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Rational To Aid IA-64 Developers

Rational Software Corp. unleashed a barrel of news today, not the least of which was that it exceeded analysts' expectations for third quarter earnings by three cents a share. The company also announced it has signed an agreement with Intel Corp. (www.intel.com) to expand support of Rational's development products for Intel's eagerly anticipated IA-64 architecture.

Rational's results stem from Internet-driven business momentum, explains Paul Levy, chairman of the board of directors for Rational Software. "[Eighty] percent of our usefulness today relates to the Internet," Levy explains. "Many customers in this market area are focused on developing B2B Internet applications."

Intel and Rational (www.rational.com) are collaborating to port Rational's point products -- comprising all editions of Rational Suite, and Rational ClearCase -- to the Intel IA-64 architecture for Linux64, Monterey64, and Windows 2000 (Win64).

As a result of the partnership, Rational hopes to enable customers developing software for the Internet to be able to quickly and more reliably build next-generation applications that take advantage of Intel's 64-bit chips. Part of that evolution is the Linux operating system, Levy says.

Rational currently has products that support the development of software for Linux, including its software configuration management tool Rational ClearCase 4.0, and its UML modeling tool Rational Rose Real-Time. Through the agreement with Intel, Rational will expand Linux support to the IA-64 platform.

"Rational will be positioned to lead the market as customers begin developing software for the Internet harnessing the IA-64 processing line and Linux," Levy explains. "It's a chance to leverage and reuse the investments we've already made. The market has moved right ahead of where we were heading."

Levy also announced that he will become the CEO of Catapulse (www.catapulse.com), a business-to-business Internet spin-off of Rational Software. Levy says he will continue his duties as Rational board chairman as well. -- Brian Ploskina

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.