Altova, creator of XMLSpy and other XML, data management, UML, and Web services tools, announced that Software Development magazine has selected Altova UModel 2005 as a finalist for the 16th Annual Jolt Product Excellence and Productivity Awards in the Design Tools and Modeling category. Sponsored by Jolt Cola, the awards are presented annually to products that have “jolted” the industry with their significance and made the task of creating software faster, easier, and more efficient, said the company.

“The number of nominations we received this year was unprecedented, and the process of narrowing down the finalists was a massive, albeit exciting, task, with many more products contending in each category,” said Software Development Technical Editor Rosalyn Lum. “Being named a finalist is a significant achievement and we commend Altova UModel for distinguishing itself within the Design Tools and Modeling category.”

According to the company, with the price for a single-user license starting at only $129, Altova UModel 2005 is a straightforward and affordable Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2.0 design tool that makes visual software design practical for programmers and project managers. It simplifies software modeling by providing helpful design aids and concentrating on the UML diagrams that are most useful early on in the development process and that yield immediate benefits to project team members. Over and above its powerful diagramming capabilities, UModel also provides advanced Java code generation, reverse engineering, and round-tripping functionality.

“Since its introduction last year, UModel has generated a lot of interest in the developer community because it debunked the myth that visual software design is an elitist and expensive activity,” said Tim Hale, Director of Marketing for Altova. “UModel makes software modeling easy and fun with its intuitive graphical interface, and it includes advanced features found in much more expensive UML tools at just a fraction of their cost. We are very pleased that Software Development magazine has recognized the impact that UModel is making in the industry.”