Ashish Patel

There isn’t much to say on this topic, but just want those who read this blog to know that I’ve “upgraded” from Windows Vista to Windows XP.  As Apple says,  “to a more familiar” experience - rather for me a more “stable” experience.

On November 29, 2007, I got an e-mail from my peers in the IBM Redbook publishing house letting me know that the book I co-authored last year as finally reached draft status! In 2006, various members in the product development team for IBM Rational Performance Tester got together and started putting “ink to paper”. About a year later, we produced 14 chapters that outline architecture, use cases, operating environment, and configuration details that users normally wouldn’t find in the product documentation. In addition, each of these areas are explained in technical detail for our users to understand.

My contribution was Chapters 8 and 9 in the book. These are primarily based on the component “formerly known as” IBM Performance Optimization Toolkit and its integration into the IBM Rational Performance Tester product.

The draft version is available in PDF (about 8MB) and for more information please visit the IBM Redbook website.  The final publication is slated for printing on January 31, 2008.

If you enjoy reading or listening about history as much as I do, I think you’ll enjoy this video.

I’ve been extremely quiet over the last 4 months and I’m very happy to say I don’t have to keep my mouth shut any longer! Our team at IBM (literally 7 people including management, developers, architects and testers) have been working on integrating the Watchfire AppScan product into the IBM software stack. This morning we made our public beta debut this morning with IBM Rational AppScan Developer Edition v7.7 Open Beta.

Product Information (Click here to view the IBM product page)

Rational AppScan Developer Edition software extends Rational Application Developer for WebSphere® with support for Web application security testing that automates vulnerability assessments.

This first release of Rational AppScan Developer Edition expands IBM’s industry leading application development platform focusing on the following themes and capabilities:

• Early detection and remediation of vulnerabilities: Automates application vulnerability scanning. Security testing takes place during development without requiring the involvement of a security expert. Vulnerabilities are found early in the process and intelligent fix recommendations allow you to quickly resolve security issues.
• AppScan Enterprise Edition integration: AppScan Enterprise Edition is a separately-purchased Web-based, multi-user application vulnerability testing and reporting solution. AppScan Developer Edition can be used as a part of the AppScan Enterprise solution, combining early detection of security issues by each developer with enterprise-scale control and reporting tools.
• IBM Rational ClearQuest integration: Application vulnerabilites can be submitted and tracked seamlessly with ClearQuest. Rational AppScan Developer Edition provides support for logging discovered security issues as ClearQuest defects, automatically including the title, severity, advisory, remediation information, and any other information required to easily prioritize and remediate these issues within your regular defect management process. Note: IBM Rational ClearQuest is a separately-purchased product.