Architected Rapid Application Development (ARAD)
tools have a dramatic impact on productivity and ROI,
according to a new study by Gartner Group .
In comparison to traditional application
development tools, Gartner’s survey found ROI
improvements ranging from 2 to 1 to greater than 15 to
1. Furthermore Gartner also calculated that only with
the ARAD approach to rapid application development (in
comparison to other RAD approaches) was there a first-year net break-even on
ROI.
ARAD, also known by others like vendor Compuware as
Model-Driven Pattern Based (MDPB), differs from
traditional development in that it is a service-oriented approach.
Gartner actually refers to the
approach as SODA (service-oriented development of
applications), and its purpose is to allow for the
reuse of services and components.
Development artifacts, which include items likes design
patterns, frameworks and programs, in the SODA approach can
be re-used in subsequent projects which should improve
efficiencies and productivity. Gartner reports that,
“ARAD methods and tools are just
beginning to achieve recognition by mainstream Java 2
Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and .NET
developers.”
When it comes to the actual ARAD tools, however, Gartner
noted a consistency of positive results across the
various tools regardless of vendor. ARAD tools
include Computer Associates’ Advantage Plex,
Compuware’s OptimalJ and IBM’s Rational Rapid
Developer offerings.
“Compuware has done the best job of defining the
evolving ARAD tool market and gaining market
presence,” Michael Blechar, vice president of Internet & e-Business
Technologies at Gartner, told internetnews.com.
Compuware believes that OptimalJ, the latest version of which
was released
in June, is the leader because it has been out in
the marketplace for 24 months and already has a number
of large customers adopting the technology.
“We already have customers using the technology and
that gives us a leg up,” Mike Burba, OptimalJ Launch
Program Manager at Compuware, told internetnews.com.
At the end of its research note, Gartner makes a
strong statement about ARAD and whether or not
organizations should consider using it.
“We believe organizations should strongly consider
adopting a service-oriented approach to software
deployment using architected, rapid application
development methods and tools, rather than
‘traditional’ customized development processes and
technologies,” the report stated.
Despite the note of support for ARAD, Gartner’s
Blechar does caution that there is a potential
downside to implementing SODA.
“There are substantial software and retraining costs
associated with moving to SODA. And, should an
organization attempt to build SODA applications in a
reusable manner without achieving adequate levels of
reuse, the result can be negative productivity,”
Blechar explained. “However, because ARAD tools at a
minimum enforce reuse of the technical architecture
even with slight levels of business component reuse,
the vast majority of organizations should see
substantial productivity gains using tools like
OptimalJ.”
