IBM has announced new and/or updated versions of tools aimed at helping organizations more effectively align their business strategies with their investments in software. Collectively, the tools are designed to help organizations lower costs and reduce risks by providing increased visibility into the status of software projects and the ability to monitor and improve the performance of these investments.

IBM Rational Insight is a new project management solution designed to help business stakeholders measure and manage team performance and project results across an entire organization. Built using IBM Cognos software, Rational Insight provides metrics and dashboards that help businesses quickly find and focus on cross-organizational issues that delay or derail software and systems projects, ensure the right people are collaborating, and then take real-time action to continuously improve results.

IBM also announced a beta release of Focal Point for Project Management, an updated version of an existing tool from Telelogic, a company IBM recently acquired. Focal Point for Project Management is intended to manage changing priorities by enabling communications, workflow, and collaboration across geographical and organizational boundaries.

Other upgraded products include IBM Rational Focal Point for Product and Portfolio Management, Requirements Composer, and System Architect. Upgrades to Team Concert are geared to help organizations execute on their plans, regardless of the organizational and geographical boundaries of its team.