Application lifecycle management (ALM) is a practice that manages every aspect of software development from conception to retirement. ALM improves production, collaboration, and quality, and is broken down into governance, development, and day-to-day operations. Governance manages every component of the lifecycle, development deals with requirements, design, coding, and testing, and operations prepares the software for deployment.
Application lifecycle management (ALM) is a practice used for developing computer software applications. It’s not just about managing the source code that is then compiled into a software program, but about every aspect of development from the moment of conception to the point when the application is deemed no longer viable for further development. With this practice, ALM is a means of bridging the goals that a business or organization has for a particular software, the creation or implementation of that software, and the maintenance of the software. Thus, ALM is effective in improving production, collaboration, and quality over the life of a development project.
The process is typically broken down into three main objectives, each with overlapping responsibilities. The primary and most prevalent practice throughout the lifecycle management process application is governance. From the moment of conception, everything in the ALM process is managed and tracked. Every component of the lifecycle, including the design, the developers, the software code itself, falls under the responsibility of governance.
Governance manages all the organization of these elements, as well as the analysis and reporting generated by each stage of the process. This helps the company make sound decisions about further development efforts such as comparing costs for various aspects of the lifecycle in order to improve the overall process. The data metrics obtained while managing the application lifecycle through its governance are also important in determining whether further development is warranted or if the software project should be scrapped for another effort.
The second major aspect of ALM, development, is where all the proverbial key-turning happens. This is also where application lifecycle management can be confused with the software development lifecycle (SDLC), which itself contains additional layers of complexity. ALM, however, includes SDLC as a critical component. The development aspect deals with the requirements, design, coding and testing of the software. This is also where much of the maintenance takes place, such as full new versions, bug fixes, and minor releases.
Then there are the day-to-day operations. Once the software has reached a state where it can be successfully deployed, having met all design requirements and specifications, and has passed initial testing for quality, it is eligible for release. Operations takes on the role of application lifecycle management here, preparing the software for deployment. This may involve any necessary marketing and sales activities and the creation of a supportive environment to assist customers.
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