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Application lifecycle management (ALM) regards the process of delivering software as a continuously repeating cycle of inter-related steps: definition, design, development, testing, deployment and management. Each of these steps needs to be carefully monitored and controlled. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...
Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ...
Image File history File links Alm. ...
Image = Simple overview of ALM
Benefits of Application Lifecycle Management
Proponents of Application Lifecycle Management represent that a true Application Lifecycle Management solution -
- increases productivity, as the team shares best practices for development and deployment, and developers need focus only on current business requirements
- improves quality, so the final application meets the needs and expectations of users
- breaks boundaries through collaboration and smooth information flow
- accelerates development through simplified integration
- cuts maintenance time by synchronizing application and design
- maximizes investments in skills, processes, and technologies
- increases flexibility by reducing the time it takes to build and adapt applications that support new business initiatives
Principles of ALM The principles of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) are integral to mature development disciplines. Experienced development organizations employ these principles to ensure quality in the products they develop. Application Lifecycle Management involves a variety of typical software project phases -
- Project management
- Project tracking
- Requirements planning
- Design and development
- Quality Assurance
- Release management
History, Proponents and Precursors As application development has evolved over time more and more tools have been introduced. Initially software development was supported with individual point tools, and then simple suites of tools emerged with loose integrations and now we have modern comprehensive lifecycle tools that are fully integrated and provide capabilities for most of the roles in ALM. The most recent innovation is the discussion around ALM 2.0 which describes a vision for the application development infrastructure needed to meet the needs of the most modern development communities.
As the complexity and sophistication of the software development task has grown it has been matched by increasing numbers of tools. The initial set of tools started with version control tools at the heart of the lifecycle and have grown out from there. Though there is no industry definition of what constitutes and what does not constitute an ALM tool, and the list gets longer every day, the generally accepted list includes:
Other contributors should feel welcome to update this list. This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
Project Management is the discipline of organizing and managing resources (i. ...
In information technology and telecommunications, the term configuration management or configuration control has the following meanings: The management of security features and assurances through control of changes made to hardware, software, firmware, documentation, test, test fixtures and test documentation of an automated information system, throughout the development and operational life...
The following information is taken from Butler Group ALM Report. September 2005. Butler Report
The Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is evolving, tool vendors are increasingly integrating their products to deliver suites. IDEs are giving way to tools that reach outside of pure coding and into the architectural, deployment, and management phases of an application’s lifecycle: Application Lifecycle Management. The hallmark of these suites is a common user interface, meta model, and process engine that also enable ALM team members to communicate using standards-based architectures and technologies such as Unified Modelling Language (UML). This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
In software engineering, Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a non-proprietary, third generation modeling and specification language. ...
ALM as an integrated end-to-end suite is a reality today offered by the key vendors in this market, following organic development and recent intensive acquisitions and integration programmes. In addition to vendor-specific integration platforms, the players are also recognising the importance of plug-compatibility with the open Eclipse platform, as well as with Microsoft’s Visual Studio and Visual Studio Team System.
The market forces behind the need for integrated suites are increased accountability – the result of IT governance initiatives – and the need to repeat development processes with increasing frequency across multiple projects. ALM suites exploit a common integration layer that enables better communication of project artifacts, such as requirements and documentation, across all ALM team members, and also keep an accurate audit log of changes.
ALM tools can help deliver faster-to-market, high quality software products. However, tools should not be used as a defence mechanism against dealing with difficult software development issues, otherwise the developers will bypass the tools and the same old problems will re-surface. Rather, there needs to be a better understanding by business of the nature of software development and its practitioners, and vice versa, software developers need to understand the impact their solutions have on the business. This comes down to communication as the key to bridging the cultural divide between IT and business. Used intelligently ALM tools and better people management can lead to that elusive project success. Eclipse is an open-source, platform-independent software framework, written primarily in Java, for delivering what the project calls rich-client applications, as opposed to thin client browser-based applications. ...
Microsoft Visual Studio is a series of IDEs by Microsoft. ...
