Importance of Application Lifecycle Management

What is ALM?

ALM is the process of managing a software product’s life from the stage when it’s only in the concept to the phase of its retirement. Furthermore, it has some relevancy to Software Development Lifecycle but is immense than SDLC as it only includes the stages of development. In comparison, ALM consists of governance, development, maintenance, and the software’s retirement stage.
Furtherly, ALM falls under two categories depending on the manner that one chooses for software development. Otherwise, just like DevOps, it can also be integrated into a normal delivery process. Therefore, at the most basic level, Application Lifecycle Management is broken down into three major components, i.e., governance, development, and operations.

Here are some benefits of ALM

Provides a Better and Guided Direction
One of the most significant benefits of ALM is that it helps provide a precise direction to the app even when it is in the designing phase. Accordingly, the organizations can build a more effective business case, efficiently utilize their resources, and discover the application’s lifespan before the development stage has begun.
Overall, it assures minimum mistakes during the application process, which helps save the organization lots of time and money.
Gives Speed and Agility to the Application Process
In this competitive market where speed is essential, being lazy and tardy will not help one sustain. Application Lifecycle Management provides the development team momentum and agility that is very much needed to maintain the lead in this market.
Consequently, it provides a platform for an integrated system that provides much more efficient results than unconnected tools and various processes across multiple teams. Therefore, integration lessens the communication gap between the other groups, and this way, the application is produced by keeping the software objectives and business goals sidewise.
Help in Building Better Decisions
ALM uses various enhanced tools during the operation. Hence, it is also available with unbelievable features like version control and real-time planning that support the team in quickly developing their applications. It also pins down the future of the app.
Therefore, these help a lot when the company is involved in the project of multiple application development. Thus, it makes it a lot more useful than any other software management program in the market.

Application Lifecycle Management Stages

Requirement Management

Requirement management is the primary ALM stage that helps one document, analyze, track, prioritize, and agree on requirements. Hence, it is a constant process that will continue throughout a project life cycle.

Design

Design management is a process that assists in enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty by increasing usability. Therefore, it also presents the interaction between the customer and the product.

Build Management

Build Management, also known as code management, converts source code files into a standalone software component. Hence, in this stage, an application idea changes into an actual application.
Furtherly, the application is built, tested, and deployed, and the tester starts preparing their tests-cases and writes a test script for the testing phase.

SCM

Software Configuration Management is another ALM stage where the development team orderly organizes, manages, and controls the variations in the documents, codes, and other entities during the Application Development Life Cycle process.

Operations and Maintenance

Operations and maintenance are the subsequent phases. Therefore, in the ALM phase, monitoring, management, and the development of the applications will begin.
In this stage, one finds and resolves bugs. Hence, this phase helps one to plan and prioritize the following updates to the product.

Test Management

In the testing phase, the testers require to verify that the application complies with the requirements defined in the initial steps of the process.

User Experience

Maintenance or user experience is traditionally the most prolonged stage of ALM. However, it is also the one where the assistance of the testing and development teams is usually the lowest.
Hence, after the application development, the role of the users begins. They verify the entire application and share their experience base on their feedback.

Importance of Application Lifecycle Management

Reasons why Application Lifecycle Management is important:

Smooth-running app development process

Developing an app involves more resources than only an app developer, simultaneously with standardized processes and documentation. Therefore, these processes and documentation can readily be embedded in the ALM tool, using it as a central hub to store all information linked to the app development lifecycle.

Preparing and organizing the development process

As discussed, the ALM tool manages the lifecycle of application development. The while the client shares the project requirement, the planning phase comes into play for aligning the business requirements in the project and choose a solution accordingly.
Therefore, resource planning becomes efficient with the ALM tool and specific tools for different requirements that can support traditional waterfall projects, agile development projects, or both.

Maintaining project budget and productivity

When a client reaches out to develop an app, the first phase is handling the finances with a business or financial analyst.
Sometimes, an app developer opts for sandbox testing, which entails developing an isolated environment for testing the code by the developer only. In such situations, the IT budgets and productivity gets drained.
But integrating software development with ALM eliminates the requirement of different environments for testing. And subsequently, it saves both expense and productivity.

Team management

Numerous times, different members of the team in a company are at separate locations. However, they require to work in close association with other team members for software development.
Therefore, a company working on ALM software need not worry about the lack of communication. In ALM, every team member can trace real-time strategies, changes requirements, and project status. Thus, remote teams and work management become relaxed.

Speed and Quality capability

Keeping track of every team member’s work growth and status, if not appropriately collaborated, increases the chances of loopholes or driving the deadlines, or compromising the product quality.
Therefore, when a project operates on ALM software, the integrated tools deliver high-quality user requirements. Consequently, the project remains up to date and error-free.

Carrying the load

Throughout the software development process, from the planning to its deployment, there are chances that the project gets stuck somewhere. And to reiterate the process, some apt choices require to be executed.
ALM includes resources and processes in one tool, which helps determine solutions at each phase during the software development process.

Employee satisfaction

The advantage of ALM in terms of employee satisfaction is that it gives the freedom to use the tools of own choice. Therefore, it keeps the employees motivated, satisfied and maximizes productivity throughout the software development lifecycle.

Productivity in the project

The team’s potential is the ultimate requirement for a successful outcome in any project. Therefore, among ALM integrated software development projects, distributing and allotting the task is one part; however, tracking the work productivity, quality, and progress report is another side that is important for the quality outcome.

Fixing bugs in the testing phase

The testing of an application or software is to make sure that it’s bug or error-free. Therefore, an ALM tool implements a platform where development and testing are united, i.e., a significant interaction of both teams.
The benefit of this communication is reflected by time-to-time issue detection and fixing the same with a quick solution.

Customer satisfaction

Every service provider aims to satisfy their customer’s needs. Therefore, in software development, it’s simple to achieve the same through ALM software.
Hence, an ALM tool maintains tremendous visibility and transparency between the client and the service provider.
Consequently, any organization working with the ALM tool can carry out their work presentation in front of their customers anytime and modify their requirements during the development process.

Conclusion

The plenty of benefits that ALM provides has become the critical element of software developing organizations. It helps give the right direction, but it also helps make the development process more agile and productive.
Using the ALM tool will satisfy the clients and help them provide a quality product in the defined timeline.