With a renewed focus on modernizing and maintaining the integrity of mainframe and legacy systems, as well as providing deep support for distributed .Net and Java-based systems, Compuware Corp. is making a concerted effort to shed its old-line image and show it can be closely allied with both Microsoft Corp. and the Java community without shortchanging customers.

At its recent OJ.X annual user conference here, Detroit-based Compuware offered numerous examples of how it supports applications on a variety of platforms throughout the life cycle, from inception of the idea through development, testing, deployment and maintenance.

According to Mike Burba, director of Compuware Application Development Solutions, development groups need tighter alignment with the business goals of their organization, which can be achieved through agility applications, development methodologies, testing and tools.

Compuware is delivering that for .Net and Java developers, Burba said. In fact, Tommi White, chief operating officer at Compuware, said the company will offer a suite of products that spans both platforms for organizations that have .Net and Java Enterprise Edition environments.

Burba said Compuware has pledged its support for .Net across the application life cycle, meaning that Compuware will maintain life-cycle integrations with Microsoft Visual Studio and Visual Studio 2005 Team System, and the company will offer new products to support .Net development.

Compuware will deliver new versions of its DevPartner code analysis tools and QACenter testing tool for Visual Studio 2005 soon after the Microsoft product ships next month, Burba said. In addition, Compuware early next year will enhance its Vantage application and performance monitoring product line to support .Net, he added.

Click here to read more about Compuware's increased support for Microsoft's Visual Studio line of development tools.

Burba said that Compuware is aware of the risks of supporting Microsoft's tools ecosystem because the software giant moves quickly and could easily develop its own offerings for the areas Compuware covers.

Rick LaPlante, general manager of VSTS (Visual Studio Team System), who spoke at OJ.X, said Microsoft plans to cultivate the ecosystem around Visual Studio and welcomes support from its partners. LaPlante said later in an interview, however, that one area the Redmond, Wash., company might branch into with its VSTS suite is testing.

Compuware also is committed to enabling life-cycle integration for Java, said Bob Barker, Compuware's vice president of strategic planning.

Mike Fields, component director at State Farm Insurance Co., in Bloomington, Ill., said that State Farm uses Compuware's DevPartner Studio for code analysis and review and uses Compuware's OptimalJ Java development tool.

"We're trying to prevent defects," Fields said. "What we've done is focused on prevention as a way to deliver better quality."

Fields said State Farm's emphasis on code quality has saved the company between $3 million and $9 million.

This article was originally published on eWEEK.com.