MatrixOne integration technology earns patent; supports business change
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 12/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
A software tool aimed at streamlining deployment of its collaborative product life-cycle management (PLM) solution—regardless of user system architecture—earned MatrixOne a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office in September. The Interface Definition Language Compiler enables MatrixOne to support more platforms with greater ease—and at less cost—which gives companies more flexibility to change as new technology emerges.
"We began developing the technology about five years ago when the cost of managing [implementation] in each environment was becoming overwhelming," says Dave Tewksbary, VP of advanced research for MatrixOne.
"What we have now is a tool that allows us to turn a switch during implementation and say which environment we're deploying in," Tewksbury says.
The compiler technology is an integral part of MatrixOne's software development and test environments. It allows the company to facilitate acquisitions such as Synchronicity, an electronic design and collaboration management vendor MatrixOne bought in August 2004, because it simplifies integration with third-party solutions.
"What's unique about this tool is it anticipates the continuing rate of change of the IT landscape," Tewksbary continues. "Five years ago we were dealing with CORBA. Now CORBA is gone and RMI is dominant, and SOAP is becoming more prominent."
CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture); RMI (Remote Method Invocation); and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) are schemas for exchanging information between applications.
"Change in the landscape doesn't have any impact on our ability to develop products," concludes Tewksbary. "This technology enables us to stay nimble."
