Application lifecycle management

Application lifecycle management (ALM) is the product lifecycle management (governance, development, and maintenance) of computer programs. It encompasses requirements management, software architecture, computer programming, software testing, software maintenance, change management, continuous integration, project management, and release management.

ALM is a set of pre-defined processes that start somewhere in the business as an idea, a need, a challenge or a risk and then pass through different development phases such as requirements definition, design, development, testing, deployment, release and maintenance spanning across an entire lifecycle of a product. Throughout the ALM process, each of these steps is closely monitored and controlled, followed by proper tracking and documentation of any changes to the application.

ALM is a broader perspective than the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), which is limited to the phases of software development such as requirements, design, coding, testing, configuration, project management, and change management. ALM continues after development until the application is no longer used, and may span many SDLCs.

Modern software development processes are not restricted to the discrete ALM/SDLC steps managed by different teams using multiple tools from different locations. Real-time collaboration, access to centralized data repository, cross-tool and cross-project visibility, better project monitoring and reporting are the key to develop quality software in less time.

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