Competing Products SecureLM provides software publishers with the tools that they need to be able to gain visibility and reports about customers and their software usage. Software publishers and their customers can directly monitor software provisioning and usage. Also, management can have access to real-time information pertaining the number of new licenses generated, license expiry times, most popular packages, etc. SecureLM is a registered trademark for Secured Dimensions (a Microsoft subsidiary). ...
Software publishers are able to tailor pricing packages to better suit their customers, due to better understanding about software usage in a particular company. Utility pricing models can be set up simply in order to allow customers to pay only for what they use, which in turn enables publishers to benefit from a continuous flow of revenue.
A Framework for Global Application Development Management Managing the application lifecycle and the workflows and processes that are necessary to develop business software is complex, costly, error-prone, and often the result is a project that fails despite best efforts. Layer on top of that the additional complexity of managing a software development process that is distributed between locations around the world and outsourced to partner organizations, and the necessity to show that business processes comply with the corporate fiduciary responsibilities specified by Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel II, HIPAA and other regulatory requirements, and it’s a wonder that any software ever gets produced on time and on budget.
Kovair builds products that make global application lifecycle management manageable. The Kovair Global Lifecycle products provide an integrated, web-based and full lifecycle solution for reducing costs, ensuring auditability and traceability, automating workflow and the development process, and improving the quality and reliability of your applications. Most importantly, by providing a global framework, they enable you to take advantage of the tremendous cost savings and resource availability in offshore locations, without losing control of the project or risking loss of intellectual property. And, they help you maintain full transparency into the project status and issues anytime and anywhere.
The Kovair Global Lifecycle product family includes:
Kovair Global Lifecycle/RM (Requirements Management) The key to creating a quality application is starting with the right requirements and ensuring that the deliverables meet the needs defined by those requirements. Kovair Global Lifecycle/RM provides a platform to capture and manage requirements and provide traceability, and to collaborate with colleagues around the globe in real time to create a quality product.
Kovair Global Lifecycle/CM (Change Management) By making change a routine and predictable process which is integrated with issues tracking, requirements management, testing and other lifecycle processes, the cost of change is significantly reduced compared with ad hoc reactive change, and errors are driven out of the process much earlier, meaning far fewer make it through to the end. Kovair Global Lifecycle/CM supports management of any type of change including software (e.g. updates and enhancements, error fixes), IT change (e.g. networks, major application upgrades), or even facilities management (e.g. phone system).
Kovair Global Lifecycle/HD (HelpDesk) Kovair Global Lifecycle/HelpDesk provides a help desk solution with high degree of configurability that enables a custom fit to your needs. Designed with a global focus, it is particularly adept at handling the 24x7 round-the-world needs of a modern distributed support organization. Through configuration of different workflows for different types of support tickets and automatic task assignment, worldwide scalability across load balanced servers, browser-based self-help capabilities, and process automation, Kovair Global Lifecycle/HD provides an industrial-strength help desk solution that saves money and solves user problems faster.
Kovair Global Lifecycle/EE (Enterprise Edition) The flagship product offering from Kovair, Global Lifecycle/EE is a complete and integrated global application lifecycle management solution. Leveraging a shared repository across all its components for maximum productivity, Kovair Global Lifecycle/EE includes the Requirements Management, Change Management, and HelpDesk products, as well as Issues Management, Test Management, Risk Management, and Release Management. It supports optional add-ons for document management, timesheets and resource management and includes extensive reporting capability and connectors to a number of leading 3rd party products for project management, source management, application development and more. Enterprise Edition supports maximum collaborative effort and globally optimized resource utilization, while reducing project cost and managing risk. Kovair Global Lifecycle/EE is the leading toolset for managing globally distributed development and enabling close collaboration with partners such as offshore outsourcers.
Visit http://www.kovair.com/products.asp
External links - Kovair Industry leading vendor of ALMS Requirements Management, Configuration Management, and Product Management Software.
- Telelogic Industry leading vendor of Requirements Management, Configuration Management, and Product Management Software.
- Serena – Largest independent commercial enterprise ALM platform and open standards vendor.
- MKS Integrity – Commercial enterprise ALM platform vendor.
- Polarion – Commercial enterprise ALM platform based on Subversion.
- Cute ALM Video – Animated explanation of the ALM process.
- SecureLM White Paper Library
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