Empowering developers to design things right!

BANGALORE, INDIA: Embarcadero Technologies, Inc., a database tools and developer software company, recently launched Embarcadero All-Access, the first software development solution that provides application developers and database professionals with cost effective, on-demand access to all the tools they need to design, build and run software applications and data systems for all of their platforms and programming languages.

Embarcadero All-Access enables customers to select from one of four All-Access levels, providing on-demand access to the entire Embarcadero tool chest, which includes up to 18 award winning development and management products.

Database development with MySQL

In an interaction with CIOL, Malcom Groves, senior director of technologies, Asia Pacific and Srivatsa Subramanya, India sales manager, Embarcadero, spoke about the development tools offered by the company to database professionals and developer community. They also shared  their views on the challenges faced by IT companies while using database applications/products.

Excerpts from an interview:

CIOL: Can you brief our readers about the Embarcadero All-Access tool chest?

Malcom Groves: The Embarcadero All-Access is a product solution that makes it easier for our customers to acquire, deploy, use, and manage their software development and database design/management tooling.

Every All-Access Pass unlocks the industry’s most comprehensive tool chest of award-winning, multi-platform Embarcadero products and enables customers to focus on the problems they need to solve, rather than the tools or platforms. All-Access is available in four levels: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. All levels include access to a worldwide community of over 3 million developers on the Embarcadero Developer Network (EDN).

CIOL: What are the tools/products, which are offered to the developer community from Embarcadero?

MG: All-Access currently contains the following award-winning products:

Delphi, C++Builder, Delphi Prism, Rapid SQL, Embarcadero Change Manager, DBArtisan, ER/Studio, Rapid SQL Developer, Schema, Examiner, EA/Studio, DB Optimizer, J Optimizer, 3rdRail, Delphi for PHP, InterBase SMP and JBuilder.

What is In-memory database system?

Further, any new products that we launch automatically becomes available to the customers, depending of course, on their All-Access membership level.  All-Access puts the full power of Embarcadero’s products and R&D at the customer’s fingertips.

CIOL: Embarcadero has missed out Blackfish SQL tool, which runs on both the .NET framework and on the Java platform in Instant On apart from other 18 developer tools. Are there any plans from Embarcadero to incorporate the needs in near future?

MG: The current set of products in All-Access are just the start. We will continue to expand the capabilities and included products over time.

CIOL: Application developers/technologists often face problems just getting hold of tools what they use in day to day work. How do Embarcadero solutions address the needs of them?

MG: All-Access addresses this in a number of ways.

From the economic angle, All-Access is a way for customers not only to powerfully increase their capability, but to reduce their overall spending on application development, database development, system and data architecture, and DBA tools.

With Embarcadero All-Access, customers can effectively simplify licensing (selection, acquisition, provisioning, management) making it easier for users to access the right tool when they need it and enabling users to get far more value for their tools investments.

In-Memory vs. On-Disk Database Systems

Beyond economic considerations, All Access’s Instant technology allows users to easily “click-and-run” All-Access tools on-demand, without installation, either locally or over the network.

Combine that with our concurrent license option, where users can check out licenses from a common pool, use it and then return the license for someone else to use, All Access becomes the ultimate “no friction” way to use the tools needed and increase effectiveness.

CIOL: How does your solution help application developers and database professionals to build and run software applications and data systems for all of their platforms and programming languages?

MG: Embarcadero is widely recognized for enabling customers to leverage all of the industry’s major database platforms, operating systems, frameworks, and programming languages.

The All-Access provides application and database developers, architects, and DBAs with on-demand access to the full range of award-winning application and database development tools needed to design things right, build them faster, and run them better. It gives users all the power of Embarcadero's tools through a single, convenient toolbox solution. This solution combines maximum capability with optimal flexibility to meet evolving needs across projects, roles, programming languages, and platforms.

CIOL: In today's global economic slowdown and recession, how does your product help developers to improve productivity and reduce total costs of ownership (TCO)?

Srivatsa Subramanya: The Embarcadero All-Access is an easier, more cost-effective way to manage tools and tools investments, providing year-over-year predictability and savings while enabling users and their teams to consistently achieve better results in less time.

With Embarcadero InstantOn, users gain the ability to simply "click-and-run" their selected tool on-demand, either locally or over the network, without prior installation on their local machine.

InstantOn saves valuable time by allowing quick and convenient access to tools, even in locked-down desktop environments where installing software is problematic.

CIOL: According to you, what are the challenges faced by IT companies while using database applications/products in their company?

SS: IT companies in India have reported revenue deceleration across verticals. There is the continual need to improve productivity and deliver higher value to retain customers. Better asset utilization is the need of the hour. However the task is certainly difficult with the plethora of products/applications/tools from different vendors.

Companies are also facing greater challenges in license management and this is driving costs due to lack of control on license utilization. Provisioning and de-provisioning of software assets are critical to rein in costs.

Companies are finding it more difficult to plan and budget their annual expenditure on software assets and more and more they are realising that cutting costs without reason or justification may ultimately affect the productivity.

However, thanks to Embarcadero All-Access this is set to change, especially as Embarcadero All-Access is simplifying licensing and making it easier for users to access the right tool when they need it and enabling users to get far more value for their tools investments.

CIOL: Are Embarcadero products aimed only for application developers or database developer too? If no, which are the other communities being addressed by you?

SS: Embarcadero serves more than 3 million users in thousands of companies and organizations. Our tools empower developers and database professionals to design things right, build them faster, and run them better.

Embarcadero serves three profiles of users:

* Data and System Architects.

* Application Developers and Database Developers.

* DBAs, QA and System Analysts.

CIOL: Security is a big concern when it comes to database applications. What kind of security measures does EAA offers?

MG: Security is a very broad term. It can not only cover the more obvious areas of User, Role and Permission management, an area in which DBArtisan has industry leading capabilities, it can also mean things like catastrophe prevention.

These often overlooked  areas can be just as damaging to the security and integrity of your data, and it’s in these areas that products like Performance Centre can significantly aid the professional database administrator.

CIOL: There's a complaint by the developer community that Embarcadero All-Access product is little bit over priced. Considering the current economic slowdown, are you planning any price cut?

SS: All-Access offers outstanding value, especially during these challenging economic times by offering the most cost-effective and efficient licensing model available for accessing database and developer tools. Embarcadero has taken into consideration the dynamics of the current market conditions and created the most cost-effective and efficient licensing model available for accessing database and developer tools. 

We encourage the developer community to talk to us and evaluate the comprehensive set of award winning tools and we are confident they too will see that the obvious benefits justify the price.