The RUP Is a Process Product

The RUP is not just a book, a development method developed and published once and for all in paper form. "Software processes are software, too," In contrast with the dusty binder approach, the Rational Unified Process is designed, developed, delivered, and maintained like any software tool. The Rational Unified Process shares many characteristics with software products:

• Like a software product, the Rational Unified Process is designed and documented using the Unified Modeling Language (UML). An underlying object model, the Unified Software Process Model (USPM) provides a very coherent backbone to the process.

• It is delivered online using Web technology, not in books or binders, so it's literally at the developers' fingertips.

• Regular software upgrades are released by Rational Software approximately twice a year. So the process is never obsolete, and its users benefit from the latest development. All team members access the same version of the process.

• Because it is modular and in electronic form, it can be tailored and configured to suit the specific needs of a development organization, something that's hard to do with a book or a binder.

• It is integrated with the many software development tools in the Rational Suites, so developers can access process guidance within the tool they are using.