Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Tools

What are Application Lifecycle Management Tools?

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) software helps track and plan a broad range of development activities. These include specification, design, development and testing of a software application from initial planning through retirement.

ALM Tools Features & Capabilities

• Requirements management

• Software design

• Project management

• Functional testing

• Performance testing

• Deployment automation

• Change management

• Monitoring and reporting

Relationship with Agile Development

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is closely related to Agile Development but is broader in scope. Where agile development is primarily a way of organizing development cycles within the product development process, ALM is concerned with development, but also delivery and maintenance of the software over the life of the application. ALM covers a product from inception to retirement, not just the development component of a product’s life.

ALM is connected, not only to agile development concepts but also to the DevOps movement. Under DevOps, application development becomes merged with IT operations and deployment issues. The agile development process is extended into IT operations with developers remaining involved with products long after they have been deployed.

Application Lifecycle Management tools vary in their sophistication but often include functional testing capabilities, Performance testing, application development management tools, and deployment tools.