10/09/2003

Visa International and iRise, an enterprise software and services company “dedicated to improving the process of defining business applications,” have entered into a two-year global strategic alliance.

As part of the alliance, Visa and iRise will explore opportunities to enhance Visa’s product platform and technology development processes as well as consider customization of iRise technology solutions to serve the unique needs of the payments and financial services industries. The relationship calls for the companies to identify application development initiatives within Visa that would benefit from iRise’s application definition technology.

The iRise Application Simulator platform “enables business analysts to create a functionally-rich, data-aware, interactive simulation of Web-based applications without a single line of code, allows business users to use and test software prior to development, supports remote collaboration in the requirements definition process, and can eliminate up to 40 percent of development costs overall,” iRise says.

"As the pervasiveness of technology continues to increase in the world of commerce, we recognize that technology leadership and partnership are crucial to our success,” said Sarah Perry, senior vice president, Strategic Alliances and Investments, Visa International. “In today’s environment, companies must quickly develop and deliver new capabilities that provide compelling business advantage. This new alliance will explore using iRise technology to build our vision of Universal Commerce, a world where buyers and sellers can conduct commerce anywhere, anytime and in any way they choose.”

"We are pleased that Visa sees the potential of including iRise as part of its continuing commitment to technology innovation,” said Emmet B. Keeffe III, CEO, iRise. “iRise offers solutions that reduce the overall the cost and risk associated with business application development while dramatically improving their value. Through these kinds of innovative solutions, Visa can further differentiate itself as the premier technology provider of global payments products and services.”