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Today several industries that include ISV Software Developers, Banking and Financial Services, Healthcare, Defense, Engineering Services, Pharmaceuticals and Government and a large number of IT service providers, including offshore outsourcers need automated workflow and reliable predictable processes for managing the application lifecycle. Application lifecycle management (ALM) is often equated with software development lifecycle (SDLC). However, it is not so. SDLC is just a framework that defines the tasks to be performed at each phase of the software development while ALM is much more than that. It is the management of a software application right from its planning to its retirement. Wikipedia defines ALM as “a continuous process of managing the life of an application through governance, development and maintenance.” One of the important benefits of ALM is that it coordinates people, processes, information and tools involved in a software development project. This means there is more involvement and co ordination on the part of the stakeholders, which eventually helps to deliver top-quality applications that match what the user asked for and comply with all internal and external requirements. Enterprises who wish to maximize the business value can achieve it with the right tools. They must collaborate with the right ALM solution provider for managing the entire application lifecycle. A good ALM solution can help enterprises with • Tests, Issues, Risks, Releases Projects , Requirements Mangaement • Achieve Change Management with multi level traceability • Automate workflow processes for better quality and productivity • Integrate best of breed tools for Integrated ALMsolutions • Create dashboards & reports for excellent management visibility An ALM solution provides a rich and configurable global platform for implementing a software development life cycle (SDLC) process, collaborating on the entire development cycle and tracing implementations back to original specs. Here is a look at some of the features of a best of the breed ALM solution. • Multiple ALM solutions in a single Data Repository • 100% Web based for global access without any client side software • Mobile device accessible • Built in Workflow Process and Policy Engines for reviews and escalations • Document attachment capabilities for a global review and approval of documents • Excellent Reporting capabilities with Dashboards, Word, Excel and Crystal reports • SOA based Enterprise Service Bus "Omnibus" Integrations Bus with any third party development tools In today’s fast paced and hypercompetitive business environment, ALM is a business imperative as it helps software development team to face the challenge of coming up with innovative products within a short time that too without increasing their budgets or sacrificing quality. Thus, ALM brings about a change of attitude on the part of the software development team towards software development. Related Links - Traceability matrix
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Application lifecycle management, ALM, Requirements Mangaement, Integrated ALM, software development life cycle, Traceability matrix,
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