ALM Software, the Need of the Hour

ALM Software, the Need of the Hour
Application Lifecycle management is nothing but managing the life of an application or applications through proper
and continuous monitoring, development and maintenance. The lifecycle of an application comprises of different
phases such as idea, design, development, testing, deployment and management. Thus, application lifecycle
management involves the collaborative effort of business management and software engineering.
Forrester describes Application Lifecycle Management or rather ALM as "The coordination of development life-cycle
activities, including requirements, modeling, development, build, and testing, through:
enforcement of processes that span these activities;
management of relationships between development artifacts used or produced by these activities; and
reporting on progress of the development effort as a whole. "

Hence, ALM is synchronizing various development activities to produce software applications of high quality at a
faster rate. Application Lifecycle Management system in no way supports or manages any single activity of a lifecycle
management process. Instead it sorts of act as a connecting link between various activities. For instance, even if the
business requirements are documented flawlessly, models are built impeccably, codes are written well, and
numerous tests are conducted, the application can be a failure if there is lack of co-ordination between these
activities. ALM ensures that all these activities are in perfect sync so that the application developed conforms to
business requirements.
Advantages of Application Lifecycle Management
Faster Development: By facilitating simplified assimilation, ALM speeds up the development process.
Improved Quality: Applications developed through ALM conforms to the needs and requirements of the
user.
Bridging Boundaries: Smooth flow of information and teamwork makes geographical boundaries irrelevant
Enhanced Productivity: Since all developers work on the same software, no scope of error can happen
during the development and deployment stages, even if the developers are geographically distributed.
Reduced Maintenance Time: Synchronization is the foremost aspect of Application Lifecycle Management.
Hence, through effective co-ordination of application and design it can lower maintenance time
considerably.
Enhanced Flexibility: The time required for the applications to adjust and adapt to new business
requirements is very low.

Though Application Lifecycle Management system is considered to increase the whole life cost of an application, it is
negotiable when compared to its immense advantages.
ALM software uses various kinds of interconnected tools such as Requirement Management tool, Test Management
tool, Issues Management tool, Risk Management tool, Release Management tool, and Project Management tool.
Hence, enterprises in search of an application that not only conforms to business requirements but also to internal
external requirements should invest in ALM software
Learn more about :- software development life cycle & requirements traceability matrix

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