Expanding options for developing modern mission critical applications

Unisys Corporation has announced Release 5.0 of Agile Business (AB) Suite application development software for both the MCP operating environment on Unisys ClearPath systems and Microsoft Windows platforms.

The new release provides enhancements that make it easier for programmers to develop both hybrid AB Suite applications that blend existing and new capabilities and mobile, web and desktop client applications for cloud environments and the fabric computing architecture on ClearPath and Forward! by Unisys™ systems.

Agile Business Suite Release 5.0 represents the first step in Unisys’ strategy to expand open application development capabilities for the fabric computing architecture – especially for clients seeking a transparent way to migrate applications written with the predecessor Unisys Enterprise Application Environment (EAE) development system to the fabric environment.

The platform-independent AB Suite uses a model-driven approach to application development, enabling programmers to automatically generate complete applications from a set of business specifications. It uses the popular Microsoft Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server for application development and lifecycle management, respectively.
“AB Suite Release 5.0 demonstrates Unisys’ commitment to continually give clients new ways to build on their long-term software investments with our fabric computing architecture and other innovations,” said Rob Cashman, vice president, Mission-Critical Servers and Solutions, Unisys. “We combine the rapid application-generation capabilities of AB Suite with our advanced systems technology and the powerful Microsoft development environment, empowering organisations to create modern mission critical solutions that they can use to seize emerging business opportunities.”

The Unisys fabric architecture boosts performance of mission-critical applications by providing superior scalability, reliability, availability and security. The fabric uses software for processes traditionally performed by hardware, avoiding the data-transfer bottlenecks that can slow application performance in a conventional networked system and allowing direct communication among ClearPath, Windows and Linux applications residing in different parts of the fabric.

Unisys anticipates that future releases of AB Suite will integrate ClearPath fabric application integration and connectivity services.

Industry-Standard Tools Expand Choice of User Interfaces
AB Suite Release 5.0 emphasises ease-of-use features to speed application development, including increased use of icons and wizards. It also offers developers a wider choice of commonly used tools to develop user interfaces for existing AB Suite applications.

Client Framework, a new capability for AB Suite applications on Windows, enables developers to use technologies of their choosing – such as Windows Presentation Foundation, ASP.NET MVC and Windows Communication Foundation – with AB Suite to create sophisticated application front ends for different types of devices.

AB Suite Release 5.0 for MCP and Windows is integrated with the Unisys ClearPath ePortal solution, which enables developers to quickly web-enable existing enterprise applications and create contemporary user interfaces so mobile users can execute transactions easily on Apple iPhones and iPads, Android devices, Windows Phones and BlackBerrys. The Hybrid Mobile Application Build Service feature of ClearPath ePortal 6.0 makes it easier to create cloud-hosted hybrid mobile applications.