TechExcel has added two-way Microsoft Word integration and multi-site functionality to DevSuite 9.0. Alex Perec, senior product manager at TechExcel, said the new release will help distributed teams work without any delay.
Multi-site functionality, he said, is geared toward distributed teams who struggle to work on a remote server. This can, at times, present a delay of synchronization; the new built-in multi-site support is designed to enable teams to have a full local server that will synchronize with what TechExcel calls the designated project master site in the background. According to TechExcel, the tool enables LAN-like speed over WAN for daily operations, which can save up to 20 minutes per day per team member. Further, if a local instance loses connectivity with the master site, work can continue offline until the connection is re-established, at which time synchronization through conflict resolution tools will proceed.
Perec said the two-way integration with Microsoft Word is important because it allows development teams that wish to work with both Word-based requirements and DevSuite-based requirements to synchronize changes back and forth. Perec said a change can be edited in DevSuite or Microsoft Word and be recorded in both places. This also allows teams, said Jason Hammon (director of marketing and product management) and Perec, to incorporate stakeholders and team members who may not be as tech savvy as other team members.
Additional upgrades include a single interface for managing mixed methodologies, native iPad and Android tablet applications, and a better UI. Hammon said that the UI has been altered to reduce the number of clicks required to execute specific actions within the console. For example, adding items from the backlog to a sprint used to take several clicks, according to Hammon, but now it is a drag-and-drop functionality. Perec said many of the click reductions were enabled by utilizing drag-and-drop within the tool’s dashboard.
DevSuite 9.0 can be downloaded at TechExcel’s website.
