There has been a major shift in enterprise software over recent years. The days of writing complex software to extend software solutions are gone. What is becoming the new norm is a more dynamic world. It starts with configuration, not customisation of the core products. It then extends to a simpler way to consume the data and business logic in those applications through APIs and other tools.
IFS Build Place is a shared environment for developers. It is their development home for anything related to IFS solutions. In IFS Build Place, they can develop, build and test their applications and the components used to create those applications. It gives developers access to the source repositories for all IFS updates and new releases.
As a shared environment, it removes the risk of disjointed application development where developers work in silos. This reduces time to develop, improves quality and lowers costs.
What will you find in the new Cloud Build Place?
IFS has always allowed consultants and partners to configure, modify and extend its products. The new Cloud Build Place is a fully re-engineered solution. It supports industry-standard best practices for agile software development and code management. It also supports both IFS Cloud and on-premises tools from the same space. The Cloud Build Place allows customers, partners and consultants to work in the same collaborative space. It provides a seamless working environment.
In addition to code development tools, Cloud Build Place also has a new way of storing code. Code is stored across three repositories.
- Master Repository: It holds all service updates and releases for every IFS Cloud product. Only IFS can push new code into this repository.
- Customer Baseline Repository: This is where an individual customer keeps the code for the IFS Cloud products that they are using. What is important here is that customers can decide when service updates and changes are pulled into this repository.
- Customer Solution Repository: Customers can decide which updates and releases they want to use from the Baseline Repository. Customers also store their own software components here. The big benefit here is that customers can test service updates and releases with their own code before anything gets to production.
Test environments have also changed and are now an on-demand system. It means that developers and test teams can create a test environment quickly and when they need it. There is no risk of the environment containing old code or bits of code or data that have been used before. Now, each environment is fresh and clean and has a maximum life of ten days. This reduces the risk of obscure problems with code testing.
Customisation takes place outside Cloud Build Place
It’s important to remember that Cloud Build Place is only for writing, building and testing code. Everything else is done in the customer environments. As standard, there are three of them – configuration, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and production, but customers can choose to add more to meet their requirements.
- Configuration: This environment is for configuring the settings and business logic that controls how the application works.
- User Acceptance Testing: The UAT environment is for end-user testing of new features. Customer data can be pulled in here to test features against real-world data.
- Production: This is the environment in which all live applications and customer data reside. With Cloud Build Place
Once code is tested in Cloud Build Place, it can be automatically delivered to one of the production environments. For most customers that will be UAT. Provided that the code passes, it then goes to production. If the code changes are minor, they can be pushed direct from Cloud Build Place to the Production environment. This drastically reduces the time between build, test and deploy. It also allows DevOps teams to incorporate Cloud Build Place into their planning.
What does this mean for customers?
The IFS Cloud Build Place allows customers to accelerate the time to production for new capabilities. It allows IFS Cloud applications to help drive the competitive advantage that software should be.
Importantly, Cloud Build Place puts the customer in full control of their IFS Cloud solution. They choose what applications and updates they want and when they want them. They determine the configuration and business logic they are exposing to the business units. There are no more delays between development and production as this is a fully integrated solution.
IFS develops and delivers cloud enterprise software for companies around the world who manufacture and distribute goods, build and maintain assets, and manage service-focused operations. Within our single platform, our industry-specific products are innately connected to a single data model and use embedded digital innovation so that our customers can be their best when it really matters to their customers—at the Moment of Service™. The industry expertise of our people and of our growing ecosystem, together with a commitment to deliver value at every single step, has made IFS a recognized leader and the most recommended supplier in our sector. Our team of 4,500 employees every day live our values of agility, trustworthiness and collaboration in how we support our 10,000+ customers. Learn more about how our enterprise software solutions can help your business today at ifs.com.
