iRise 8 Tracks App Dev Changes

iRise 8, the latest version of the company's visualization software, tries to make it less complicated to create a simulation of a new application. It's also opening up the platform in hopes that third parties will develop modules that they sell to iRise customers.

Visualization software like iRise's lets IT teams show how a custom or packaged application will work before they start developing or implementing it. At UPS, for example, it's used for IT and business unit teams to iterate quickly on features and interfaces at the start of a project. The software starts at about $7,000 per seat.

But companies are under intense time pressure to finish projects, and creating a visualization takes time, can be complicated, and requires considerable training. iRise 8 is tackling that with more pre-configured modules. For example, simulating a common drag-and-drop function used to take hours of skilled effort. Now it's a few clicks to activate a module to simulate that, iRise says.

iRise is hoping other developers will sell its modules as well. In iRise 8, it adds the ability for third parties to post modules -- say, a simulation of a new customer name-and-address form -- and license them to iRise customers for quick re-use.

Developers could create re-usable assets in the past, but iRise 8 adds intellectual property protections and a distribution channel that make it more practical, said iRise chief marketing officer Mitch Bishop.

Bishop compares iRise 8 to the secondary market that exists around AutoDesk design and engineering software for pre-built templates of mechanical parts. A company can also set up templates, such as the look of a log-in interface, so everyone in the company doing a simulation uses the same one.

Another change in this version is that iRise 8 simulations can be exported into XML format, which Bishop says provides a head start on translating the simulation into development requirements.