
Automation
E-GEN release-management solution
iCAN
Production user tool for Audit, Analysis and Reverse Documentation
JCLchecker
Evaluate, Change, andValidate JCL
eSMF
Unlock the knowledge in your z/OS records
International Software Company
