April 5; 2009; BANGALORE: To ride out the bad times, look to the web's most popular tools -- and scoop them into your company's own DNA:  that is  the solution suggested by  Redwood , California (US)-based Serena Software  for these recessionary  days.
 
If you thought Instant Messaging, RSS feeds and mashups were something that lay web users  embrace,  think again, says Serena's Senior director of Product Marketing Nathan Rawlins:  they can be key building blocks that companies can harness as they build their own application lifecycle management  solution. 
 
Serena has been evangelising the idea of 'agile' software development; indeed 'Agile on Demand' is its proprietary  project management offering .   Techniques include the  boardroom or shop floor equivalent of a rugby 'scrum'.
 
"Managing change can be a key challenge", says Rawlins, "In fact it is Serena's sweet spot -- and   our business process management tools  are valued for easing the pain of change". 
 
For small and medium businesses -- who make up such a big part of the corporate spectrum in India, Serena points at its Software as a Service (SaaS), pay as you go offerings.  The company recently  acquired  Projity, whose OpenProj tool is known to be a great alternative to Microsoft Project.
 
Munindra Kumar Bharatee, Serena's India Managing Director, an IIT-Kharagput alumnus and a 27 year old veteran of the  software engineering business,  said a  key Serena offering  for Version Management  was created  from scratch, and is  supported   by an India-based development partner.

http://www.serena.com/products/pvcs/

Anand Parthasarathy